The Age Of Revolution: 1789-1848

Written by Eric Hobsbawm

Narrated by Hugh Kermode

Eric Hobsbawm traces with brilliant anlytical clarity the transformation brought about in evry sphere of European life by the Dual revolution - the 1789 French revolution and the Industrial Revolution that originated in Britain. This enthralling and original account highlights the significant sixty years when industrial capitalism established itself in Western Europe and when Europe established the domination over the rest of the world it was to hold for half a century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Release date: Jan 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9780349144177

Eric Hobsbawm

Eric Hobsbawm was a Fellow of the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Before retirement he taught at Birkbeck College, University of London, and after retirement at the New School for Social Research in New York. Previous books include AGE OF EXTREMES, THE AGE OF REVOLUTION and THE AGE OF EMPIRE. He died 1st October 2012

Reviews for The Age Of Revolution

[rknickme · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Endlessly inventive, delightful and sometimes sad. Calvino takes real scientific theories and twists them into extremely human stories of love, loss and all the things in between.

[librolindsay · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ah.

Well.

Nothing like I expected. Sweeter. There was a type of innocence that I didn't anticipate, and I'm hoping that this feeling continues through Calvino's other work because it is (...I hate this word...) refreshing and, therefore, exciting. Exciting, too, that I've never read anything like this before. I suppose this could boil down to science fiction, but it didn't feel like any encounter I've had before with sci-fi. Because I have a less than cursory knowledge of physics (etc.), I was able to suspend judgement and let Calvino wind through his interpretation of fables on how to cope with a rapidly (dismally slowly?) evolving universe. Qfwfq often made me laugh aloud, which is something I suprisingly don't often do while reading, and I loved that each story dealt with utterly human longings despite the fact that there aren't really any human entities within these pages. One or two of the stories toward the end didn't quite keep the momentum for me as the others, but this feels irrelevant to me considering the beauty of this work as a whole.

Ah. I'm hooked.

[cecrow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cosmicomics is a collection of fanciful short fiction inspired by scientific quotes, which flower into metaphors for something more human than what forumulae and calculations can encompass. Measurable distance becomes emotional distance, cosmic clashes become mere one-upmanship, etc. On the one hand these seem like the lazy mental exercises of a child-like imagination. On the other, I could not similarly write a 12-page compelling story about what it would feel like to be a mollusk. It is the personification that makes it work, makes the science relateable in terms of human emotion. I could feel the science, not just understand it.

Unlike most anthologies or collections, these really ought to be read together as a whole since they all bear the same peculiar style. The first paragraph of each story, italicized and devoted to a scientific fact or theory, is key to establishing the context of what follows. This bit of grounding makes it possible to follow Calvino's imaginative forays, whether it is into impossible spaces like the single point that presaged the Big Bang or inside the mind of the last dinosaur. The imagery can be startling, and the metaphors are all built-in.

My personal favourites are 'How Much Shall We Bet?' and 'The Dinosaurs', but the first story 'The Distance to the Moon' (an inspiration for Pixar's "La Luna") is that of most readers. If its magic reaches you then carry on. Otherwise you'd best stop there because it will only get more strange, albeit strangely wonderful.

[pzr-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've ranted before about the star system here on Goodreads (all the more appropriate à propos 'Cosmicomics' with its cosmological concerns). Compared to much else out there, this is a five-star read - the sheer inventiveness, the humour, the liveliness of the prose... But how else to indicate that these stories weren't quite in the same league as 'Invisible Cities', say, or the novellas that comprise the trilogy, 'Our Ancestors'?

Anyway, here 'old Qwfwq' informs us about the origins of the universe and of life, events to which he has personally borne witness. The scenarios allow Calvino to indulge in a series of surrealist cosmic jokes. The very best of the stories did show the great man at the peak of his form. I enjoyed particularly 'The Light Years' in which messages are sent across the universe over a million centuries and 'The Aquatic Uncle' where Qwfwq's love interest falls in love with his mother's brother who happens to be a coelacanth-like fish.

No doubt, there's a philosophical point being made here about our smallness in relation to the vastness of time and the universe, but this being Calvino, he delivers it in as flippant a manner as possible. And its lineage is clear to see in Douglas Adams' 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and his many imitators.

[gregorybrown-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Calvino's novel is similar to Borges in the high-concept, borderline metaphysical premises, but more focused on the characters rather than following all the consequences of that premise. That's not to say that Borges isn't emotional; one of his under-appreciated gifts, and one lacking in most of his wanna-be successors, was in wringing emotional grist out of his evocative images and premises. Instead, Calvino isn't afraid to weave a separate emotional story onto the premise, or wander off-topic as he continues down the tale.

Indeed, Calvino is more interested in using the outlandish settings to more literally represent emotions and relationships that exist in our own lives, albeit in more subtler forums. For example, one of the stories depicts the transition of some species from the land to the sea—but struggling with relatives who have refused to make the change, and seem stuck in their ways yet still insist on their own wisdom.. Our narrator's girlfriend is thoroughly habituated to the land, and he fears of the consequences if he introduces her to his great-uncle. Even if we aren't amphibian, can't we recognize this tale?

