This is a wonderful book, about the joy and complexity of reading. Calvino intersperses his unusual second person narration ("You are about to begin reading...") about a reader whose attempts to read a new novel keep getting interrupted and each time you (he, I) think you have found the continuation of the story it is actually a different, even more intriguing book. 
 As well as allowing the writer to exhibit a command of language and particularly of voice which is nothing short of breathtaking (I especially think of fragments set in Japan and in South America, where I could instantly hear the subtle nuances of accent and a different culture in the narrators' voices), he explores the various things that it means to read a book, to connect with the words on a page and the meaning and experiences, the worlds that they contain. 
 Calvino explores reading for pleasure and information, for seeking truth and for bolstering ideas already strongly held. He looks at the effects that perceiving possible readers might have on the writer and, most importantly and most powerfully, he points to the power of books and the effect of censorship. 
 It is one of those books that will leave thoughts and images and, most especially, ideas swirling around my head for a long time to come. As an intellectual exercise "On A Winter's Night A Traveler" is magnificent, but it is also superb as a story, subtly thrilling and funny. 
 As always with a translation, it must be a work of two minds. Especially with a book as clever and subtle as this, the talent of translator William Weaver should be applauded.