Just read Calvino's short story collection "The Last to Come is the Crow" the other day, this "Observer" is very different from the former, although it is not very long, the whole book is less than 100 pages, but it is very serious in terms of both theme and tone. It's not as humorous as a collection of short stories.
The book is set in the 1953 Italian election, in which GD amérigo was appointed polling watchman at the polling station. On this day he was sent to the Cotolungo Institute to supervise the tickets. There, people with disabilities are used by partisans and guided to vote. Amerigo spent a painful day in this hellish place on earth, as if he were an outsider, not expressing any opinion or taking any initiative, just observing. The disabled here are limited in movement, blind and deaf, irrational, lying on the bed like vegetative people, they are forgotten by God, they are forgotten by the world, but the votes in the hands of each of them are extremely precious to some people, and can even determine their destiny.
Amerigo fell into contemplation, and in this rainy weather everything seemed even more sad. Are people equal to each other? Should these people with disabilities, especially those with mental impairments, have the right to vote? What is the meaning of their existence? Is it true that for some people, their birth was a mistake from the start? Finally, Amerigo saw a poor father come to the welfare home to visit his demented son, and they looked at each other warmly for a long time, and Amerigo felt that he saw love. There is love even in this place.
There is also a line between Amerigo and his beautiful girlfriend, who told Amerigo on this unlucky day that she was pregnant. Amerigo panicked. He didn't think he was capable of raising children, especially after seeing the tragic situation in Cotolungori. His attitude towards procreation has become more cautious. But is that fair to women? The girlfriend said she wanted to give birth to the baby and had nothing to do with Amerigo. So, the unfairness of this world is doomed. Someone is healthy, someone is disabled; men can have sex without concern, women have to take the risk of pregnancy...
From allegorical short stories to realistic novellas, Calvino began to face real life and think about the uncertainty and inequality in life and politics.