If on a winter’s night a traveler

by

Italo Calvino

Lotaria is the sister of Ludmilla, and she is very similar to Corinna—who is possibly even Lotaria disguise, although Corinna’s identity remains a mystery. Unlike Ludmilla, Lotaria is a highly methodical reader, always going into a book with strong preconceived ideas about what she wants to get from it. This is reflected in the fact that Lotaria is active in seminars at a local university taught by Professor Galligani, where they often read only a short fragment of a book before spending the rest of the month discussing its meaning in highly theoretical terms. The Reader is sometimes tempted by Lotaria, and he has sex with Corinna in part because she reminds him of Lotaria, but ultimately, Lotaria and Corinna are just temptations that keep the Reader away from Ludmilla, who is a better match for him. Lotaria represents the dangers of overanalyzing a book and of taking too academic of a perspective, showing how theory can cause people to get too set in their opinions and expectations—and perhaps can even cause them to miss what a book is really about.

Lotaria Quotes in If on a winter’s night a traveler

The If on a winter’s night a traveler quotes below are all either spoken by Lotaria or refer to Lotaria. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Act of Reading Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

The Cimbro-Cimmerian debate does not seem to affect Ludmilla, now occupied with a single thought: the possibility that the interrupted novel might continue.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), You (The Reader) , Ludmilla (The Other Reader), Lotaria, Uzzi Tuzii, Professor Galligani
Related Symbols: Books
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis:
Without fear of wind or vertigo Quotes

“The real revolution will be when women carry arms.”

Related Characters: Irina (speaker), The Narrator, Lotaria, Uzzi Tuzii, Valerian
Page Number: 87
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“I don’t understand who you’re accusing, I don’t know anything about your stories. I follow a very clear strategy. The counterpower must infiltrate the mechanisms of power in order to overthrow it.”

“And then reproduce it, identically! It’s no use your camouflaging yourself, Lotaria! If you unbutton one uniform, there’s always another uniform underneath!”

Related Characters: You (The Reader) (speaker), Corinna (speaker), Lotaria, Uzzi Tuzii, Professor Galligani
Page Number: 218
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

The seventh reader interrupts you: “Do you believe that every story must have a beginning and an end? In ancient times a story could end only in two ways: having passed all the tests, the hero and the heroine married, or else they died. The ultimate meaning to which all stories refer has two faces: the continuity of life, the inevitability of death.”

You stop for a moment to reflect on these words. Then, in a flash, you decide you want to marry Ludmilla.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), You (The Reader) , Lotaria, Uzzi Tuzii, Corinna, Professor Galligani
Related Symbols: Books
Page Number: 259
Explanation and Analysis:
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Lotaria Quotes in If on a winter’s night a traveler

The If on a winter’s night a traveler quotes below are all either spoken by Lotaria or refer to Lotaria. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Act of Reading Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

The Cimbro-Cimmerian debate does not seem to affect Ludmilla, now occupied with a single thought: the possibility that the interrupted novel might continue.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), You (The Reader) , Ludmilla (The Other Reader), Lotaria, Uzzi Tuzii, Professor Galligani
Related Symbols: Books
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis:
Without fear of wind or vertigo Quotes

“The real revolution will be when women carry arms.”

Related Characters: Irina (speaker), The Narrator, Lotaria, Uzzi Tuzii, Valerian
Page Number: 87
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“I don’t understand who you’re accusing, I don’t know anything about your stories. I follow a very clear strategy. The counterpower must infiltrate the mechanisms of power in order to overthrow it.”

“And then reproduce it, identically! It’s no use your camouflaging yourself, Lotaria! If you unbutton one uniform, there’s always another uniform underneath!”

Related Characters: You (The Reader) (speaker), Corinna (speaker), Lotaria, Uzzi Tuzii, Professor Galligani
Page Number: 218
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

The seventh reader interrupts you: “Do you believe that every story must have a beginning and an end? In ancient times a story could end only in two ways: having passed all the tests, the hero and the heroine married, or else they died. The ultimate meaning to which all stories refer has two faces: the continuity of life, the inevitability of death.”

You stop for a moment to reflect on these words. Then, in a flash, you decide you want to marry Ludmilla.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), You (The Reader) , Lotaria, Uzzi Tuzii, Corinna, Professor Galligani
Related Symbols: Books
Page Number: 259
Explanation and Analysis: