''Difficult Loves'' ( it, Gli amori difficili) is a 1970 short story collection by
Italo Calvino. It concerns love and the difficulty of communication.
Some published versions of the English translation by
William Weaver omit a number of the stories, and also include other Calvino stories about the Second World War and postwar period, including those from ''
The Crow Comes Last''; some of these were translated by Archibald Colquhoun and Peggy Wright. "The Argentine Ant" and "The Cloud of Smog" (as "Smog") do not appear in this book, but rather in the translated ''The Watcher and Other Stories''. An English translation of "The Adventure of a Skier" was published by ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' in their July 3, 2017 issue.
Stories
:''Starred stories are those also included in the incomplete versions of the English translation.''
Difficult Loves
*''The Adventure of a Soldier''*
*''The Adventure of a Bandit''
*''The Adventure of a Bather''*
*''The Adventure of a Clerk''*
*''The Adventure of a Photographer''*
*''The Adventure of a Traveler''*
*''The Adventure of a Reader''*
*''The Adventure of a Nearsighted Man''*
*''The Adventure of a Wife''
*''The Adventure of Two Spouses''
*''The Adventure of a Poet''*
*''The Adventure of a Skier''
*''The Adventure of a Motorist''
Difficult Life
*''The Argentine Ant''
*''The Cloud of Smog''
Adaptations
The "Adventure of Two Spouses" was loosely adapted into the "Renzo and Luciana" act of ''
Boccaccio '70
''Boccaccio '70'' is a 1962 comedy anthology film directed by Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Mario Monicelli and Luchino Visconti from an idea by Cesare Zavattini. It consists of four episodes, each by one of the directors, all about a diffe ...
''; the "Adventure of a Soldier" appears as one part of ''
L'amore difficile'', a film by
Nino Manfredi
Saturnino "Nino" Manfredi (22 March 1921 – 4 June 2004) was an Italian actor, voice actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, comedian, singer, author, radio personality and television presenter.
He was one of the most prominent Italian a ...
.
References
Short story collections by Italo Calvino
1970 short story collections
Giulio Einaudi Editore books
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