The City of Fallen Angels John Berendt Review
I started this book a few months ago, loved information technology, continued reading it, continued loving information technology, so put information technology downwardly for a few months before ever finishing it. Hmm. The problem with the book is, although information technology paints a bright picture of Venice, information technology doesn't grab the reader like Berendt's previous book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Something about a burnt-downwards opera house merely doesn't excite the same tension and thrills that good erstwhile fashioned homicide does. As travel writing, City of Falling Angels is superb. And, without trying to be facetious or cavalier, it is a lovely book to read at bedtime. No murders, ethical dilemmas, or other issues that are unsettling in the nighttime, but total of interesting, colorful characters; exotic, beautiful places; and fantasy lives that are just within reach. Perfect. This volume is not a shot of vodka or even a can of nutrition coke, but it's a very prissy cup of tea or warm glass of milk.
Written by the aforementioned human who wrote Midnight in the Garden of Skilful and Evil, this book takes the reader to Venice shortly after the well-renowned Fenice Theatre burned down. Berendt offers a multiple of theories surrounding the fire, from Mafia participation to a neglectful renovation coiffure. There are few cohesive lines through this volume. In that location is the mystery surrounding the burn down of the Fenice, and there are gossipy stories involving many of the locals (nigh of whom are really expatriates and not native Venetians). The virtually interesting "soap opera" was the i involving Ezra Pound and his companion of l+ years, Olga Rudge, and the battles she fought after Pound'southward death to preserve his life's works. In what is surely to soon be considered Berendt-style, he offered insight into the lives of some interesting characters that he met, such as the Rat-Man (who made a living designing gourmet rat poisons with different ingredients depending on the locale in which the poison was needed), a walking Establish Man, a depressed homosexual poet who loved people, etc. Not unlike Midnight it seems Berendt thinks his popularity comes with the inclusion of eccentrics. However, different Midnight there were besides many stories that never quite came together in the end. If 1 were to consider this a book of essays as opposed to one work of nonfiction, then perhaps it would accept packed a different punch. His descriptions of Venice, however, were impressive and lends a certain degree of mystery to all of the stories, which, surely, was his intention all forth but somehow managed to not attain simply that entirely.
John Berendt wonderfully digs beneath the surface of Venice in The City of Falling Angels.. He provides much history of not but the fine art and buildings of Venice, but also of many Venetian families. He manages to do this all in such a casual way that ane forgets it's non-fiction. I'chiliad only sad, I didn't read this prior to visiting Venice. 1 of my favorite lines in the volume, describing Venice: "On one occasion I set most testing this notion past concocting a game called "photo roulette," the object was to walk around the city taking photographs at unplanned moments — whenever a church bong rang or at every sighting of a dog or true cat — to meet how often, standing at an capricious spot, one would exist confronted past a view of exceptional dazzler. The answer — virtually always." I felt like that in Europe ALL the fourth dimension. *Sigh*
In The City Of Falling Angels, John Berendt tries to do for Venice what he did for Savannah, Georgia, in his blockbuster hit Midnight In The Garden Of Adept And Evil. Just as the before book began with a murder, this one opens with something near as compelling: a fire that, in 1996, destroyed the celebrated La Fenice Opera House and almost destroyed Venice itself. The cause of the burn down is considered arson past some, negligence by others, and there's talk that the Mafia could be connected. But the book is less about the outcome of the investigation as it is the people who inhabit the island, from erstwhile world nobles who live in palazzos along the G Culvert to American expats and various artists, artisans and simple tradespeople. Berendt - who coincidentally showed up in the metropolis three days subsequently the fire - is a shrewd observer, and when he's describing people and places, there'south lots of drama and humor. Particularly entertaining is the portrait of the man who makes his living concocting specialized rat poisons for various cities. What Berendt lacks hither, however, is a compelling villain, someone mysterious and sinister similar his first book's Jim Williams. There's likewise no one equally shamelessly cocky-promoting and outrageous as the Lady Chablis, the drag queen who became a pocket-sized glory subsequently Midnight'southward success. You get the feeling here that the author was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of history and background he had to impart. Nowhere is this clearer than in the nigh unreadable chapter about Ezra Pound, his wife and his mistress. Perchance it's the language bulwark (a glossary of words and names comes in handy) or the fact that Venetians are a protective, contradictory people, but the volume doesn't come to life fully. Yet, travellers wanting the scoop on the real Venice - at that place's barely a mention of St. Marking'south Square - volition want to option this upwardly. Originally published in Now Magazine: nowtoronto.com/fine art-and-books/books/ci...
