Book Description
Donna Leon’s charming, evocative, and addictive Commissario Guido Brunetti series continues with Suffer the Little Children. When Commissario Brunetti is summoned in the middle of the night to the hospital bed of a senior pediatrician, he is confronted with more questions than answers. Three men -- a young Carabiniere captain and two privates from out of town -- have burst into the doctor's apartment in the middle of the night, attacked him and taken away his eighteenth-month old baby boy. What could have motivated an assault by the forces of the state so violent it has left the doctor mute? Who would have authorized such an alarming operation? At the same time, Brunetti’s colleague Inspector Vianello discovers a money-making scam between pharmacists and doctors in the city. But it appears as if one of the pharmacists is after more than money. Donna Leon's new novel is as subtle and fascinating as ever, set in a beautifully-realized Venice, a glorious city seething with small-town vice.
Customer Reviews:
Very disappointing.......2007-09-19
I have read all of Leon's Brunetti mysteries and this was the first time I was really disappointed. The story lacks focus and feels completely frazzled. There are too many things going on that never seem to get resolved. The writing style she uses for the interrogations at the beginning and end seems silly and doesn't make sense. I never felt a shred of sympathy for any of the characters, despite the horrible things that happen to them. I sure hope that she can find her old, captivating writing style again or I will have to just go back to re-reading her earlier novels.
Better than her last two books.......2007-09-08
Donna Leon is incredibly skilled at evoking the spirit of Venice, and Brunetti is such a marvelous character. Although not up to the standards of her earlier novels, this one is a vast inprovement over the previous two, which were little more than screeds on environmental issues. If you've never read any of her books, go for the early works; if you're a fan of Leon and have been disappointed by her more recent efforts, this is definitely a step up.
Suffer the little children...........2007-08-13
This book had an entirely different flavor than the other Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries, all of which I have read, some of them more than once. It was less amusing, harder and more depressing than the others and the ending was terrible. If her writing is going in this direction, I won't read any more.
Venice forecast - beautiful with scattered corruption.......2007-08-11
The great enjoyment in Donna Leon's "Suffer the Little Children," and virtually all of the other books in this series, comes from the focus on the book's varied characters and the city backdrop, Venice. The plot of this particular book, involving illegal baby adoption, but also marital betrayal and the intrusion into peoples' lives by an unprincipled moralist, is secondary and only serves as the device that allows for an examination of the professional and personal life of Guido Brunetti, Commissario of Police in Venice. By the time you finish this book (and any of its predecessors), you're ready for a visit to Venice and have a yen to drop in on Brunetti and his family (however aware you are that, sadly, they don't exist).
Other readers have been disappointed with "Suffer the Little Children" for its flaccid plot and generally slow pace. I think those are valid criticisms, but there is still plenty of pleasure catching up with the series' hero and colleagues and listening to the author's gentle rant about troubles in paradise.l
Keeper of morals.......2007-07-21
In the early hours of the morning, the Carabinieri burst into the home of a pediatrician and his wife, seize their 18 month old adopted son and, when the doctor tries to stop them, hit him across the head with a weapon. Commissario Brunetti is called to the hospital where the doctor has been brought but can't get much information out of him as he is unable to speak. The plot unfolds to show a number of illegal adoptions for money, where pregnant, immigrant women are paid large sums of money to lie about the parentage of their babies and to hand them over to couples who are desperate for children. As usual, the everyday lives of the Brunetti's are included in this short novel and for me, they show a fascinating side of the lives of the middle classes of Venetian society, including details of their eating habits which show them enjoying small portions of superb food..perhaps that's the answer to eating well without gaining weight! The scariest character in the book is the pharmacist who believes that he has the God given right to sit in moral judgment of the imperfections of his customers whose medical records he holds ( an unfortunate side of the Venetian medical system) It's an interesting book with several stories running parallel to each other and I'm already looking forward to the next one.
Book Description
From 828, when Venetian merchants carried home from Alexandria the stolen relics of St. Mark, to the fall of the Venetian Republic to Napoleon in 1797, the visual arts in Venice were dramatically influenced by Islamic art. Because of its strategic location on the Mediterranean, Venice had long imported objects from the Near East through channels of trade, and it flourished during this particular period as a commercial, political, and diplomatic hub. This monumental book examines Venice's rise as the "bazaar of Europe" and how and why the city absorbed artistic and cultural ideas that originated in the Islamic world.
Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797 features a wide range of fascinating images and objects, including paintings and drawings by familiar Venetian artists such as Bellini, Carpaccio, and Tiepolo; beautiful Persian and Ottoman miniatures; and inlaid metalwork, ceramics, lacquer ware, gilded and enameled glass, textiles, and carpets made in the Serene Republic and the Mamluk, Ottoman, and Safavid Empires. Together these exquisite objects illuminate the ways Islamic art inspired Venetian artists, while also highlighting Venice's own views toward its neighboring region. Fascinating essays by distinguished scholars and conservators offer new historical and technical insights into this unique artistic relationship between East and West.
Customer Reviews:
The Silk Road Adorned.......2007-05-13
For centuries The Most Serene Republic of Venice was the the western terminus of the fabled Silk Road. The city's warehouses were the repository of every luxury that Persia, India, China, Siam, the Levant, Byzantium, and the Ottomans had to offer. This book is a wonderful companion to the Met's glittering exhibition of art, illuminated manuscripts and decorative objects, which give a sense of Venice's singular place in the history of the Mediterranean. Viva San Marco!
Venice and Islam.......2007-05-13
This book is excelent. This book is the catalog of the exhibiton that
is on tne Metropolitan Museum of New York.
