Reviews

Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea by Claudio Magris, Patrick Creagh

jessiebwriting's review against another edition

Just couldn't get into. Not my kind of writing.

relf's review against another edition

4.0

This is a brilliant book unlike any other I've read. Though dense, the writing is by turns lyrical, philosophical, cynical, and funny. It's taken me a long time to munch through it, short chapter by short chapter, one or two a night, with long interludes setting it aside . . . and yet it was delicious to munch. It impelled me to read on and lent itself to this episodic reading, with each short chapter capable of standing alone. It's like traveling--along the length of the Danube, in this case--with someone who can tell me something very interesting and sometimes esoteric about each place we stop. It may be a bit of forgotten history, a literary connection, a curiosity of nature, or just an evocation of the mood and spirit of a place. This traveling companion, however, thinks that I'm a lot better read than I am, and flings names and references at me at a great pace. I can't think of any book that has had me running to the internet more frequently. Perhaps footnotes would have helped . . . or perhaps not. If nothing else, I've realized how empty of eastern European history my mind is--the number of names of great leaders, historic countries, and whole ethnic groups that I'd never heard of was shocking. To be remedied.

A friend gave me this book after I'd returned from a Danube trip. Now I must travel the rest of the Danube, and I'll certainly bring this book with me as the perfect companion.

gopalms's review against another edition

4.0

- It's also the story of the German people who lived/lives along the Danube.
- It's also a book that not just travels along the river but also across time.
- It's supposed to have been written over 20 years! And it will take you a longer time than you take to read any other book of this kind because there are a lot of interesting thoughts and ideas that make you pause and think. You will also go back and re-read certain sections.

One of the greatest books of this kind without doubt. I wish there were more books like this!

whatsnonfiction's review against another edition

2.0

This was difficult. I kept noting really gorgeously written passages, and when the anecdotes and historical bits made sense, they were worth reading. But so much of it is hard to get through, with so many obscure references and philosophical asides that didn't add much to the cultural or historical aspects that I thought were the basis of the book. I'm not sure the author actually knew what kind of book he wanted to write because it's all over the place, subject-wise and stylistically. I thought the section about Vienna, I think called Cafe Central, was written in a livelier style with less of the confusing and only vaguely relevant segues. So...that was nice.