2. Philosophy - Stefano Franchi

14
P RELUDE
which experience is organized expresses nothingness itself—it expresses the voidness of
every possible experience. This, at least, is what Mr. Palomar seems to intuitively perceive
when he decides to compile the catalog of his past experiences with the intention to grasp
their intrinsic systematicity. The death that seizes him in the midst of such a resolution is
then a secondary accident that cannot really touch him. Degraded to a mere demise, his own
death completes a wisdom that has already been attained, the absolute wisdom that comes
after the end of time and history. Two conditions have to be met, however, to make the neu-
tralization of nothingness really work: the separation from the world must truly be total and
the total separation must be fully recognized and accepted. Both conditions are less simple
than it may at first appear and they turn out to be ultimately incompatible. If taken together,
they define the philosophical position that we have referred above as the doctrine of the
world as game. Or better, the doctrine of the world as a chess game. For chess is considered
a perfect example of a structure that satisfies both requirements: on the one hand an orga-
nized and dynamic totality that refers only to itself; on the other, a structure encompassing
a finite number of possibilities that can be exhaustively described. In short, chess is a com-
plex structure that can be mastered (at least intellectually) in its entireness.
Calvino himself recurs very often to the metaphor of play in general and chess in par-
ticular, sometimes absorbing the game into the very narrative structure of his works 7 . To
understand why he was fascinated by he metaphor of chess, is necessary to examine the
game’s structure. In so doing, we will be able to discuss the doctrine it metaphorizes and
its importance for the book we are reading.
First, it is necessary to focus on the game itself regardless of the players and the situa-
tions in which it may take place as an event. Let us think of chess as it might be described
7. Many works by Calvino are inspired by games and chess. The narrative structure of Il Castello dei destini
incrociati (Torino: Einaudi, 1973); Engl tr. The castle of crossed destinies (New York: Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich, 1977) is built around the disposition of playing cards (tarots, to be precise) on the
table.Città Invisibili (Torino: Einaudi, 1971); Engl. tr. Invisible cities (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1974) contains long discussions on chess and chess playing (one of which will be quoted
later). Game-related themes are contained also in t con zero and Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore...
(respectively, t con zero (Torino: Einaudi, 1967); Engl. tr. t zero (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1969) and Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore... (Torino: Einaudi, 1979); Engl. tr. If on a
winter’s night a traveler.... (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981).