This wasn't a historical dive into the magical urban center of Venice that I hoped for, but a worthy nonfiction read nonetheless. Nigh all the stories occurred in the later one-half of the 20th C. He explores the culture of Venice and focuses on many prominent Venetians or Ex-Pats living in Venice. As he meets with individuals at that place is some historical description as the families & their palazzos become back centuries. The thread that moves in and out of many of the various stories is the horrific fire that destroyed the Gran Teatro La Fenice, Venice'due south opera house. The author starts out with this event of January 1996 and its touch on of the metropolis and its people. I found most of this book compelling and immensely readable.
This is past the same writer of Midnight in the Garden of Expert and Evil: A Savannah Story. After he left Savannah Berendt went and lived in Venice, Italy for a decade. This is very similar to his earlier novel, he lives in and gets to know a coastal metropolis following a noteworthy crime, this time instead of a murder, he follows the investigation of the called-for of a historical opera firm. Also like the Savannah book, he sheds a revealing light on the decadence, selfishness and occasional silliness of socialites and royalty, actual or but pretenders. Excellent writing in a journalistic nonetheless conversational tone, very entertaining. 
In 1996, a burn bankrupt out somewhere inside the empty Fenice opera house in Venice. The opera house was being restored, and was supposed to reopen inside a month. When the fire bankrupt out, a 1000000 things went swiftly and horribly wrong: the interior of the opera house was littered with open paint cans, chemicals, and cloths, making accidental burn down an inevitability, and the fire alarm was disabled. The canal side by side to the Fenice had been tuckered recently, and because of this the fire boats weren't even able to achieve the building at start, and and then had no immediate h2o supply. They had to collect water from the One thousand Canal and bring it over by helicopter - by then, the opera house was in flames and there was no way to stop information technology. The fire department had to focus on keeping the fire from spreading to the rest of the very combustible city, and as a issue the inhabitants of Venice were forced to lookout, weeping, every bit the centuries-old opera business firm burned to the ground in front of them. That's the opening scene of The City of Falling Angels, and information technology'due south the best office of the book. Berendt describes people watching the destruction of the opera house equally they try to keep their own homes from communicable burn down, and the well-nigh anyone can exercise is watch the fire and weep, while every now and then we get lines similar, "A deafening crash resounded in the depths of the Fenice. The great crystal chandelier had fallen to the floor." (Fair warning: if y'all don't understand why people would cry at the destruction of an opera house, this is non your book) Three days later, enter John Berendt, who sees the effects the Fenice fire has had on the residents of Venice, and decides that it might make a good subject for a book. He spends the next eight years living in Venice to interview people about the fire and everything else in their lives, because he'southward John Berendt and he can do that. He interviews judges, restoration experts, lawyers, and simply about everyone who witnessed the fire (they include an Italian count and an elderly glassblower). People doubtable that the Fenice fire was arson, possibly the result of the Mafia. The investigation is long and very interesting, and information technology's the start of a really good mystery. Only the commencement of one, unfortunately. If this book had just been about the Fenice burn down, the investigation, and the restoration process, it would accept been really interesting and illuminating. But Berendt merely can't stay focused. He meanders from 1 plot to the next, like he's trying to keep up with the "Look How Many Zany Eccentrics I Tin can Find" cred he established in Midnight in the Garden of Skillful and Evil. Although here, "Zany Eccentrics" is replaced by "Obscenely Rich Expatriate Snobs." One man Berendt meets at a party excitedly explains to him how an aristocracy is the best form of government, because then all the good leadership qualities get passed downwards through ane family unit. Some other woman belongs to a family of expats who first moved to Venice in the 1800s when Boston got too goddamned Irish for their tastes (Berendt states this more diplomatically, only that'south the gist). He can't focus his story on the Fenice. He talks about the fire and the investigation for a while, then suddenly he's spending 15 pages telling united states of america about a glassblower's family drama. Then thirty-eight pages on the previously-mentioned expat family unit. Then forty-nine pages on Ezra Pound'due south aging mistress and her efforts to keep his papers and messages from existence stolen by the so-called "Ezra Pound Foundation." Here we break for a brusk revisit to the Fenice fire, and then he spends forty-two pages telling us all near the drama between two guys in charge of the American not-profit group Salve Venice. Then thirty pages on a poet who killed himself, or perchance not. Yes, I counted all of those pages. No, none of those side stories have anything to do with the Fenice burn. No, none of them are even mildly interesting, except mayhap the Pound one. Yes, every single conflict Berendt shows us is explored in nitpicking depth, and and so dropped without a satisfying conclusion. Yeah, it is irritating. I think, ultimately, the problem with this volume was that it was presented wrong. I went into it expecting an in-depth investigation of a existent-life mystery: the Fenice burn down. Instead, I got a wandering, often overly-detailed look at the inhabitants of Venice and their daily drama. Which is fine - if that'due south what I'd expected to become out of this book. Had Berendt written this volume equally a series of essays on Venice, equally another reviewer recommended, that would have been good. If he had presented the book as a portrait of Venetians and been more articulate about the fact that the Fenice burn was more of a subplot, that would accept too been fine. As things are, however, I was non expecting near of what I was shown in this book, and it was disappointing. That existence said, I actually really want to go to Venice now.
This book is actually one I similar to read again and again. John Berendt is a former magazine writer and his starting time book "Midnight In The Garden of Skilful And Evil" was a fascinating peek at Savannah society as well as a peek inside the judicial system - following trials of Jim Williams for murder - tried multiple times for the aforementioned murder and acquitted each fourth dimension. "The City of Falling Angels" turns it attention to the aboriginal Italian city of Venice, and the tragic burn that destroyed the famous opera house there. This is a truthful story and it covers not merely the fire, only several scandals that rocked Venetian society. It is populated with characters that are too colorful to be existent, but indeed, they are. Read this book.
I was so glad when this book was over. It was quite a chore to heed to on sound, simply I think it would have been the same for print. The author moves to Venice and then infiltrates the locals' worlds. Nosotros learn a lot most the burning of the Fenice opera business firm, Ezra Pound's estate, and everyday life in Venice. I enjoyed learning that everyone walks in Venice--there are no cars. Yet, I felt that the author went into style more detail about the Fenice fire than I needed to know. It was simply hard to concur my interest, but I hate not finishing a book. The book was well-written, only I would recommend it only if yous take a deep, constant interest in Italy or Venice.
The author, every bit he did in his nail best-seller Midnight in the Garden of Skilful and Evil, begins with a major upshot and so builds a multi-layered story of the metropolis and people involved. In this case it is Venice, Italy and the destruction by fire of the historic Fenice Opera House. The Fenice was a dear landmark and its destruction was heartbreaking for the Venetians. Was it arson or was information technology an accident caused by careless workmen? The author moved to Venice three days afterward the fire to write a book about the decay and the dedication of Venetians to preserve their water city and instead decides to "investigate" the burn down. His quest takes the reader through Venice and we meet some of the fascinating people who live in that location (and in one case lived at that place such equally Ezra Pound and Robert Browning). It presently becomes obvious that the lifestyle of Venetians is like that of no other city in Italy and their rules of social etiquette are still similar to those of 100 years ago. It seems that every other person is a Count or Countess and those hereditary titles withal carry serious importance in the workings of the city. This is a love letter to the city and its people too as an investigation of the cause of the Fenice Opera House fire. A very interesting and personal book.
