Quickness Intro

Calvino equates the story of Charlemagne to quickness by drawing the conclusion that its economy of events suggests constant movement (even when an event may span a longish time). He shows that the wording is directly concise, but other times quickness (or lethargy, or cycles) may be represented thematically as in stories such as The Wizard of Oz ,which as a story takes place over many days, and yet in the end ends up only occupying the space of a few hours. The telling of the story itself can be related to quickness as a story may be picked up or left off and thus a story with a narrative of a few days may be devoured in a night, or conversely a story of a night may be elongated over the span of weeks or even years.

Finally (although not exhaustively) quickness may be thought of – Calvino posits – through the emblem of a horse, a majestic beast that for a majority of history was the quickest harnessable animal. This physical speed then can also be applied to the quickness of the human mind. Although both are now outdated notions (cars outpace animals, and supercomputers can computationally put a humans synapses to shame) the meaning is still clear. Quickness comes in every flavor of the rainbow, from physical, to mental, to lexical, to thematic.