A scholarly catalogue.......2007-04-19
This book is the catalogue for a traveling exhibition held at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris in 2006 and at the Met in New York in 2007. It is a very complete study of the influence of the islamic world on the Republic of Venice, encompassing all forms of art, painting, architecture, ceramics, textiles, engravings, books, and even religious artefacts (mosque lamps for example). All these works of art are the results of intense cultural and economic exchange between both worlds and the catalogue emphasizes this very well. A scholarly publication well served by wonderful illustrations. A very detailed checklist of all the works in the exhibition (medium, dimensions, location) makes this book a definite reference on the subject.
Average customer rating:
- Life in the City of Venice
- Only 'ok'.
- Immensely enjoyable, but not up to Midnight in the Garden standards...
- Gave up after 103 pages
- Great insight !
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The City of Falling Angels
John Berendt
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0143036939
Release Date: 2006-09-26 |
Amazon.com
Past Midnight: John Berendt on the Mysteries of Venice
Just as John Berendt's first book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, was settling into its remarkable four-year run on The New York Times bestseller list, he discovered a new city whose local mysteries and traditions were more than a match for Savannah, whose hothouse eccentricities he had celebrated in the first book. The new city was Venice, and he spent much of the last decade wandering through its canals and palazzos, seeking to understand a place that any native will tell you is easy to visit but hard to know. For travelers to Venice, whether by armchair or vaporetto, he has selected his 10 (actually 11) Books to Read on Venice. And he took the time to answer a few of our questions about his charming new book, The City of Falling Angels:
Amazon.com: The lush, cloistered southern city of Savannah was the locale of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Venice, the setting for The City of Falling Angels, is vastly different. Was it the difference itself that drew you to Venice?
John Berendt: Savannah and Venice actually have quite a lot in common. Both are uniquely beautiful. Both are isolated geographically, culturally, and emotionally from the world outside. Venice sits in the middle of a lagoon; Savannah is surrounded by marshes, piney woods, and the ocean. Venetians think of themselves as Venetian first, Italian second; Savannahians rarely even venture forth as far as Atlanta or Charleston. So both cities offer a writer a rich context in which to set a story, and the stories provide readers a means of escape from their own environment into another world.
Amazon.com: I enjoyed your rather declarative author's note: that this is a work of nonfiction, and that you used everyone's real names. In your previous book you did use pseudonyms for some characters and you explained that you took a few small liberties in the service of the larger truth of the story. Why the change this time?
Berendt: When I wrote Midnight I thought I would do a few people the favor of changing their names for the sake of privacy. But when the book came out, several of the pseudonymous characters told me they wished I'd used their real names instead. So this time, no pseudonyms. As for the storytelling liberties I took in writing Midnight, they were minor and did not change the story, but my mention of it in the author's note caused some confusion, with the result that Midnight is sometimes referred to now as a novel, which it most certainly is not. Neither is The City of Falling Angels. In fact, I dispensed with the liberties this time and made it as close to the truth as I could get it.
Amazon.com: In The City of Falling Angels, a number of fascinating people serve as guides to the city, each with a different idea of the true nature of Venice. Who was your favorite?
Berendt: I don't have a favorite, but Count Girolamo Marcello is certainly a memorable, highly quotable commentator. "Everyone in Venice is acting," he told me. "Everyone plays a role, and the role changes. The key to understanding Venetians is rhythm, the rhythm of the lagoon, the water, the tides, the waves. It's like breathing. High water, high pressure: tense. Low water, low pressure: relaxed. The tide changes every six hours."
I nodded that I understood.
"How do you see a bridge?" he went on.
"Pardon me?" I asked, "A bridge?"
"Do you see a bridge as an obstacle--as just another set of steps to climb to get from one side of a canal to the other? We Venetians do not see bridges as obstacles. To us, bridges are transitions. We go over them very slowly. They are part of the rhythm. They are the links between two parts of a theater, like changes in scenery. Our role changes as we go over bridges. We cross from one reality ... to another reality. From one street ... to another street. From one setting ... to another setting."
Once I had absorbed that notion, Count Marcello continued: "Sunlight on a canal is reflected up through a window onto the ceiling, then from the ceiling onto a vase, and from the vase onto a glass. Which is the real sunlight? Which is the real reflection? What is true? What is not true? The answer is not so simple, because the truth can change. I can change. You can change. That is the Venice effect."
I was not terribly surprised when he later told me, "Venetians never tell the truth. We mean precisely the opposite of what we say."
Amazon.com: Now that you know Venice well enough to be a guide yourself, what would you say to a visitor looking for insight into the character of the city?
Berendt: Tourists generally shuffle along, on narrow streets so crowded as to be nearly impassable, between the major sights of St. Mark's Square, the Rialto Bridge, and the Accademia Museum. All you have to do is to step off these heavily traveled alleyways, and in a few moments you will find yourself in quiet, much emptier surroundings. This is more like the real Venice. Another thing to do is to go into the wine bars where Venetians stand around drinking and talking. They will very likely be speaking the Venetian dialect, so you won't be able to understand them, but you will get a sampling of the true Venetian ambiance enlivened by the pronounced sing-song rhythm of the language. I'd also suggest stopping someone in the street and asking for directions. Almost invariably, you will be rewarded with a genial smile and the instructions, Sempre diritto, meaning "Straight ahead." This will only leave you more confused, because when you attempt to follow a straight line, you will be confronted by more twists and turns and forks in the road than you thought possible, given the instructions. This is part of what Count Marcello described as "the Venice effect."
Book Description
The author of the record-breaking bestseller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil unveils the enigmatic Venice as only he can
Twelve years ago, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil exploded into a monumental success, residing a record-breaking four years on the New York Times bestseller list (longer than any work of fiction or nonfiction had before) and turning John Berendt into a household name. The City of Falling Angels is Berendt's first book since Midnight, and it immediately reminds one what all the fuss was about. Turning to the magic, mystery, and decadence of Venice, Berendt gradually reveals the truth behind a sensational fire that in 1996 destroyed the historic Fenice opera house. Encountering a rich cast of characters, Berendt tells a tale full of atmosphere and surprise as the stories build, one after the other, ultimately coming together to portray a world as finely drawn as a still-life painting.
