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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
funny
informative
fast-paced
Pros: every single character, who was somehow more insane than the last person introduced
Cons: nonprofit board drama, courtroom proceedings, the fact that it is a memoir for a building
[6/72]
[6/72]
This is a book about Venice. It is emphatically NOT a straightforward true crime story about a theater fire or a chronological narrative of the restoration process. The fire is an important piece, and the resolution is as satisfactory as a complicated real-life situation is ever likely to be, but there are many, many tangents along the way. Instead of asking "What does this line of exploration have to do with the theater fire?", just go along for the wild ride, because this is also a story of eccentric ex-pats, traditions of Carnival, feuding glassblowers, the challenges of an international charitable organization, architectural concepts, a poet's suicide, real estate complications, a battle over the legacy of Ezra Pound, assorted anecdotes of art and literature history, etc etc. If that's your thing and you're interested in the rabbit trails for their own sake, you'll like this book. (I did!) The only negative for me was that at times the author seemed to be leaning a little hard into his own preconceptions of his subjects (who are real people, not fictional characters) and thus sometimes strayed a little close to the line of being a caricature or stereotype. Overall, though, this was a great atmospheric read with a lot of fascinating and quirky paths through the stories of the city.
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
informative
I expected this to be more of a mystery novel than it was. It was still interesting, but it was more heavy on social-political drama than I was hoping for. Unlikely that I’ll revisit this, I might drop it off in a local little free library…
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I was definitely expecting a novel along the pace of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, so once I adjusted to a much slower pace, I was able to envelope myself in Venetian history.
Although there wasn’t a lot going on, and involved many figures perhaps better known by adults in the early nineties, I still was very interested in all the subplots and antics of those grappling for power or attention in Venice.
Although there wasn’t a lot going on, and involved many figures perhaps better known by adults in the early nineties, I still was very interested in all the subplots and antics of those grappling for power or attention in Venice.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
The City of Falling Angels is the second book by John Berendht. Fans of his first book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil will probably like this one, too. The strength of The City of Falling Angels is the author's amazing ability to weave a cohesive story out of a bunch of unrelated personal interviews. For most of the 398 pages (12 hrs and 52 min listening time) this approach worked very well. However, the last bit of the book kind of lost focus and I listened three times and also read some of the passages in the traditional way. A bonus feature of this work is a short interview with the author at the end.
funny
informative
slow-paced
Review coming later...
(24th Dec)
Ok. Short and sweet.
I tried to read this, I really did...and i almost finished. But it just got really boring. It was actually kind of interesting until about halfway through, but after that I just started to force myself to read. I hate when that happens...
(24th Dec)
Ok. Short and sweet.
I tried to read this, I really did...and i almost finished. But it just got really boring. It was actually kind of interesting until about halfway through, but after that I just started to force myself to read. I hate when that happens...