An American walks around Venice trying to explain its peculiarities. He has access very few other Americans would be granted--Unfortunately who comes out looking odd here, in my opinion, is the other Americans expatriates who call the place home. The Ezra Pound and Save Venice incidents largely involve dubious Americans with huge egos that need stroking. The absurdities are worth reading about particularly if you are aware of NYC socialites whose names are within the book. I enjoyed the book just non as much every bit Berendt's preceding tome to Savannah (which absolutely he had a difficult time ending and Clint Eastwood had a harder time filming). I am now putting Venice higher on my "to visit" listing and now that Berendt'southward identified the charms of the off-flavor when Venice is strictly for Venetians. .I'm afraid they wont be alone anymore to enjoy their town for those 3 lovely weeks.
Need to reread this one again. I picked up this volume and bought it mainly because of my outset memory of Venice. Information technology was Oct of 1997 during my honeymoon and my married man and I had just arrived and were trying to find our Venetian hotel. We were wandering aimlessly through the small passageways and streets of Venice upwards and over canals; we were hopelessy lost, and we stumbled upon the ruins of La Fenice. The famed opera house had burned in January, 1996 but there had been no change to the site since the fire. It was a foggy dark, and the image of the bedraggled walls of the opera house continuing through the mist as we walked through the square left a strong banner on my mind.
This volume tells of the fire, and the subsequent drama to rebuild and restore the Fenice, while also taking into account the fascinating lives of Venice residents.
I didn't end the book, but from what I read (nearly three/4ths) I didn't like it, except for the Ezra Pound section - although I didn't really see the connection with the Fenice theater burning. The book reminded me of a never-ending Dominick Dunne piece for "Vanity Fair" with its continuous proper name-dropping and irrelevant gossip - name dropping is only fun when you know who the people are! Alas, I'm not up on Venice society. However, the writing itself - the use of linguistic communication - as expected was wonderful, as Bernendt is an excellent author. I merely didn't similar the content.
I wish John Berendt had written a different book near Venice. Ane that was well-nigh the existent inhabitants and daily lives of Venetians. It'southward one of those places where the myth and exclamations and romanticism of tourists overshadow the fact that for some people, it's just home. There are pluses (the terminal train to the mainland leaves at nine pm, and it's expensive to stay at a hotel in the city, so the bulk of the tourists clear out for the night) and minuses (oh, those tourists and their obsession with the pigeons in Piazza San Marco), simply there are too many unique aspects as a result of its geography if cypher else. At first, I idea this was the book Berendt had written - he started off talking about the fire that destroyed the Fenice Opera Firm shortly before he arrived in Venice to start writing this book. This led to an interlude about a master glassblower who was inspired to create pieces representative of what he saw as he watched the building burn. I was even with Berendt when he started talking to the expatriates from whom he rented his flat. Although the couple were somewhat annoying, they were also able to provide an interesting perspective on the city and its ways, a sort of insider-outsider'due south view. But from this point on, the whole volume went down a path I wasn't that enthralled with. The people Berendt talked to and virtually were ofttimes non native Venetians, and normally prominent and filthy rich. The type of affair I bask hearing well-nigh: Venetians ever embellish, and if y'all don't do the same, they'll exist first suspicious and then bored of you. The blazon of thing I don't savour hearing about: someone who has a replica of Casanova'due south gondola made for their use. A thing that is interesting: Venice is a terrible metropolis for the elderly because of the amount of walking (including upwards and down bridges) that is required. A thing that is not and so interesting: how many doges some count has had in his family. Interesting: why people'south feelings about Venice have the course of wanting to "save" it (every bit one person said, "Why does everyone want to save Venice? Why don't they want to save Paris?"). Not interesting: the infighting on the board of the Save Venice organization and whose name goes at the top of a plaque. The family of long-term expatriates (multiple generations) who own a palace managed to straddle the line, although I recall I would have liked hearing nearly them more if the focus hadn't been on so many other fabulously wealthy people. And through all these stories, Berendt keeps going back to the burn at the Fenice, with the narrative centering around who set up the burn down (or if it was an accident, merely let's get real - information technology's obvious it was arson). That story would have made a pretty involving article, just it was dragged out and out to make it concluding through the book'due south entirety. Toward the end, I started wondering if Berendt had started the fire to give himself something to write nearly. My advice: read some other book on Venice. I don't know which ane, but another one.