Customer Reviews:
Life in the City of Venice.......2007-10-03
In 1996, a fire started in the Fenice Opera House in Venice, Italy. And not just any fire. A fire that would consume not only most of the beautiful building, along with it paintings, frescoes and history in this last of it's kind building. No, this fire consumed almost a decade in the life of Venice. How did the fire start? Was it arson? Was it negligence? Who had the most to gain? Was it the Mafia or was it the contractors that were working on the remodeling? These are just some of the questions that drew John Berendt to extend his stay in Venice and try to capture the city and it's people in print.
In the course of the investigation, Berendt introduces us to many of the citizens of this city. We meet Archimede Seguso, a renowned glass maker, that watched the Fenice burn and then created over one hundred glass vases to memorialize it. Of course, most of these pieces still haven't been seen by the public because they are tied up in a litigation of a weird brotherly feud. We meet the Rylands - Jane, an American Expat and her British husband that waylaid a poor old lady and took her incredible achieves for their own profit. The woman was Olga Rudge, the famous Mistress of writer Ezra Pound, who's writings and letters were worth a small fortune. And we meet members of the Save Venice foundation, a non-profit organization that was created to help restore buildings and art in the city of Venice. But an implosion of the group was caused by mixing too many people with large egos wanting the Title and prestige involved with this organization.
I will readily admit I had high hopes for this book. I thought Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil about the city of Savannah, Georgia was fantastic! He did such a wonderful job describing the beauty of the city, as well as the eccentricity of it's people. Not so much with Venice, although he certainly tried. Maybe it's the fact that I just don't understand the Venetian culture the way I do culture in the US. Or maybe this book was more about the glitterati instead of just the average folks. Either way, it fell short for me. I really didn't get a chance to CARE about the people in this book. There were too many exceedingly shallow people that cared more for their titles and their parties than they did about anything else. The back story of the Fenice fire just seemed to get lost in it all. And since reality is never as cut-and-dried as fiction, we still don't know what really happened that night at the Fenice.
I did enjoy learning more about Ezra Pound and Olga Rudge. And I was intrigued about the side story of the poet Mario Stefani, a man that took his own life during this time period. But reading about the Save Venice Organization and their constant bickering over whose name would be at the top of the stationery and who got the best seats for a gala rather turned my stomach. As did the story of the Rylands and how they swindled a poor elderly woman AND her family out of their birthright. Maybe my expectations were just too high for this one. Venice is a beautiful city, one I'd love to visit some day. But this book didn't do much for me! Like a Seinfeld episode, it was a whole lot about nothing.
Only 'ok'........2007-09-19
I prefer books with a strong plot. This didn't really seem to have a strong plot and the pieced never really seems to come together as strongly as I had hoped. It may just be the style of this author... and if you like that type of style this would be a book for you.
Immensely enjoyable, but not up to Midnight in the Garden standards..........2007-09-03
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt is one of my favorite books, so I decided to read his latest, The City of Falling Angels. While the formula for both books is pretty much the same, Midnight is a much better book--only because Savannah is a much more quirky city than Venice, Italy.
As with Midnight in the Garden, Berendt combines many elements to create The City of Falling Angels. He provides a little history of Venice. He interviews dozens of colorful characters. And he focuses on a possible crime. In Falling Angels, this is the burning of Venice's famous opera house, La Fenice. As far as history, I felt the author could have provided a little more information about Venice's rich past. Venice has many interesting characters, and Berendt did his best to seek them out. He interviewed Murano glass blowers, city officials, American expatriates, artists, and even a man who considers himself a culinary expert. His specialty is making the world's best-selling rat poison. He also looks into the many famous Americans who made Venice their home, including Peggy Guggenheim and Ezra Pound. But the characters in Venice fell short of Savannah's eclectic bunch including The Lady Chablis, the Voodoo priestess Minerva and antiques dealer Jim Williams. Also, the Fenice fire didn't quite have the drama as the murder in Midnight in the Garden
But I still enjoyed The City of Falling Angels immensely, and John Berendt is a fine writer with a keen eye when it comes to describing places and sites that he visits. After witnessing the opera house fire, glassblower Archimede Seguso goes to his shop and starts creating glass vases like he's never made before. "Against an opaque background as black as night, he had set swirling ribbons of sinuous diamond shapes in red, green, white, and gold, leaping, over-lapping, and spiraling upward around the vase. He never explained what he was doing, but by the second vase, everyone knew. It was a record of the fire in glass--the flames, the sparks, the embers, and the smoke--just as he had seen if from his window..." As for why he chose this city, "Venice was uniquely beautiful, isolated, inward-looking, and a powerful stimulant to the senses, the intellect, and the imagination....Because I could not imagine a more enticing beat to assign myself for an indefinite period of time."
I don't think that The City of Falling Angels is going to do to Venice what Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil did to Savannah. However, after reading The City of Falling Angels, I'm certainly considering a trip to Italy.
Gave up after 103 pages.......2007-09-01
If a book cannot grab me within the first 100 pages, then I have to stop. Not only that, but it was due at the library, and there is a waiting list (why?). I just have little time, and so many other books to read.
I will say that what I did read was somewhat interesting, and the writing was good. I just wasn't that interested in the story - at least at 100+ pages. It must get better, but I wish that I was made to care earlier in the writing.
Sorry if this wasn't very helpful, this review is more of my opinion than a critique.
Great insight ! .......2007-08-24
John Berendt does a gret job of making you feel as though you are right there with him. His investigation of the Fenice opera house fire and other occurences help to bring insight into why Venice operates the way it does. It was hard to put the book down. I am ready to go back again and spend more time getting lost in Venice.
Book Description
Who but Rick Steves can tell travelers the best way to see St. Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace, the Rialto Bridge, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection? With Rick Steves’ Venice 2007, travelers can experience everything Venice has to offer—economically and hassle-free. Completely revised and updated, Rick Steves’ Venice 2007 includes:
• Opinionated coverage of both famous and lesser-known sights
• Friendly places to eat and sleep
• Suggested day plans
• Walking tours and trip itineraries
• Clear instructions for smooth travel anywhere by car, train, or foot
America’s #1 authority on travel to Europe, Rick’s time-tested recommendations for safe and enjoyable travel in Europe have been used by millions of Americans in search of their own unique European travel experience.
Customer Reviews:
Just what you need.......2007-09-29
I used this book for my recent trip to Venice. You can skip all guided tours offered by agencies in Venice, if you have this book. It is very helpful with historical overviews, but when come for food advices - just browse local restaurants and look for "tourist menue" (around 15-18 euros for 3 dishes, but be sure it doesn't' come with "cover charge" which is extra 2 euros). It is the best deal to get variety of dishes for reasonable prices. Also, visit Realto market for fresh fruits and vegetables, and small stores for ham and cheeses.
I went on day trips to Padova , Vicenza, and Verona. The book was extremely helpful for giving the guidance for day trips. Don't miss to try Recioto wine in Verona.
Extremely helpful for a short trip.......2007-07-23
I use this book for a two day trip to Venice. As I had very little time it really helped me focus on the important sites. Most important were the little hints about when to see the sites. Although Venice was overrun with tourists, I did not find the restaurants or musems to be a problem if I followed the time recommendations. Skip the commercial tours and follow the book recomendations.
Thank you, Ladies on the Train!.......2007-06-25
My husband and I were fortunate enough to be seated across from some ladies who had this book on the train from Florence to Venice. After learning that we had no guidebook for the city, they very kindly gave it to us to use during our stay. We are soooooo grateful! We used it constantly. We loved the way Rick had all the walking tours laid out, and we did several of them. Since we only had two days in the city, we made use of the feature recommending which sites to see and which to skip. Also, I think that if we travel to Italy again, we will skip many of the agency "guided" tours--which mainly consist of being herded like cattle through the museums during peak hours and rushed past some of the most interesting pieces--and opt instead for the self-guided tour features in Rick's guidebook. We took the self-guided for I Frari and St. Mark's, and both were far more informative than our 40 Euro tour of the Doge's Palace. We ate at a number of the recommended restaurants (including the Juice Bar--delicious!) and didn't have any problem with crowds or waits, even during the peak hours of 8-9 pm. Since our hotels were pre-booked through a travel agency, I can't comment on the accomodations section. But I loved that Rick's recommendations were all budget-friendly. By the time we got to Venice, we'd been all across Italy and funds were low. It was nice that this guidebook had actual price ranges inside, so we could budget a little better--and know, unlike another unsuspecting couple we met, that coffee at Florian's could end up costing 50 + Euros. This book would be a great investment for any Venice-bound traveller...and thank you again, ladies! You (and Rick) helped make our trip absolutely fabulous!
Another quality book from Rick.......2007-05-15
Not only does Rick provide up to minute info, including correct phone numbers to musuems. (Just called to secure a reservation to Doge's Secret Tour) but also hints on how to avoid some of the lines. Would you like to know which vaporetta stop to use for Murano glass shopping? Get the book. It well done, with a couple of unexpected lines of humor that will definitely have lol wherever you are!!
Definitely a must-have for Venice visitors........2007-03-26
Rick's book - along with the Eyewitness Travel Guide for Venice and the Veneto - proved to be the most useful from the stack of nearly a half-dozen tour guides we brought with us on a recent trip to the city. His coverage of practical information such as how to best use and get around the city via vaporetto, walking, waterbus services, etc was the easiest to follow and made navigating what can be a confusing city much simpler.
His museum and art highlights are interesting and provide a more lighthearted, easier-to-read approach than many more "highbrow" tour or art books one can find. Of course, there is much more to see in each museum or church or scuola than he points out, so for the art enthusiast it is worth taking your time and not simply skimming about to find his highlights. We found we needed at least twice as much time in each location as Rick indicates to fully appreciate what we were seeing. Similarly, we had to laugh upon setting foot on Burano and seeing he only gives it a "5-minute" walkabout, or similarly 30 minutes on Torcello. We spent about 5 hours combined on just those two fascinating lagoon islands.
That said, we would have missed a great deal without his useful hints and tips, and went to a couple of the restaurants he recommended and had good experiences there (as well as his other tips for good eating around the entire city.)
Book Description
Rome, Florence, and Venice: those magical names are at the top of everyone’s “must-see” list for Italy. First-time visitors design their itineraries around them, while Italy veterans return to them again and again, knowing that the old saying about Rome, “A lifetime is not enough,” equally applies to Florence and Venice.
This guide gives travelers what they want: the same high-quality coverage as in Fodor's other Italy guides, but with a focus on the most popular destinations. The resulting book is slimmer and lighter than competing guides, but it’s filled with great Fodor’s features and information that’s rich and varied enough to suit any taste.
• Includes itineraries showing readers how to see the best of Italy at their own pace, with maximum fun and minimum fatigue
• Magazine-like “In Focus” features include topics such as Ancient Rome, The Basilica di San Francesco in Assisi, Siena's Campo & the Palio, Who's Who in Renaissance (Florence), Cruising the Grand Canal (Venice), Palladio Country, Emilia One Tast at a Time, The Fashionista's Milan, and The Cinque Terre.
• Thorough coverage of the surrounding highlights, including Tuscany, Milan, and the Cinque Terre
• 8-page color insert
Customer Reviews:
Good information, terrible maps.......2007-08-20
I've never been disappointed with a Fodor's guide until now. Although the information is very good, as usual for Fodor's, the maps are terrible. In particular, the pullout map is almost useless; many streets are shown, but not marked with a name -- and why does a guide for Rome, Florence and Venice not have a pullout map for Florence? Even the maps within the guide itself are disappointing -- names are printed in black, but the maps themselves are in orange ink, making them hard to read, and once again they lack enough detail to find your way in a strange city. Fodor's should check Rick Steves' Italy guide to see how to do a map. If you choose this as your only guide for an Italian trip, make sure your first action in any of the three cities is to buy a good map! (I particularly recommend the Berendtson map of Venice, and the Editricelozzi map of Rome.)
Good book, but not ideal for (cheap) backpackers.......2007-06-08
I just graduated college and decided to go on a backpacking trip through Europe. We spend about a week in Italy, and this book was somewhat helpful, but not ideal.
The food suggestions were generally for slightly higher budget travelers, and the organization didn't really fit our travel style.
If you are backpacking or just a young person looking for a good travel book, our group had a good experience with the MTV Europe (MTV Guides)book. It was kind of bulky, but we used it nearly everyday.
If you are considering this book or something from the Eyewitness series, I would definitely go with the Eyewitness book. It may be more expensive, but it will be vastly more useful. In Rome I ended up purchasing Rome (Eyewitness Travel Guides) from a bookstore, and wishing I would have just bought the whole Italy book off Amazon in the first place.
Bottom line, if you are cheap or on a budget, I would look at other books, but this will get the job done if you are looking for some nice places to eat and stay.
Italy in all its glory.......2007-05-10
I used Fodor's to map out my itinerary to ensure I saw everything I wanted to see and experienced Italy in all its glory. It explained the "must sees" very well and concisely.
The map was handy but not as good as other maps purchased in a book store which had more detail right on the map of the places to see so we did not have to carry the book around.
Tips on how to avoid the long lines were very accurate.
Gives me what I'm looking for, and a little more.......2007-03-10
I've been looking at a bunch of guides for planning an Italy trip this summer, and this is the best so far. It's not as big as other guides, but it's got as much information about the places I'm going as the other guides do, and it also manages to throw in little things that are unique, like an interview with a winebar owner in Venice, explaining the local winebar customs and no-nos.
Book Description
John Singer Sargent returned to Venice many times during his life, endlessly fascinated with this enchanting city. In paintings filled with vivid colors and dazzling light, he sought to capture its vitality and unique ambience, often working while afloat in a gondola. This gorgeously illustrated book presents nearly seventy of Sargent’s oil and watercolor paintings of Venice, many of them famous but others only rarely seen. The book also contains fascinating new photographs of actual sites depicted in Sargent’s paintings.
Sargent’s early works in Venice were created in 1880-1882, and he undertook a second, larger body of work in the city during visits from 1900 to 1913. His responses to Venice—its local figures, its buildings and waterways, its extraordinary light—reflect his changing interests over time as well as his lifelong ability to extend his own reach as a creative artist. The book considers various aspects of Sargent’s work and milieu in a series of informative essays by international scholars. They discuss the evolution of Sargent’s style, the topography of his work in Venice, his connections with Henry James and other Americans in Venice, Italian artists in Venice in the nineteenth century, and American artists in Venice in the nineteenth century.
Customer Reviews:
Another Venetian Master.......2007-05-07
SARGENT'S VENICE is a book that makes Sargent more than a great portrait painter. It reveals that he could be equally good at landscapes of the world's most beautiful city. His views of Venice are intimate, exploratory, perceptive, Venice seen from a gondola snaking its way through the canals. The prow of the gondola figures in many of his paintings. Venice has been the province of great painters since Tintoretto and Sargent now joins their company, thanks to this book.
beautiful book.......2007-03-27
Thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, and this book is a wonderful keepsake illustrated with abundant, good quality color reproductions. I would highly recommend this book. I appreciate Amazon's hassle free, speedy delivery as well.
Sargent's Venice.......2007-01-04
If you love Venice, and if you love Sargent--then you will love this book. There are a few new items in this book, but for the most part they are reapeated images from now all the numerous volumes of Sargents books that have flooded the market in the recent years. The text is intersting and the insightful written by Mr. Warren Adelsen and Mr. Richard Ormond two Sargent experts-- are worth reading, if you want to add to your knowlege of Sargent and Venice.
One of the most satisfying books on John Singer Sargent.......2006-12-14
Richard Ormond has collected the watercolors and drawings and oil paintings that were John Singer Sargent's response to that most mystical and romantic of cities - Venice, Italy - from two separate periods of time in Sargent's prolific career. The selected works are from a fecund period from 1880 to 1882 and the second even larger body of works date from his visits there from 1900 to 1913. Comparing the two periods is illuminating on many levels, but despite the separation in time, Sargent's manner of capturing the magic that is Serenissima is unmatched in works of other artists.
That Sargent was influenced by his friend and colleague Henry James is patently obvious. Were the reader to read 'The Aspern Papers' along with this picture voyage through the canals and paths of Venice the feeling of actually being there in time and place would be unavoidable.
Sargent seems more comfortable in the aqueous métier of watercolor for the views and atmosphere of Venice. He manages to paint the fogs and mists that rise from this water city, to reflect the relaxed tranquility of the people within the island, and he is attuned to the alterations of light as it strikes and reflects off the water, altering the subject matter in a way only those who have been to Venice can appreciate fully.