This sort of panpsychism pervades the stories, with our narrator Qfwfq taking the form of a dinosaur, a mollusk, pre-creation matter, and more. Calvino's painstaking efforts to depict the sensory experiences of these creatures are what lends the book a poetic edge, since you rarely see those kinds of explorations in prose. There are exceptions of course, like Nagel's "What is it like to be a bat?", but they tend to be specialized forms and not general fiction.

Talking about it with a friend, she mentioned that the book seemed to be more a novel than a collection of short stories, and I'd agree. Resonating throughout many of the stories is love, loss, and dealing with the confluence of the two. Calvino's language is beautiful, yet dwells in melancholy. If this had been his only book I would have thought it a personal obsession, but it instead resonates as a particularly thoughtful thematic choice for a book concerned with the consequences and casualties of cosmic creation.

[burnit99 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A curious collection of short fantasies which feature anthropomorphized sub-atomic particles, cellular structures and prehistoric life forms, as they exhibit all-too-human emotions and motivations as they meander through and manipulate space and time and matter and energy. Think of it as a universe where everything that exists is animated, intelligent and has recognizably human agendas. Interesting and entertaining, but not something I'd be inclined to read again someday.

[phredfrancis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just finished the first story, about the Earth and the Moon and longing and elliptical orbits and desire, and I'm both charmed and thrilled already.

***

Now, having finished the collection, I'm glad to report that many of the stories that followed that one are just as curious, amusing, and odd as the first. Not all of them achieve equal levels of excellence, but there are enough such stories to make the read worthwhile.

The characters in these stories are elementary particles, equations, and principles of physics. Also a dinosaur and evolving fish making the transition to landside locomotion.

On occasion the attempts to convey concepts on a universal scale or to describe essential existential watersheds grow tiresome, but Calvino is so adept at humanizing his characters--including the multitude who live in cramped quarters in a single, pre Big Bang point--that his tales always take on the pleasant shades of fable. They may dwell on the expansion of space the the effects of gravity, but they are at heart tender stories. Even when describing the first dawn or the moment that the abyss unveiled the notion of color, they speak about love, loss, and longing.

[dougb56586 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A co-worker who majored in Liberal Arts recommended this book that she read in her Italian Lit class. It was described as “super funny”. In my first attempt to read it, I quit in the first chapter. The story of when the moon was so close to earth that people would jump back and forth between earth and the moon seemed too absurd. Many years later, I made a second effort, and this time found the entire book great (even “super funny”). Each chapter begins with a short description of a modern scientific discovery or theory. These are from various scientific fields: astronomy, biology, paleontology, etc. Then the narrator, who is often human-like, but usually not quite human, launches into an “eye-witness” account which, in his opinion apparently, validates and clarifies the abstract scientific explanation. It is like the author is trying to create new mythology that includes modern man's expanded understanding of the Universe. But it is done with a lot of humor and obviously is not meant to be taken too seriously. My favorite chapters were The Dinosaurs, because it was a little darker than the other chapters, and the final chapter, The Spiral. The Spiral is the best in the book, in my opinion, because it summarizes the ideas that the author has been trying to convey in the preceding chapters.

[ralphadelic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Who needs the bible with this book out? Cosmicomics is the history of the entire world done with creativity, humor, and common sense. Calvino is an absolute master at his craft and this book showcases all his talent. This is a must read.

[evanroskos_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Clever although sometimes too obtuse. The abstract "narrator living through the evolution of the universe" stories are a tad repetitive by the end, but each has a focus. A nice little collection with a few strong pieces.

[hadriantheblind · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Imaginative and truly fascinating stories about the nature of ideas and early history of the universe. I want to read them to my future children.

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hmmm. I've read this before, several times, and greatly enjoyed it. I even enjoyed it when I started it for the October TIOLI challenge. So I have to say I must be in a bad mood right now - because I hated most of what I read (the last half of the book). The narrator is a narcissistic, whiny, jealous, greedy sad sack, who's always chasing (and never getting) females. One reason he never gets them is that he never regards them as people - just prizes to be won, usually in competition with another male. When he's not chasing a female, he's busy assuming that everything in the universe (more or less literally, as far as "literally" has any meaning in this weird sciencey fantasy fantastical milieu) is focused on and paying attention to him. Bleah!
The concept is neat - take some scientific idea, such as that in an expanding universe, eventually the furthest galaxies will be moving too fast for light to catch up with them. Make this idea the feature of a short story, in which a character actually experiences the effect in his personal life. The stories get very surreal - well, when the character is sometimes one of a group inside the monobloc before the Big Bang (and the Bang was caused by them imagining what was necessary to make noodles...yes, noodles), and sometimes a mollusk, and sometimes someone that can lean out from a galaxy and make a mark on space...surreal is a weak descriptor. The writing, and especially the description, is beautifully handled, including when the narrator gives up and says something can't really be described. And when I'm in a better mood, I love it. So I'm keeping the book, but rating it middling - I'll try again later and see if I can boost that a little.