THE Metropolis OF FALLING ANGELS (Not-Fiction-Venice, Italy-Cont) – VG+ First Sentence: "Everyone in Venice is acting," Count Girolamo Marcello told me. In January 1996, La Fenice (the Phoenix) was destroyed past burn. Was it an accident, or was it arson? Berendt'southward book is a non-fiction look at more than the investigation, only a true study of the history, civilisation and people of Venice. I loved this book. No, it's non on the same level as Berendt'due south starting time book, "Midnight in the Garden of Expert and Evil," merely information technology's a very different volume. "Midnight" was about a murder and followed a very specific cast of characters. In this book, the central graphic symbol is the metropolis of Venice and information technology was fascinating. Berendt excels at sense of identify so real with the city. I really did have a sense of the lady below of veil of whom i catches intriguing glances. I loved learning about some of the history of the people; Ezra Pound and his mistress Olga, the glassblower and his sons and part well-nigh Francesco da Mosto, who hosted "Italy Pinnacle to Toe" on the Travel Channel recently, about the politics and how the metropolis runs, or doesn't, and the dissension inside the system Relieve Venice. All the sub-stories wound about as practice the canals of Venice and I was enthralled. I am not normally a not-fiction reader, but this was a one-sitting read for me.
Berendt, John – Standalone
The Penguin Press, 2005, US Hardcover – ISBN: 1594200580
I love Berendt's style of writing and this is very well done. Like his previous nonfictional piece of work, "Midnight in the Garden of Skillful and Evil" the writer takes an event, (this time the burn down at the Fenice, the Venice Opera House in 1996) investigates it and creates a story he, as the author, and we the reader, all get intrigued past. Every bit always there is a memorable bandage of characters. Similar Savannah in his previous work, Venice takes on its own identity and that is disquisitional to the plot. The artists, politicians, philanthropists, tradespeople, and the European dignity all get essential to the ultimate dysfunction of rebuilding this Venetian architectural treasure. The characters are less eccentric, thus less fun than in his previous work, so this book lacks some of the humor which made "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" so unforgettable. There is no Lady Chablis! Nonetheless highly recommended, especially for those planning a trip to Italy and Venice.
Lightning DOES strike twice, though peradventure not for John Berendt. The writer is best known for writing the mega-bestseller (and Pulitzer Prize-finalist) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for YEARS. Berendt had the peachy fortune of hit it out of the park with his very beginning volume, or was that actually a great misfortune, every bit annihilation Berendt could promise to write later on would pale in comparison to Midnight'due south otherworldly success? In the 24 years since "Midnight" was published, Berendt has only written one real follow-up and that's 2005'due south "The City of Falling Angels". By any mensurate, this book was a success. Just compared to "Midnight", information technology was DOA. The books are written in such a like way it's articulate they're past the same author, but if you could manage to split them and merely forget most "Midnight", you would really probably really like "The City of Falling Angels". But read as the follow-up to that book it can't assist merely disappoint. Every bit mentioned, both books are written in the aforementioned format, with the leitmotif of the larger story framing what are a serial of other stories. In "Midnight", it's the shooting of Danny Hansford and the subsequent murder trial. In "Angels" it'south the called-for of the La Fenice opera house and the resulting investigation. The onetime works beautifully because we've already spent over 100 pages with the key players by the time the bodily shooting takes place (though this is on account of creative liberties Berendt took, namely changing the order in which the events took place). "Angels", however, opens with the burning of the opera house. The investigation into possible arson that finishes out the story is, in my opinion, the weakest of the several stories included. What nosotros're left with then is a fascinating, multi-layered await at Venice and its people, surrounding which stands a somewhat wobbly structure. Take any of the other stories Berendt includes here — I'm partial myself to the rivalries fleshed out in the "Salve Venice" organization and, in detail, to the dastardly theft of letters and other valuable papers