Along with the mood of the works elegantly reproduced in this volume is Ormond's narrative. He has selected photographs of many of the places Sargent painted, allowing the reader to appreciate the interpretation Sargent achieved in his artist impression as well as in his keen observational skills. This is a book of languid beauty, one that will satisfy on many levels. Very Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, December 06
Book Description
In Death in a Strange Country Commissario Guido Brunetti confronts a grisly sight when the body of a young American is fished out of a fetid Venetian canal. Though all the signs point to a violent mugging, something incriminating turns up in the victim's apartment that suggests the existence of a high level conspiracy—and Brunetti becomes convinced that somebody is taking great pains to provide a ready-made solution to the crime. As dark and riveting as its predecessors, Death in a Strange Country will provide Leon's growing fan base with another chilling read.
Customer Reviews:
"You are a stubborn devil, aren't you?".......2007-09-23
Donna Leon definitely caught my attention with the first book in this series, and now she has made me a fan of her wonderful work. Leon's excellence is based on three main concepts: a complex main character, an enchanting environment, and of course a well-crafted mystery. Commissario Guido Brunetti is one of the most interesting detectives I have encountered in quite some time. His personality and family life make him a character with which we can relate fairly quickly, and his uncompromising attitude towards delivering justice for those that have been wronged is one to admire. Venice is the perfect setting for this character, and allows Leon to use its canals and rich history to add mystique to the plot. And then there is the murder case, which is complex without being contrived, and keeps us interested until we find out the truth.
This novel starts at full speed, catching our interest right away, with a body floating in a canal on a quiet morning. Brunetti is soon placed in charge of the investigation and finds out that the victim is an American and that the killer was either very skilled or very lucky, since death came after a perfect stroke with a blade. When the victim is identified as a Sergeant in an army post in Vicenza, the case becomes much more complicated and Brunetti has to deal with people trying to mislead him and cover up the truth. On top of this, there is a second case, involving a robbery, which adds variety to the story and allows for the introduction of some really colorful characters.
Last time, Leon's work incorporated many aspects related to the world of Opera and classical music, and this time the canals and the way in which their currents work take center stage. As happened in the first book of this series, we get to see a fair amount of what transpires in Brunetti's family life. Leon uses the food proficiently to convey how important meals are in the Italian culture, and how this family time results in captivating interactions. We also get to witness situations in which the culture plays an important role, like fights within the police department with the subsequent grudges, or higher-ups in the department sucking up to powerful people.
I believe that there is not much more to say. This novel is definitely a winner and I recommend it without reservations! I am already looking forward to reading the next Brunetti mystery.
Cynical Digging Pays Off.......2007-09-01
If you liked Death at La Fenice, the debut of this series, you'll probably like the first 80 percent of Death in a Strange Country even better. Seldom have I experienced the joy of seeing most of the second novel in a series far exceed the debut. Unfortunately, the last 20 percent isn't nearly as good as the ending of Death at La Fenice so you will conclude on a down note.
A body floats facedown in a Venetian canal, bumping against the steps of the embankment in front of the Basilica of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. No one notices the corpse until an early rising woman peeks out to see if her husband's boat needs to be bailed out. I'm sure you can feel the rich setting that Donna Leon has wonderfully described for the beginning of the investigation. When no one can be roused on the night shift, Commissario Guido Brunetti is called at home and grumpily heads to the scene. Finding American coins in the deceased's pockets, Brunetti immediately knows he has a hot potato on his hands. Vice-Questore Patta, his superior officer, makes that point even more obvious by poking his nose into the case soon after the beginning.
When the autopsy reveals someone with expert knife skills has dispatched the young man with the American coins in his pocket, Brunetti realizes that this may not be a simple murder. The dead man's teeth show American dental work, and the police begin calling hotels but find no one missing. By analyzing some papers in the corpse's pockets, it looks like the man has come from the American base in Vicenza, near Venice. Could terrorism be involved?
Contacting the base, the MPs don't seem very interested that one of their own might be dead. Eventually, they do find that Sergeant Michael Foster, the base's public health inspector, is missing and send his superior officer, Captain Terry Peters, a female pediatrician. Captain Peters identifies Foster and seems unusually upset and inquisitive. What does she know that she's not sharing?
Traveling to the American base, Brunetti is astonished to see the lengths that Americans go to in recreating their home country on foreign soil. He's even more certain that he's being frozen out of the investigation by the Americans. A surprise find at the dead man's apartment seals that impression and makes him wonder when the attractive Captain Peters will spill the beans to him.
Although I am making this sound like this novel is all about the investigation, that's a false impression. Interspaced with the investigation, Brunetti tends to his family, and we learn a lot about their relationships and family culture. I think you'll be charmed by the Brunettis, especially the parents. They get along well and make room for one another. As with Death at La Fenice, Brunetti also has a social evening with his patrician in-laws. You'll have fun watching how Brunetti has a hard time enjoying himself in a casino.
The case seems at a dead end with key witnesses become unavailable. But a surprise resurrects the opportunity. Brunetti rapidly makes progress. The faster he unravels the mystery, the stronger the forces are that he arouses to put pressure on him to stop investigating.
The first 80 percent of the book has everything you might like in a mystery: a troubling case, unclear motives, a lack of suspects, slender clues, an amusing detective, good character development involving the detective and his family, and a delightful setting to contemplate . . . Venice.
If you don't expect much from the book's conclusion, you won't be as disappointed as I was. The quality of the first 80 percent and the excellent ending of death at La Fenice had led me to expect something brilliant. Instead, I found a cynical ending.
Donna Leon.......2007-08-31
Donna Leon has written over a dozen Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries, all set in the lovely city of Venice which she knows better than most guidebook writers. Brunetti is a warmhearted detctive, in love with his wife and family, his city and justice. Once started in a Donna Leon mystery one has to go on to the next and the next and so as one becomes immersed in her world. I have read ten so far, started m eleventh, and worry that I have only the twelth in reserve. Her books are addictive, fascinating in their depiction of the Venetian state of mine and its many layers io corruption. Her characters are fully realized, her plots intricate, her writing silken.