[gonzobrarian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A perfect exposition of science fiction, Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics is a tender and dreamlike weaving of stories that touch upon the sheer wonder both the universe and consciousness itself. Calvino begins each story with an established scientific conjecture, thereafter placing an anthropomorphic and wildly fictitious annotation of the universe at various stages or for lack of a better word, times. Narrating from entities personified through equations and representations, predominantly through the central character Qfwfq, Calvino wistfully describes the universe through fleeting instances of love, attraction, loss, creation and change.

The stories range from the concrete to the fluid, including a time when reaching the moon is as simple as climbing a ladder, the astronomical paranoia induced from simple messages sent from distant observers and millennia, where a dinosaur ponders the significance, perhaps even the power of its own extinction, to the familial colloid particles, uncertain of their new inertia, being torn apart in the creation of matter and planets. Though all have a human feel, it is a joyous exposition of the unfathomable, alien events we cannot ponder enough.

The sentience that Calvino gives to the entities persisting and changing throughout Cosmicomics is an appreciation not only of the scientific beauty of the universe, but of the beauty of his fiction.

[ladyleitzen · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Overly pedantic and lacking the usual intrigue in Calvino's books (such as the second-person narration of "if on a winter's night a traveler"). Perhaps a more scientific mind would appreciate it more. All said, while individual tidbits and stories were amusing, the piece lacked coherency as a whole. Normally one would not say that a collection of short stories 'should' connect as a whole, but Cosmicomics has the singularity of all the stories having the same narrator, leading to a disjointed felling of the narrator's identity and the flow of time.

[magooles · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cosmicomics is one of my all-time favorites. It was required reading for a class in college and I have read it numerous times since. It has pushed me to read many of Calvino’s other works, which I have greatly enjoyed as well. Nothing quite compares to my first read of Cosmicomics, though.

[shanth_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant writing which is spoiled by the jarring way in which it tries to reconcile with, and clashes with scientific fact. Most of the stories try to base their premise on scientific fact but botch it up with bad physics. The first story for example is based on the fact that the moon was nearer to the earth in the past, and it bases the story on a tribe which jumps onto the moon on fullmoon nights and recovers moon-milk. This is just ruined by the fact that if the moon were as close to the earth as the story has it, it would be orbiting the earth in around an hour and a half, making all this impossible. It also has crazy stuff like lighter objects floating up to the moon, which again is not how gravity works. I am not opposed to creative license and fantasy, but then it should be like Douglas Adams, and not try to depend on a scientific crutch. However, there are three stories in the collection which I liked: `All at One Point', `The Aquatic Uncle', & `What shall we bet?'

[bexaplex · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Calvino is a smart and playful writer. Cosmicomics' stories all take place at the boundaries of scientific epochs: the formation of atoms, galaxies, earth's atmosphere, the extinction of dinosaurs. Their characters all describe, light-heartedly, the difficulty of trying to describe something in comparison to the yet-unexperienced future. What exists before light and time and matter? What does earth look like without the current light spectrum? The answer is something like: "Visible? What a question! Who had eyes to see with in those days? Nothing had ever been seen by anything, the question never even arose."

There's just something about the female characters in this compilation that irritates me. Perhaps it's the ultimate expressions of the earth mother - a woman causing the Big Bang, or a women's mass causing the curvature of space. Or maybe it's because the narrator is so often motivated by jealously, which doesn't engender warm fuzzy feelings for his objects of attention.

[abirdman_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The opening short story, about men who climb ladders and use long handled scoops to harvest cheese from the surface of the moon is a masterpiece.

[xollo_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a marvelous book. Calvino has an amazing knack for illuminating the most basic and complex of human emotions—jealousy, pride, embarrassment, love—via crazy stories of planetary births, evolution and galaxy formation. Who knew falling through space, or jumping onto the moon, or being a dinosaur could be explained in such an every-day, shoulder-shrugging, oddly profound way.

I read the last story to a lover last night.

[ashishg_50 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Quite imaginative and humourous tales of characters based in various point in history of universe such as around Big Bang, formation of galaxies, formation of Earth and Moon, expansion of universe and Dinosaur's era; using corresponding situations and physics' principles in story. Brilliant concept.

[gazzy_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A funny, somewhat absurd, look at life in the "beginning." Science for poets.

[ablueidol · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Anthropomorphism of different scientific concepts into characters or incidents whose story is then followed to its natural conclusion which is often funny and at times moving. Very clever stuff yet strangely readable.

[justine_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great stories illustrating scientific principles.

[jaemaree · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

woot! what a fab set of short stories. the characters are sometimes particles. the settings are various stages of the cosmos and evolution in general. this is truly a gem.

[sullenboy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

this collection of short stories revolves around theories of the evolution of the universe. calvino weaves fiction into fact and comes up with a masterpiece.

appetizer: the first short story is about the orbit of the moon. a long time ago, the moon's perigee brought it to within climbing distance and that's what people did - they climbed on the moon using a ladder. the story is about unrequited love.

if i could write like this, i'd quit my day job.

[rrreese-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Having read Invisible cities around a year ago I was expecting great things from another Calvino. However I was somewhat disappointed, this work is far more surreal and lacks the intellectual layers of Invisible Cities.