--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You’ve come about your manuscript? It’s…" description: "\"“You’ve come about your manuscript? It’s with the reader; no, I’m getting that wrong, it’s been read, very interesting, of course, now I remember! Rema..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/italo-calvino-402_books_you-ve-come-about-your-manuscript-it-s-w_2342965.jpg" --- # You’ve come about your manuscript? It’s with the reader… ![“You’ve come about your manuscript? It’s with the reader; no, I’m getting that wrong, it’s been read, very interesting, of course, now I remember! Remarkable sense of language, heartfelt denunciation, didn’t you receive our letter? We’re very sorry to have to tell you, in the letter it’s all…” quote by Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/italo-calvino-402_books_you-ve-come-about-your-manuscript-it-s-w_2342965.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/italo-calvino-402_books_you-ve-come-about-your-manuscript-it-s-w_2342965.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/italo-calvino-402_books_you-ve-come-about-your-manuscript-it-s-w_2342965.jpg) > ““You’ve come about your manuscript? It’s with the reader; no, I’m getting that wrong, it’s been read, very interesting, of course, now I remember! Remarkable sense of language, heartfelt denunciation, didn’t you receive our letter? We’re very sorry to have to tell you, in the letter it’s all explained, we sent it some time ago, the mail is so slow these days, you’ll receive it of course, our list is overloaded, unfavorable economic situation. Ah, you see? You’ve received it. And what else did it say? Thanking you for having allowed us to read it, we will return it promptly. Ah, you’ve come to collect the manuscript? No, we haven’t found it, do just be patient a little longer, it’ll turn up, nothing is ever lost here, only today we found a manuscript we’d been looking or these past ten years, oh, not another ten years, we’ll find yours sooner, at least let’s hope so, we have so many manuscripts, piles this high, if you like we’ll show them to you, of course you want your own, not somebody else’s, that’s obvious, I mean we preserve so many manuscripts we don’t care a fig about, we’d hardly throw away yours which means so much to us, no, not to publish it, it means so much for us to give it back to you.”” [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A convoluted, bureaucratic exchange about a manuscript illustrates absurdities of communication, delays, and the paradox of preserving things while neglecting the individual. **In simple terms:** Bureaucratic delays and absurdities in handling a manuscript. Key Takeaway Beware of over‑complicated systems. Themes bureaucracy communication absurdity literature humor Mood ironic satirical Type literary humorous When to use this quote - publishing industry - library management - customer service - personal patience - administrative paperwork Key Concepts Kafkaesque process information overload archival neglect Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle endless waiting? - What systems could simplify such exchanges? A Different Perspective The story may exaggerate for effect, not reflecting typical experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Collect Manuscript](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collect-manuscript-5677500/) [Come Manuscript](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/come-manuscript-5677498/) [Editors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/editors/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Letter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letter/) [Letter Explained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letter-explained-4515539/) [Manuscript](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manuscript/) [Manuscript Looking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manuscript-looking-5677499/) [Tell Letter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tell-letter-5677501/) [Ten years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ten-years/) ## Related quotes > [“Oh, stop talking," I cried, in a hunted tone. "I can't bear it. If you are going to arrest me, get it over." 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Konigsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-konigsburg/) > [“Thanks to Karen Connelly who read earlier versions of this manuscript and to Ronald Hatch my editor and publisher.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-holmes/thanks-to-karen-connelly-who-read-earlier-versions-of-this-manuscript/) [Nancy Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-holmes/) > [“Ben ducked beneath the arbor and paused by the fishpond when a memory crept upon him like a shadow. 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The end of every game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-great-khan-tried-to-concentrate-on-the-game-but-now-it-was-the/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Or else you can say, like the camel driver who took me there: "I arrived here in my first youth, one morning, many people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/or-else-you-can-say-like-the-camel-driver-who-took-me-there-i-arrived/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“The naked man had lost hope now; he would never be able to return to the earth's surface;he would never leave the bottom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-naked-man-had-lost-hope-now-he-would-never-be-able-to-return-to/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“The art of writing tales consists in an ability to draw the rest of life from the little one has understood of it; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-art-of-writing-tales-consists-in-an-ability-to-draw-the-rest-of/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“I ask you to come down to earth," said the Baron in a calm, rather faint voice, "and to take up the duties of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/i-ask-you-to-come-down-to-earth-said-the-baron-in-a-calm-rather-faint/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [The unconscious is the ocean of the unsayable, of what has been expelled from the land of language, removed as a result of ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-unconscious-is-the-ocean-of-the-unsayable-of-what-has-been/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“... KUBLAI: We have proved that if we were here, we would not be. POLO: And here, in fact, we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/kublai-we-have-proved-that-if-we-were-here-we-would-not-be-polo-and/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“And yet, in Raissa, at every moment there is a child in a window who laughs seeing a dog that has jumped on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/and-yet-in-raissa-at-every-moment-there-is-a-child-in-a-window-who/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Ludmilla, now you are being read. Your body is being subjected to a systematic reading, through channels of tactile information, visual, olfactory, and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/ludmilla-now-you-are-being-read-your-body-is-being-subjected-to-a/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Once the process of falsification is set in motion, it won't stop. We're in a country where everything that can be falsified has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/once-the-process-of-falsification-is-set-in-motion-it-won-t-stop-we/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Your case gives me new hope," I said to him. 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You’ve come about your manuscript? It’s with the reader; no, I’m getting that wrong, it’s been read, very interesting, of course, now I remember! Remarkable sense of language, heartfelt denunciation, didn’t you receive our letter? We’re very sorry to have to tell you, in the letter it’s all explained, we sent it some time ago, the mail is so slow these days, you’ll receive it of course, our list is overloaded, unfavorable economic situation. Ah, you see? You’ve received it. And what else did it say? Thanking you for having allowed us to read it, we will return it promptly. Ah, you’ve come to collect the manuscript? No, we haven’t found it, do just be patient a little longer, it’ll turn up, nothing is ever lost here, only today we found a manuscript we’d been looking or these past ten years, oh, not another ten years, we’ll find yours sooner, at least let’s hope so, we have so many manuscripts, piles this high, if you like we’ll show them to you, of course you want your own, not somebody else’s, that’s obvious, I mean we preserve so many manuscripts we don’t care a fig about, we’d hardly throw away yours which means so much to us, no, not to publish it, it means so much for us to give it back to you.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Italo Calvino" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/you-ve-come-about-your-manuscript-it-s-with-the-reader-no-i-m-getting/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/you-ve-come-about-your-manuscript-it-s-with-the-reader-no-i-m-getting/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/italo-calvino-402_books_you-ve-come-about-your-manuscript-it-s-w_2342965.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/italo-calvino-402_books_you-ve-come-about-your-manuscript-it-s-w_2342965.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ad/italo-calvino-402_books_you-ve-come-about-your-manuscript-it-s-w_2342965.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You’ve come about your manuscript? 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