Fast, Fun Mystery.......2007-07-03
Another mystery in the Comissario Brunetti mystery series! Comissario Brunetti is called in on the case of a murdered John Doe found in a Venice canal, who turns out to be on the public health staff at the local American military base in Vicenza. As he's working on the case, his supervisor pulls him off of it to work on a local robbery of a well to do Milanese who has just finished renovating a palazzo in Venice. As more people are found "murdered" Brunetti gets deeper and deeper into both cases - will he be able to solve the case before someone else is found murdered?
Donna Leon's strength is her impeccable description of Venice, the city itself and the lifestyle of it's citizens. Any lover of Venice will certainly enjoy these mysteries. The Venice setting is what keeps me coming back for more as I find the mysteries themselves to be lacking somewhat. Overall not a book that I would recommend as a "must read" but an enjoyable fast read for those who love Venice.
Interesting in Venice.......2007-01-16
I am finding these books very interesting especially since I was in Venice in May 2005. It is very easy to visulaize the setting she uses in the book so that you can easily move along in the story. The subject of the story was also very interesting and different. I plan to read more in the series.
Book Description
The definitive manual for the hopeless Venetophile.
Love of Venice can strike anyone, not just romantic wusses. Among the toughies with serious cases were Lord Byron, Richard Wagner, Ezra Pound, and Ernest Hemingway. Symptoms include:
• Wishing that the movie stars in films set in Venice would move aside so that you can get a better view of the scenery.
• Wondering why people ask if you had good weather when you were there—as if rain could dampen your love.
• Thinking that people who go to Tuscany or Provence must be nuts.
• Believing that the "Per San Marco" street sign with arrows pointing in opposite directions makes perfect sense.
• Consoling yourself when you leave by remembering the generations of Venetian merchants who, as they were borne away from Venice, vowed to be back as soon as they had more money.
There is no cure for this affliction. This is a guide to managing it. 35 illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
an epidemic .......2007-09-16
Judith Martin ought to be placed in quarantine as the most threatening carrier of a communicable disease since Typhoid Mary. Her 'No Vulgar Hotel' not only threatens to spread Venetophilia (her coinage, it seems) among the uninefected at epidemic strength; it may well render milder fevers than hers terminally virulent. Beware, after reading this delightful book, of the usual symptoms of this incurable contagion -- the urge to buy and repair decaying, waterlogged and insanely overpriced palazzi, the wearing of scary masks other than on Hallowe'en, a fascination with saints and saint's relics, the adoption of Venetian ancestors (whether they're actually ancestral or not), the collection of gimcracks and gismos whose only value is a tenuous connection with Venice, and not least the impulse to go to bad or mediocre movies merely because they have pictorial connections with Venice; and finally, at the risk of drowning, to go into training as amateur gondoliers." -- Edwin M. Yoder Jr., author of "Lions at Lamb House" and other books.
It doesnt deserve one star........2007-08-21
Cute title. After that this book sinks into the canal. I agree with another poster I do not think Ms Martin wrote much of this book. If she did she should be ashamed.
If you want to read a good book about Venice read CITY OF THE FALLING ANGELS. Or read any Donna Leon book all set in Venice and all excellent mysteries that are filled with the life of the people of Venice.
This book is just boring!
Don't Bother.......2007-07-24
This is a book without a purpose, beyond the self-adulation of the author. It has nothing new which is relevant to Venice nor is it insightful about its history, culture, or physical presence. There is not even anything relevatory about her experience in the city. These are simply Ms. Martin's musings about a city that she likes a lot. Unfortunately, it's hard to care.
Mixed review..........2007-07-14
I agree with the other posters that Judith Martin's tone is self-adulatory to the point of self indulgence. That, of course, isn't my favorite part of this book. However there is new stuff here that I didn't know and I've been returning "home" to Venice regularly for many years.
I actually bought this book hoping, among other things, to learn about hat etiquette (as excerpted on this Amazon page), since I sometimes wear a hat in Venice and would hate to be doing it the wrong way. I didn't find it, and that's a shame. Advising on such matters is--or ought to be--the author's forte. Imho it's too bad Miss Manners didn't write this book.
(By the way, another poster mentioned something called the "Venice Card," which is a discount gimmick for the tourists. This is quite different from the city-issued photo I.D. which allows a resident to purchase the monthly vaporetto pass for 30 euro, and this is what Martin was writing about. I didn't find it too awfully difficult to obtain, but maybe that has changed. My own abbonamento expired years ago but the brusque lady behind the counter still honors it every time, bless her heart.)
No Pompous Books.......2007-07-06
As a regular traveler to Venice, I am pretty familiar with all of the literature and guidebooks on La Serenissima. Alas, the Martin tome is among the most disappointing of the lot, as it is written as a set of disconnected anecdotes with the lone purpose of allowing the author to boast about her elite connections. Rather offputting. To truly gain insight into residing in Venice, Vitoux's "Living in Venice" is hard to beat. Equally useful and charming is McGregor's "Venice (From the Ground Up)."
Average customer rating:
- Brilliant
- Floating Cities
- A savant at work!
- The Wrong Description
- The Wrong Description
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Floating Cities: Venice, Amsterdam, Leningrad-And Moscow
Stephen Wiltshire
Manufacturer: Summit Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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| Drawing
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ASIN: 0671755684 |
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant.......2002-08-09
Stephen Wiltshire's pen and ink drawings are fantastic. He captures each subject perfectly and in incredible detail...sometimes having only seen the subject for a few minutes. Incredible drawings made even more incredible by the fact that Stephen is autistic.
Floating Cities.......2001-11-30
Reading this book was an inspiration.The intricate detail and elegance of each drawing is breath-taking.
As an autistic individual he is able to capture the beauty an essence that a normal person with their eye would not see.
His work seems effortless, and takes him no time to do at all, but yet he is a perfectionist, right down to the last detail.
