Certain aspects of cosmology are fiendishly difficult to get one’s head around. If you’re not possessed of a Hawking-esque intellect, the sheer effort of trying to visualise four-dimensional space-time, or the concept of the pre-Big Bang singularity is more than enough to send most people spinning into a stress-induced migraine. What is one to make, then, of Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics, in which such concepts are experienced directly by a cast of unpronounceable characters, and instead of being the focus of the book, are relegated to backdrop for the author’s philosophical musings on the human condition?

“Highbrow” doesn’t even come close to describing the concepts behind this lovable little collection of short stories. Calvino’s characters, despite their distinctly human foibles, exist in an utterly different manner to us mere mortals. As metaphysical entities, they experience the space-time continuum from an entirely new angle, enabling the author to explore astonishingly complex concepts from the participants’ perspective. Time is something of an irrelevance for this extraordinary beings, space and distance merely minor distractions. Thus, they can explore the Big-Bang from the inside out, fall for infinite distances, climb ladders to the moon or count the revolutions of a galaxy with impunity.

The genius behind Cosmicomics is not its novel approach to astrophysics, however. The grace and levity of these little vignettes is provided by the recognisably human attitudes and relationships portrayed in Qfwfq and co.’s universe. Take out all the fantastic extrapolations of cosmology and you would still have a series of delightfully whimsical musings on life and love, but Calvino bolsters the accessible humanity of his tales with these bizarre backdrops, and so elevates a series of comparatively mundane interactions to the level of sublime genius.

Cosmicomics is a book that asks a lot of its reader. You will never be truly sure what Qfwfq actually is, or quite whether physics could be made to work the way Calvino envisions, and there is frustration to be had aplenty for the reader who tries to make sense of it all. Instead, this is best experienced in the same way as many theists approach religion – enjoy the sensation, but don’t ask too many questions…