Part 3 and its first story are called T Zero. This story is not identified as being narrated by Qfwfq, and none of the rest of the stories are either. Only part 1 of Priscilla was introduced by Qfwfq but as they form one piece we can assume they all are narrated by him. #CalvinoBookClub

This is the same style he adopts for the rest of part 2. Again, I find myself struggling with this section. It's all discussion of the cellular level, so there's nothing to get hold of - no characters, no images except cells dividing. #CalvinoBookClub#TimeAndTheHunter#ItaloCalvino#TZero

Qfwfq describes this process in detail but again, there's no real story here. Calvino is more interested in the biological process itself than he is in creating a story out of it. #CalvinoBookClub#TimeAndTheHunter#ItaloCalvino#TZero#APlungeIntoCalvinoPodcast

The first story in this section is called 'Mitosis', defined by the NHGR as 'the process by which a cell replicates its chromosomes and then segregates them, producing two identical nuclei in preparation for cell division.' #CalvinoBookClub#TimeAndTheHunter#ItaloCalvino#TZero

Part 2 of the book is called 'Priscilla' and begins with several quotes from scientists but also writers and philosophers such as Sartre and Bataille. #CalvinoBookClub#TimeAndTheHunter#ItaloCalvino#TZero

In Blood, Sea there is a plot but it is secondary to Qfwfq trying to explain the concept of the story in precise detail. This balance (or, to my mind, imbalance) will repeat itself throughout the rest of the volume. #CalvinoBookClub#TimeAndTheHunter#ItaloCalvino#TZero

Qfwfq tries to get the reader to picture the story as a series of images from a graphic novel. For me this isn't very successful and each description interrupts the story. But it's an early sign that Calvino is more interested in playing with form in this volume. #CalvinoBookClub#TimeAndTheHunter

It is in the second story, The Origin Of The Birds, where things change. The story itself (of how birds came into being) is again not a million miles from the stories in the first volume but here Calvino adds a new element. #CalvinoBookClub#TimeAndTheHunter#ItaloCalvino#TZero

And indeed that story could fit easily in the first volume. Qfwfq disagrees with a female companion about the soft pieces of the Moon falling to Earth, and the relationship between the two of them is what grounds the surreal imagery. #CalvinoBookClub#ItaloCalvino#TimeAndTheHunter#TZero

The first story, The Soft Moon, suggests we are in for more of the same that we had in that first volume of Cosmicomic stories. A scientific theory is outlined and then Qfwfq narrates a story based on the idea. And as on that volume we open with a story about the Moon. #CalvinoBookClub#ItaloCalvino