Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler actively involves the reader with the text by way of breaks in the narrative. Calvino's abrupt interruptions pull the reader outside of the story world and back into the world of the reader. This prevents the reader from becoming engaged with the text in a usual way. In thinking about enjoyment of text, this can work either way from the point of view of the reader. Is it pleasurable to be constantly interrupted, or is it agitating?

I found the breaks interesting, amusing, and even beneficial in terms of engaging myself with the text. The breaks in narrative caused me to pay very close attention to the content of the novel. I'd like to re-read the chapters in a different order in order to see if the novel will seem different to me--possibly less agitating--if I read the chapters in a different way. I'm curious to know if anyone read the book in any order other than cover to cover.

--Lori