Books, and more books

[mojosmom]

#48
A Venetian Reckoning, by Donna Leon

#49
Acqua Alta, by Donna Leon

#50
Blood from a Stone, by Donna Leon

#51
Venice Observed, by Mary McCarthy

#52
The City of Falling Angels, by John Berendt

On January 29, 1996, Venice's historic opera house, La Fenice, burned to the ground. Shortly thereafter, writer John Berendt arrived in the city for a lengthy stay, and decided to write about the city and its loss. It's an interesting and well-written book, one that delves into Venice's history and peculiarities, the things that make it unique. It is also a very gossipy book (always fun!), especially the bits about Jane and Philip Rylands of the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. They do not come off well. I have a book of short stories by Jane on my TBR pile. They are said to be romans à clef; it will be interesting to see if any of the people who slammed her are slammed back!

I must say that some of the cattiness in the book made me a bit uncomfortable. I was bothered, too, by Berendt's quoting from an interview with one person who says, quite explicitly, "this is off the record". That being the case, why does Berendt print it? And for a book about the city, it is heavy on big money and big names, with little about the ordinary Veneziano.

Okay, that's enough for now. More later.

Comments

[mrsdanvers63.livejournal.com]

I read City of Falling Angels last month for my reading group(Ethelreaders). I share your opinion of the book. It wsa at it's most interesting in the descriptions of small-scale Venice life, but here was far too much of an obsession with names and money rather than the "characters" of Venice. As a Brit I tired easily of the moneyed Americans that Bernedt cosied up to.