belonging to Olga Rudge, the onetime mistress of renowned American poet Ezra Pound — and they are far more than fascinating than the fundamental story of what led the Fenice to go up in flames. If the pieces that make upward "The City of Falling Angels" don't add up to form a cohesive whole, then that's but appropriate given that the setting is Venice, a metropolis that feels at war not merely with the exterior world, but at war with itself. Fifty-fifty today there is a sizable number of Venetians who want to exist outside of the Italian state, who want to limit tourism or ban it entirely, who detest all that Venice has become. It'southward a city of contradictions, merely it isn't Savannah. In some sense, Savannah is and always was far more exotic than Venice, a metropolis that has been written about in travelogues and novels, depicted in photographs and paintings, seemingly since its inception. You don't need to accept visited Venice to know it. You only demand to accept read Thomas Mann, Henry James, or Italo Calvino, to have seen the work of Canaletto, to grasp it. Contrast that with Savannah, a sleepy Georgian port city that, before Berendt came along, saw relatively few visitors. In that location's just not a whole lot you tin can say nigh Venice that hasn't been said earlier. Yes, Venetians are gossipy, contradictory, and occasionally quite eccentric individuals, but every bit someone who spent a twelvemonth and a half living in Puglia and, later, Rome, they sound much like other Italians. John Berendt however makes Venice audio utterly fascinating because he is a terrific writer. While I would rather him write nigh those nether-the-radar places, if you have to spend vii or eight years in a place in order to write virtually it (which is how long Berendt lived in Savannah and Venice, respectfully) then you conspicuously desire to cull a place you'd really like to alive in. Even so, reading this, I couldn't help but think how much more interesting information technology would have been had Berendt written about Perugia (an Italian metropolis far less known to outsiders) and the murder of Meredith Kercher/subsequent trial of American Amanda Knox. Now that would have been a worthy follow-up to "Midnight"! While "The City of Falling Angels" is a compelling read, to fully enjoy information technology you have to forget about the book that came before.
*Midnight* was such an entertaining, intriguing book that it would simply be natural to go looking for more from Berendt. Sadly, this volume isn't it. Though Berendt tries to give *Falling Angels* a convincing through-line (and y'all'd remember it would take i – the built-in whodunit of the burning of the Fenice Theatre), the thing but never gels. In part, it'due south non Berendt's fault; information technology's the error of "reality." In typical Italian fashion, at that place'due south no clear good guy or bad guy; the guy convicted for arson may or may non accept done information technology (and it may or may not have been arson); the rebuilding dragged on for years while Berendt'south informants inconveniently died, and and so on. But in part it is precisely his mistake, considering he puts his focus in entirely the wrong place: on the spoiled, backbiting, nasty, venal, social climbing, ultrarich jerks (for the well-nigh part) who orbited the Fenice projection in specific and who populate Italian "high guild" in full general. Granted, there's no snob like an Italian snob (unless it's an English language or American expat snob, and that's a whole 'nuther ball game), but Berendt seems to have had an particularly difficult time finding 1 decent or likeable person in his cast of liars, petty criminals, reprobates, butt-kissers, tin gods, name droppers, arrivistes, and plutocrats. Really, barely i. Nor does the book have anything particularly revealing to say about Venice, the Veneziani, or Italy (notwithstanding jacket copy to the opposite), because Berendt spent all his time in an echelon so esoteric, nihilistic, and cannibalistic that *Falling Angels* ends up being a volume virtually the generic rich-and-bored (in whatsoever metropolis, on any continent) and not about Venice or the Fenice. As a result, it's hard to know who could be interested in what amounts to 400 pages of club-folio gossip about people yous don't know, aren't ever going to know, and don't peculiarly *want* to know, simply that's what the book—deprived of a true mystery to explore—devolves into. After all the time, effort, and money Berendt and his publisher sunk into Venice, I'm sure it would have been wrenching to walk away and say, "There's no book here," simply that would very likely have been the honorable thing to do.