I am not an art critic, but certainly now I do appreciate the architecture that surrounds me and realize how beautiful it really is, and although Autism is not really understood and how it is actually caused.
Stephen, no matter what level of autism he seems to possess, he has truly mastered and captured the gracefullness of each buillding that he draws.
In a word he is an "Artistic, Autistic Genius."
A savant at work!.......2001-05-06
This man's pictures have to be seen to be believed. Stephen Wiltshire actually is Autistic,operating on a six year old level for most of his adult life. He has a very rare talent of being able to visually process all that he sees and reproduce these images on paper. I have seen him on a TV show being flown around London on a helicopter and reproducing a image of 4 square miles, including 11 London landmarks and over 600 buildings with perfect perspective and scale in less than three hours.
This book has to be appreciated for what it is, a work of a genius!
The Wrong Description.......2000-06-24
I agree that this is not the correct description of the book. Floating cities is actually a series of drawings done by a young english autistic boy. They are absolutely fantastic renditions of famous buildings, made more incredible by the fact that Stephen himself has this overwhelming disability, and many of them were done by memory. This book will make you realise that disabilities are by no means disabling, and can open up worlds unaccessable to the rest of society.
The Wrong Description.......2000-06-24
I agree that this is not the correct description of the book. Floating cities is actually a series of drawings done by a young english autistic boy. They are absolutely fantastic renditions of famous buildings, made more incredible by the fact that Stephen himself has this overwhelming disability, and many of them were done by memory. This book will make you realise that disabilities are by no means disabling, and can open up worlds unaccessable to the rest of society.
Average customer rating:
- Consistent, intelligent mysteries
- Ken Le Huray
- A master at the top of her game - an excellent mystery
- very good writing but not a classic mystery
- Excellent mystery novel!
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A Noble Radiance
Donna Leon
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Leon, Donna
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Acqua Alta
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Death in a Strange Country
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ASIN: 0142003190
Release Date: 2003-08-26 |
Book Description
Donna Leon has topped European bestseller lists for more than a decade with a series of mysteries featuring clever Commissario Guido Brunetti. Always ready to bend the rules to uncover the threads of a crime, Brunetti manages to maintain his integrity while maneuvering through a city rife with politics, corruption, and intrigue.
In A Noble Radiance a new landowner is summoned urgently to his house not far from Venice when workmen accidentally unearth a macabre grave. The human corpse is badly decomposed, but a ring found nearby proves to be a first clue that reopens an infamous case of kidnapping involving one of Venice's most aristocratic families. Only Commissario Brunetti can unravel the clues and find his way into both the heart of patrician Venice and that of a family grieving for their abducted son.
Customer Reviews:
Consistent, intelligent mysteries.......2006-07-01
This is another of Donna Leon's wonderful Comissario Guido Brunetti mysteries set in Venice. While some of them are slightly better than others, each is a solid, pleasurable, intelligent read. And Guido is a "best of breed" police inspector with humor, a conscience, and frustration with the corruption of the ruling powers in and around Venice.
Ken Le Huray.......2005-10-10
Donna Leon's creation of Guido Brunetti detective of Venice is one of the great figures of the genre. His family and the city of Venice are equally realisic. "A Noble Radiance" is full of the corrupt and aristocratic background of that city. The interplay of characters in the story is first class.
A master at the top of her game - an excellent mystery.......2005-10-04
I love this series. It is set in one of the most interesting and mysterious cities in the world with a complex and equally interesting main character. The plots of each story masterfully intertwine the grit and politics of every day Venice with the day to day challenges of being a police detective. In this story, Brunetti is faced with solving the 2 year mystery of a kidnapping turned murder. Naturally, his insufferable boss, imperious Italian nobility, embarrasing police incompetence (or is it disinterest) and the grinding politics of Italian bureaucracy all challenge our hero's skills as much as the mystery itself. All of this would be forgetable if the book had been written by someone with fewer skills or a heavier hand than Ms. Leon. I especially love her dialogue. The conversations between Brunetti and his wife are tender and realistic. But I really love the way she gives voice to Guido Brunetti's inner thoughts - it makes this, and all of her books, so involving.
With so many cookie-cutter mystery series out there (many of which, I admit, I read and enjoy), it is refreshing to read a novel that is both interesting and very well written.
Note: Unlike some other mystery serials, this book stands on its own and can be read without having to have completed the prior books in the series to enjoy it.
very good writing but not a classic mystery.......2005-02-05
A Noble Radiance is the second Guido Brunetti mystery set in Venice by Donna Leon that I have read. Leon is a very good writer, and she has made an admirable character in Brunetti, but this is not a typical mystery novel of the "whodunit" variety.
The story centers upon the newly discovered body of a young nobleman who was kidnapped two years previously. After two ransom demands, the kidnappers made no further contacts with the young man's family, and so the case remained a mystery. Now with the body discovered buried on a rural farm, Brunetti of the Venice police department, reopens the case as a murder investigation.
Other than Brunetti and his family, most of the characters were not very interesting. What did hold my interest was the life and attitudes of the Venetians and how the European world of commerce works with the opening of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Bloc. The murder case was rather secondary to the actual story of the young man's family's business and not much of a puzzle. Leon's strength as a writer is to make the reader really see the story through Brunetti's eyes, which is no small feat, especially when she uses third person narration. I just wish she could give Brunetti a more complex mystery to unravel.
Excellent mystery novel!.......2004-01-01
I came across this novel purely by accident, purchased it, and finished it within 4 hours. I could not put it down. This was a very well-written mystery and I am thrilled to know there are other books about Commissario Guido Brunetti. I obviously read this slightly out of order with her other Brunetti books, but this was written with no other knowledge of the Commissario needed. The book was self-contained and was a fine read. I have already ordered the rest of her books.
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Books Index
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