|
|
Tarfumes.com - The City of Falling Angels
|
List Price: $25.95
Our Price: $6.99
Your Save: $ 18.96 ( 73% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: The Penguin Press
|
Average Customer Rating:   
|
|
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 945.31
Format: Bargain Price
Label: The Penguin Press
Manufacturer: The Penguin Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 414
Publication Date: 2005-09-27
Publisher: The Penguin Press
Studio: The Penguin Press
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
The author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil returns after more than a decade to give us an intimate look at the "magic, mystery, and decadence" of the city of Venice and its inhabitants
It was seven years ago that Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil achieved a record-breaking four-year run on The New York Times bestseller list. John Berendt's inimitable brand of nonfiction brought the dark mystique of Savannah so startlingly to life for millions of people that tourism to Savannah increased by 46 percent. It is Berendt and only Berendt who can capture Venice-a city of masks, a city of riddles, where the narrow, meandering passageways form a giant maze, confounding all who have not grown up wandering into its depths. Venice, a city steeped in a thousand years of history, art and architecture, teeters in precarious balance between endurance and decay. Its architectural treasures crumble--foundations shift, marble ornaments fall--even as efforts to preserve them are underway. The City of Falling Angels opens on the evening of January 29, 1996, when a dramatic fire destroys the historic Fenice opera house. The loss of the Fenice, where five of Verdi's operas premiered, is a catastrophe for Venetians. Arriving in Venice three days after the fire, Berendt becomes a kind of detective-inquiring into the nature of life in this remarkable museum-city-while gradually revealing the truth about the fire. In the course of his investigations, Berendt introduces us to a rich cast of characters: a prominent Venetian poet whose shocking "suicide" prompts his skeptical friends to pursue a murder suspect on their own; the first family of American expatriates that loses possession of the family palace after four generations of ownership; an organization of high-society, partygoing Americans who raise money to preserve the art and architecture of Venice, while quarreling in public among themselves, questioning one another's motives and drawing startled Venetians into the fray; a contemporary Venetian surrealist painter and outrageous provocateur; the master glassblower of Venice; and numerous others-stool pigeons, scapegoats, hustlers, sleepwalkers, believers in Martians, the Plant Man, the Rat Man, and Henry James.
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: From S. Krishna's Books
Comment: I originally wanted to read The City of Falling Angels because I am going to Italy on my honeymoon in a few weeks and was eager to get my hands on as many books about the country as possible. Unfortunately, that hasn't worked out quite like I planned - the only books I've read on Italy lately are this book and The Monster of Florence.
While I did enjoy The City of Falling Angels, the book surprised me. Rather than being about the Fenice fire, or even about Venice, the book is about the characters that make up the cityscape of Venice. Berendt delves deeply into many stories about Venetians (or, more common, Americans who have made Venice their home), altogether abandoning the plotline of the Fenice fire. Of course, he comes back to it frequently throughout the book, but it is more of a backdrop to the story of Venice's people, rather than the story itself.
The book also ambles in many places. It's not that it necessarily becomes uninteresting, but there are a few dry spots. There is no urgency to finish it - a reader could easily put this book down for a week and come back to it later because the storyline digresses to such a varying degree.
However, the stories that Berendt shares are interesting. It is clear that he spent a great deal of time getting to know the people of Venice, to the point where he begins to become accepted as one of them. He portrays Venice as a beautiful and enchanting city. Yes, it has its problems, but one of the overarching themes that runs through the book is a deep love of Venice. He illustrates the city well through his descriptions; it is obvious that he has a strong affection for the city.
Overall, The City of Falling Angels is a well crafted book that is a fun read. While the Fenice fire was tragic, Berendt manages to keep the story light. Since I just read The Monster of Florence, inevitably, I have to compare them. Both are "true crime" stories (serial killer vs. opera house fire), but I have to say that Berendt's novel is much more compelling. If Berendt had focused simply on the fire (as Preston focused on the murder case), they might have been equally weighted. But Berendt's story really comes alive through his character digressions. It is a book that I definitely recommend if you want to read about some of the characters that make up Venice.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Berendt has a talent for finding interesting people whearever he goes
Comment: I am almost done with this book, and have not been able to put it down. Berendt has a talent for finding interesting, unique people who make up the fabric of a society. This book gives you a real view of what Venice is like behind all the tourist attraction edifices. If you are interested in Venice, this is the book to read if you want the rest of the story that lies beyond all of the guidebook discriptions. And even if you don't know Venice, this book is an excellent testimonial of a unique place and it's unique people.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A very tedious book
Comment: I got this book because I liked Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. This book should have been titled "What I did on my vacation in Venice". I have a rule to give up on a book after 100 pages but I broke my own rule because I kept thinking the book was going somewhere. It wasn't. It was like Midnight in that it gave you lots of side events in Venice but in Midnight there was an overarching crime. There was an attempt in this book to make the burning of the Fenice Opera House a similar overarching theme but it really wasn't nearly as interesting. I should have given up after 100 pages............
Customer Rating:
Summary: An interesting look at Venice, but not a "great" book
Comment: A friend gave this book to me as I was headed off to Venice for vacation. I had no expectations regarding the kind of story, but I did expect a great story given the author and topic. However, I was disappointed. It almost felt like a Vanity Fair article, or one long gossip column. Even so, I did persevere and finish the book because the redeeming qualities were that of the details. Venice is indeed a unique and enchanting city. So I enjoyed learning about some of the areas and buildings and the ins and outs of the people while reading the book. I do believe it had an impact on my impression of the city. So for that, I was pleased. But if you are expecting a good mystery, or a coherent plot line at best, don't; it's not that kind of book at all.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Loved it.
Comment: If this book had been pure fiction I would say it was filled with charming and quirky characters, a la Anne Tyler. As it is billed as non-fiction, I will say that it takes a different view of the players.
I have been to Venice only once and fell in love with the city. This book reminds me of the city, quiet, winding, much more under the surface than it appears.
I enjoyed this book so much I was sad when it finished it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