Berendt is a very patient writer, which to me is neither a compliment or an insult. I listened to this on audio because I call up Holter Graham is an excellent reader, and I recall I liked the book, too. Large sections of information technology only loosely tied into the main story of the burning of Teatro La Fenice, Venice's opera house. Oftentimes, all the same these digressions were more interesting to me than the central story. For example, the story of Ezra Pound's papers was very compelling to me, probably because I have some frame of reference for that, whereas I knew nil about Teatro La Fenice before listening to this book. Even in these side stories, notwithstanding, I never lost confidence that Berendt would bring them together in the cease. He never allow the story out of his control, but remained omnicient equally both writer and protagonist (a word I feel comfortable using even though this is a piece of work of non-fiction).
This volume is as much about Venice and the people who live at that place every bit it is almost the Fenice opera house fire. The author introduces us to many interesting people, both the native Venetians of all classes and the various expatriats who telephone call Venice home. Information technology was interesting to learn most the city's history and art, likewise as its present day politics and culture. The investigation of the opera firm fire wasn't as compelling equally the murder mystery in the the writer'southward previous book, simply it still was interesting to see how the Italian legal system operates. An enlightening read.
Gossipy history of Venice in the late 20th century with a focus specifically on the destruction of La Fenice in a great fire and its subsequent reconstruction. Entertaining, just ultimately rather pointless. The similarity hadn't occurred to me when I picked this up, merely every bit I was reading, I realized that in x years or then a similar book may well exist written about Paris and Notre Dame Cathedral.
This was an intriguing book ostensibly well-nigh the Venice Opera burn down simply as well about Venetian gild at large, including the ex-pat community. Written by the author of Midnight in the Garden of Expert and Evil ( which I have not read) the author describes his motility to Venice correct later on the fire and details how the past history of Venice affects its current history.
Really wanted at that place to be a lurid murder like in Berendt'southward Midnight, but I guess at that place are limits to what a literary not-fiction author can do for the sake of his arts and crafts. Enjoyed information technology, though, and oh how it made me want to be a mysterious American expat occupying a palazzo... Audiobook note: Well washed. Thank you, Holter Graham, for not doing Italian accents! I So appreciate a voice talent who knows he'southward narrating a book, non acting out a radio play.
Inevitable that this would be compared to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Somewhat of a falling off, probably considering Berendt found more interesting weirdos in Savannah than he did in Venice.
Loved this volume. It is function travelogue, part history, part suspense . It takes place in Venice in the backwash of the devastation by fire of the Fenice Opera House where Verdi had premiered v of his operas. You forget sometimes that this is not a work of fiction . And then many interesting, colourful characters.
Berendt's previous book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was an international bestseller and I loved it to pieces. That, and not the fact that I'm a 2d generation Italian American, is why I decided to read this book. And I regret that decision. The Urban center of Falling Angels uses the verbal same formula every bit Midnight in the Garden of Skilful and Evil. Berendt gives united states a biography of a urban center told through the lives of some of its near colorful citizens, all set against the properties of a criminal offense--a sordid murder in the previous volume, a high profile arson in this ane. But while that formula worked beautifully in the previous volume, this time information technology simply falls flat on its face. Maybe this is considering the people of Venice are inherently less interesting than the people of Savannah. But I highly doubt that. No, I retrieve that Berendt, riding on the success of Midnight decided to spend some time living the high life in ane of the world's nigh glamorous cities, and to justify his ex-patriate lifestyle decided to write a volume virtually his chosen city of personal exile. But he didn't observe the same spark of whimsy and magic there that he did in Savannah. And without that spark, the residual just didn't deliver. I know it's probably not fair to compare two books about very different places and cultures. Simply I tin can't assistance feeling resentful that the author phoned information technology in on this one, just hoping lightning would strike in the same fashion twice. And it didn't, and as a reader I was disappointed. I don't remember Berendt tried equally hard this time. In contrast, Berendt seemed much more than interested in seeking out and celebrating the upper echelons of Venetian life, rather than fully integrating himself in the middle-class