Italo Calvino - Orlando Furioso, de Ludovico Ariosto - Contado por Italo Calvino

Hardcover edition, enriched by numerous illustrations by Gustave Doré.

Italo Calvino has always declared Ludovico Ariosto to be his poet, a predilection that permeates a considerable part of the work of the author of Invisible Cities or the trilogy My Ancestors, also populated by fantasy, classics, and adventure. In his personal reading of Orlando Furioso, Calvino shares his enthusiasm for one of the most captivating and famous epics in world literature, in an explicit invitation to discover it.

A book of essential reading throughout the centuries, and a major influence on works such as Cervantes' Don Quixote, Orlando Furioso narrates the wars and struggles between the infidels and the paladins of Charlemagne, his loves with Moorish princesses, and adventures with fantastic creatures that then populated the known world.

The story begins in a Paris besieged by the troops of the Saracen king Agramante. As the Christian army prepares for the decisive battle, a single question arises on everyone's lips: where is Orlando, the most famous hero of Christendom?

The valiant warrior, after so many magnificent deeds, has gone mad for love of the beautiful Angelica. Having become a danger to men and nature, Orlando now wanders the earth destroying everything in his path. Charlemagne's last hope lies in finding a cure for his knight's madness.

Italo Calvino, one of the most important and famous authors of the 20th century, shares with readers his lifelong passion for one of the timeless classics of literature: Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, presenting in his captivating prose a summarized version of the story of this epic, with selected parts of the poem.