All of the summaries of the books we have read include (many) links. Links evaporate. I check them when I post the summary and randomly go back in over time to check. If you find a broken link, please let me know via a comment or a direct email. Let me know which link was broken and I will fix it, replace it, or remove it.

A bit about Calvino can be found on Wikipedia. Both his parents were botanists, which led to his interest in trees and the botanical precision in the story. He also lived in politically turbulent times. His father had been an anarchist and lived through the Mexican Revolution.

It looks like there are interviews with him and possibly readings he has done of his books but they are all in Italian… Just search on his name and then focus in on videos.

For those who weren’t able to read the book but would like the “CliffsNotes,” this website has a pretty good summary. It’s a good reminder for those who did read the book as well.

We watched an unusual video clip that was an 11-minute book review during which the reviewer made a pizza. Two pizzas, actually. The pizza looked pretty good and the review was excellent.

I learned that the book is “often” critqued in the literary world. One article in particular seemed relevant to the reason we read the book. It is “Arboreal and Historical Pespectives from Calvino’s Il barone rampante” by Giulia Pacini. It is 13 pages with extensive notes and a good bibliography, for those who might want to read more in a literary and/or philisophical vein on the interpretations of the book.

During the discussion, people asked if it’s possible to climb from tree to tree as Cosimo did. It depends on the tree. We looked at some images of the Holm oak and the Angel oak (in South Carolina). Images of old olive groves in Europe also suggest that it might be doable, although not to the extent described in the book!

Finally, we talked about our own experiences climbing trees as children.