A review by relf
Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea by Claudio Magris

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.