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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
funny
informative
slow-paced
A very interesting and exceptionally well written story of some interesting inhabitants of Venice, Italy, whom the author met while living there in the months following a fire which destroyed the historic La Fenice opera house in 1996.
slow-paced
If this doesn't make you yearn to visit Venice nothing will. Skilled writing and beautiful storytelling
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
This book is at once a story of Venice with a rich description of its culture, people, and history as well as a specific tale of the aftermath surrounding the fire that demolished their world class opera house. While I enjoyed following the author down many side roads (alleys, in this case) of the history of this city, some of his digressions went too far off the main story and mystery of the fire. I picked this book up and put it down many times until I finished it with a smidgen of relief.
It’s pretty hard to write a better book than Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It had sex, murder, quirky characters, Southern charm. City of Falling Angels is not about love and murder but about...a fire. And I know that half the people in the book felt like their child had died when they heard/saw the Firenze burn but I am ashamed to admit that I don’t care. I feel the same sadness for whenever anything historical gets destroyed, but it’s not interesting enough to focus a book around. The book could be pretty intriguing when Berendt’s narrative meandered to the scandalous bits of Venetian society (the couple who may or may not befriend and then take advantage of wealthy/artistically important elderly women and the family who had to sell part of their palatial home, including the one brother who was crazy and space-obsessed, and the warring personalities in the Save Venice charity). But then the book would go back to the Firenze and the book would slow down again. I mean, the Firenze was a historically and culturally rich building, but it was no Jim Williams (the focus of Midnight).
I wish Berendt hadn't tried to put a story into this nonfiction snapshot of modern Venetian life. His image of a city rich with history and influential people and yet filled with the small town feel of a gossipy, quirky location with it's characters, family histories and silly spats paints a real and tangible picture of this unique location. However these quick insights into the real Venetian life are marred by his occasional interruptions with the story of the fire of the Fenice--but this story is only vaguely related to the great imagery and characters he creates and almost takes away from the book as a whole. Yes, I'm complaining about a book having plot--because this book barely does and what plot elements are there detract from the otherwise rich and real characters he creates in a setting like no other. The story of the fire pulls me away from the characters and setting that pull me in and surround me completely. This is one book that doesn't need a plot; it has so much else to offer.
Many on-line reviews of this book compare it too closely, and unfavourably to the author's quite brilliant account of a murder and its subsequent trials in the American city of Savannah - 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'. This is a completely different type of book from the former, and I think it unfair to compare the two too closely. This too is about a crime, but the crime forms the backdrop to what is really a tribute to a very old, very beautiful, special and quite mysterious city.
Venice, surely, would be on most people's bucket list of cities to visit, and hopefully spend more than a day or two in. John Berendt does exactly that, his arrival coinciding with a massive fire which destroyed the iconic 160 year old Fenice Theatre. His intention was to spend a few weeks exploring the city and its surrounds, meeting Venetians but it would seem his enquiring journalistic nature got the better of him and he found himself caught up in the mystery of how the fire happened.
He meets many, many people, some interesting, some not so much, but all with a story to tell and a theory on the cause of the fire. In the first few pages we meet one of the most famous Venetian glass blowing families and later read about a massive family feud between two of the brothers that has torn the family apart. He meets the son of Count Volpi, a businessman and politician who contributed to much of the development of the infrastructure of Italy and left his legacy in founding the Venice Film Festival. Unfortunately for him and his son he was also a close associate of Mussolini. Perhaps the most fascinating character is the Rat Man of Treviso - too special to give further details of here.
One of the many criticisms of this book has been the focus on the large number of American expatriates who have close ties with Venice, rather than the Venetians themselves. Yes, these expats are all rich, their cups runneth over with their own self-importance and self-interest, but nevertheless their stories are still very, very interesting. From the beautiful sounding palaces they live in, exquisite works of architecture that somehow still seem to stay upright a few hundred years after being built, to their social connections, how they make their money, to their use of boats as a form of transport, to the lady who wears only white - riveting stuff.
Every second or third chapter there is an update of the investigation into the cause of the fire and the subsequent trial of those deemed responsible. And that would make a book in itself.
But of course the main star is the city itself. It is obvious the author adores the city, its age, its durability and defiance. He provides bits of history - the city's dominance as a commercial and trading power in the 1400s, its conquest by Napoleon in the late 18th century and even such interesting details as the origin of the word ghetto which was a locality in the city where the Jews lived, and still is today. He creates gorgeous images of what the city looks like, its atmosphere and essence, how the real life of the city is behind the main canals, and that the best time to visit is early February -after the Christmas/New Year holiday rush and before Carnival.
Reading this book has put spending some time in Venice further up the bucket list than it was. Fascinating, interesting and compelling reading.
Venice, surely, would be on most people's bucket list of cities to visit, and hopefully spend more than a day or two in. John Berendt does exactly that, his arrival coinciding with a massive fire which destroyed the iconic 160 year old Fenice Theatre. His intention was to spend a few weeks exploring the city and its surrounds, meeting Venetians but it would seem his enquiring journalistic nature got the better of him and he found himself caught up in the mystery of how the fire happened.
He meets many, many people, some interesting, some not so much, but all with a story to tell and a theory on the cause of the fire. In the first few pages we meet one of the most famous Venetian glass blowing families and later read about a massive family feud between two of the brothers that has torn the family apart. He meets the son of Count Volpi, a businessman and politician who contributed to much of the development of the infrastructure of Italy and left his legacy in founding the Venice Film Festival. Unfortunately for him and his son he was also a close associate of Mussolini. Perhaps the most fascinating character is the Rat Man of Treviso - too special to give further details of here.
One of the many criticisms of this book has been the focus on the large number of American expatriates who have close ties with Venice, rather than the Venetians themselves. Yes, these expats are all rich, their cups runneth over with their own self-importance and self-interest, but nevertheless their stories are still very, very interesting. From the beautiful sounding palaces they live in, exquisite works of architecture that somehow still seem to stay upright a few hundred years after being built, to their social connections, how they make their money, to their use of boats as a form of transport, to the lady who wears only white - riveting stuff.
Every second or third chapter there is an update of the investigation into the cause of the fire and the subsequent trial of those deemed responsible. And that would make a book in itself.
But of course the main star is the city itself. It is obvious the author adores the city, its age, its durability and defiance. He provides bits of history - the city's dominance as a commercial and trading power in the 1400s, its conquest by Napoleon in the late 18th century and even such interesting details as the origin of the word ghetto which was a locality in the city where the Jews lived, and still is today. He creates gorgeous images of what the city looks like, its atmosphere and essence, how the real life of the city is behind the main canals, and that the best time to visit is early February -after the Christmas/New Year holiday rush and before Carnival.
Reading this book has put spending some time in Venice further up the bucket list than it was. Fascinating, interesting and compelling reading.