Lost

Zobeide: the city of dreams. Or it can also be named, the city of pity. "...they set out in search of the city; they never found it, but they found another; they decided to build a city like the one in the dream...but none of them ever saw the woman again." The men had a dream: a woman. The women then lead to another: building a city to pursue a dream. The dream city then inspires a dream of constructing till perfection: always with the dream of finding the woman. Two dreams raveled in a one dream, which creates a trap. A never-ending cycle that only creates melancholy.
A sense of incompetence that develops a city into a nest of deception. This situation in which the founders and the visitors of Zobeide are in, resembles the plot of the movie: Inception. A movie where the only place where DiCaprio can live up to his expectations and forget his utter failures, is continuing living in his dream. What I get this from this connection is a hint to Calvino's connection with the real world. A rather pessimistic idea expressed and quite cheesy: fair to say that its pretty cliche. More than an idea, this theme poses a question: what if we didn't expect so much? What if our expectations were lower? Would we be happier, would the world rid itself of melancholy? if the simplest things made us happy once again? Maybe, just maybe, no dreams are the answer for happiness.