Southerner culture of Savannah. As a result, nosotros get several long, tedious, tedious, painfully slow chapters focusing on the petty squabbles of a goddamn fundraising committee called Save Venice. The members of Save Venice are disgustingly rich and excel at throwing lavish parties to enhance money to restore Venetian landmarks. And they're all universally repugnant and bureaucratic. Somewhere towards the end of the lengthy caption of their dumb-ass in-fighting, I literally yelled out loud "SOME PEOPLE HAVE Existent PROBLEMS." Seriously, I tin can't understand why or how Berendt thought Save Venice was worth inflicting upon his readers. My all-time guess is that, as they threw the best parties in Venice, Berendt'due south excuse to attend said parties was to make Salve Venice a prominent characteristic in his book. To which I say: I promise drinking cocktails with European nobility was worth robbing me of four hours of my fucking life, Berendt. Thanks for that. A less egregious example of the writer'south incorrect supposition that rich and famous people are more than interesting than the working form and poor of Savannah was his focus on Ezra Pound and his mistress. Granted, Ezra Pound is a big bargain... if you give a shit virtually poetry and find the drama of a staid uppercrust affair interesting. During the description of the greedy machinations of some random socialite trying to take fiscal advantage of the belatedly Pound's elderly mistress, I was reminded of the Eddie Izzard sketch where he describes the subdued nature of British television dramas. "What is it Sebastian? I'thou arranging matchsticks." "Oh... I'd meliorate go." "Yes I recall you better had." Sorry, I just took a break from this review to sentry ten minutes of Eddie Izzard's Clothes to Impale. WORTH It. Anyhow Berendt gets a few things right. When he deigns to talk well-nigh average Venetians--the plant seller, the rat poison chef, the glassblower, the Curtises... though I guess only 1 of those people is actually something less than a millionaire--it all falls into identify. I came for stranger-than-fiction conversations with eccentric people who can only be found in Venice. And when Berendt gives us that, it works. Finally, the centerpiece: the called-for of La Fenice, the famous opera business firm of Venice. The book started and ended strong with this cultural landmark. But instead of having the intrigue and the complex court battle of the murder trial in Midnight the arson case of La Fenice is painfully underwhelming. It doesn't have up plenty of the book, very little show is actually revealed, and the culprits are bafflingly uninteresting. I cared about La Fenice, and I was truly affected by reading about its destruction. But everything that came after--the investigation, the trial, the rebuilding--was too sparse and abbreviated in the text to actually go me to give a damn. And honestly, I don't think Berendt gave a damn either. Look, I'g giving this one three stars, because if yous've never been to Venice before then information technology paints a really clear picture. But information technology was not a great book, and different it'southward predecessor information technology doesn't make me want to go out and immediately read the writer's next work. But now I do desire to become back to Italian republic, so that's something.
While technically a slice of non-fiction, the narrative structure of this volume makes information technology seem more than an interwoven drove of brusque vignettes. True to life though, they oftentimes have somewhat incomplete endings, although the writer has worked them together in a fashion to give the satisfaction of an overall complete story that tells the real story of the Venice under the glitter and glamour of the tourist civilization. While the movie is still presented past an interloper into Venetian civilisation, his view seems to exist honest and developed through real relationships with the truthful residents. The focus on different people and their stories as opposed to abstract histories and facts makes the subject area affair like shooting fish in a barrel to identify with and thus more attainable despite the lengthy research put into the book. As i would expect from a Venetian tales, there is plenty of gossip and intrigue although the magic comes for personalities developed through strong connection with the history of the remarkable republic of Venice.
If you liked "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," then you must read this. It is every chip as good! I loved information technology! I am thinking of changing my rating to five stars....
I loved his volume Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I think I was expecting the aforementioned. It was an interesting story but it wasn't as good equally Midnight. I LOVED Midnight
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June 11, 2021I don't usually read much nonfiction only I liked this! I idea that the concept was interesting and I liked that the focus moved around to different people and stories of Venice. Thanks to Teresa for sending it to united states of america!
Source: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/12786
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