Customer Reviews
A fine fantasy - By: Angus Jenkinson, 21 Oct 2008 
Jonathan Black mentions Italo Calvino as one of those many modern writers who have followed mystical & esoteric philosophy (The Secret History of the World) & this is clearly a novel that can be read at multiple levels. It is a fable about a Baron who as a youth climbs into the trees & never descends for the rest of his life; but it is also about the ideas of the Enlightenment & Romanticism. Our tree-bound Baron, Cosimo, succeeds in being inspired by the Enlightenment, which was transforming society around him (this is the time of Voltaire & the French Revolution), & also by Romanticism, its antithetical spirit. He is practical, grounded in spirit & ingenious, yet at the same time a visionary who floats above the ground. That makes him the type for the Alchemical philosopher-king. But such deeper meanings are lightly worn & it is easy to treat this as nothing more (or less) than a delightfully told fable.
Brilliant - By: Marcie Hatton, 02 Jul 2007 
Recently I have read a lot of disappointing books so it was great to read this one. I thought it was brilliant. A little surreal & yet totallly believable. Italo is a wonderful author & describes everything so well. I found it hard to put this book down. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read something a little different to the usual 'modern' day novels churned out on a daily basis.
Above the ground - By: E. A Solinas, 24 Feb 2007 Italo Calvino was one of the most underrated maestros of magical realism, where atoms falll in love & empty suits of armor walk & talk. And one of his most polished, reader-friendly stories was "Baron in the Trees," a fable about a nobleman who lives his whole life in a tree. Yes, it sounds weird -- but the result is sweet, uplifting & full of childlike wonder.
A young nobleman, Cosimo, was enraged when his eccentric sister made dinner out of his pet snails. So when his father ordered him to eat, he ran up a tree & swore to stay there forever. And he did, from his adolescence up to old age, becoming famous as the Baron in the Trees. Even at the death of his parents, he remained in the trees nearby, watching & helping -- but not coming down. Even when the Baron dies, he finds a way to ascend even higher...
Without leaving the trees, he manages to hunt animals, educate himself with great philosophers, adopts an abandoned dog, lends bestselling books to a local bandito, battles pirates who are conspiring with his uncle, has an affair with a promiscuous Marchesa, & even lives with a band of tree-dwelling Spanish exiles.
"Baron in the Trees" is a whimsical little story on the surface, until you look deeper at the message of "living in trees." Cosimo removes himself from the ground, & also removes himself from the worries of ordinary people -- social position, power, material goods. He's happy just to have friends, books, & his own private kingdom.
But even if you take it at face value, "Baron in the Trees" is an enchanting little story. Calvino's lush, detailed writing is always full of a child's wonder, & he sounds like he's living his own fantasies as he describes how Cosimo manages to sleep (a sort of fur cocoon), store his possessions & falll in live... while never stepping out of the tree. But Calvino manages to convey the bittersweetness of Cosimo's life: While he loves his odd life, he also knows that it alienates him from the rest of the world & leaves him alone.
Cosimo himself is a relatively distant character, since the whole book is through the eyes of his otherwise-unimportant brother. But he is surrounded by equallly quirky characters -- his Jesuit-phobic father, "general" mother, creepy disgraced sister, & an array of book-loving bandits, odd priests, & peasants who get used to the tree-dwelling Baron.
A sweet, quirky fable about a young man who just won't come down to earth, "The Baron in the Trees" is a truly enchanting read.
cosimo and co - By: I. J. Mclachlan, 04 Mar 2003 the central conceit (someone who chooses to live in trees) is a good one, & is intelligently followed through. here we have the conflict between custom (nomos) & the natural law (physis), played out in a literal sense as the man-made house is abandoned for a life in the trees. what we are offered is a patchwork of stories that make up an unconventional life.
i progressed through the book slowly & found there to be little dramatic tension in it, the result, perhaps, of the author preferring the 'anecdotal' style of narrating; Calvino tells us how most of the episodes will end at the beginning of each episode. intensity is only reallly achieved in the complicated relationship between Cosimo & Viola, which is handled with great perceptiveness & literary skill. that said, there is plenty to enjoy in this book; tales of piracy, bandits, wars & philosophers.
the book contains some useful general insights too; Calvino is surely a prescient environmentalist when he tells us that the forests Cosimo inhabited throughout his life have been destroyed by men who loved nothing, not even themselves.
overalll, i thought that the ideas in this book were very modern, & that the author was extremely competent at evoking places, scenes, characters, etc. but the force of the work was slightly reduced for me by the anecdotal manner in which it was delivered.
A modern fairytale tinged with the magic of Italy - By: , 26 May 2001 The beauty & depth of The Baron in the Trees is so very special in a world where everything seems to be so superficial & capitalist. Calvino, yet again, paints a picture so fantastic yet so real. This is the Italy only the Italians know, & behind it the Italian author who is too unknow in Britain. When will the British public learn to enjoy works which are not anglophone?? Calvino is a master, & the Baron in the Trees is a wonderful fairytale tinged with a very subtle & wicked humour.
