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Venice by: Jan Morris List Price: £9.99 City Travel Guides Price: £6.59 You Save: £3.40 (34%)Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 910 EAN: 9780571168972 ISBN: 0571168973 Label: Faber and Faber Manufacturer: Faber and Faber Number Of Pages: 336 Publication Date: October 07, 2004 Publisher: Faber and Faber Studio: Faber and Faber Sales Rank: 7300 Related Items:
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Editorial Review: Synopsis: An evocation of Venice which uses vivid prose, humour and irony to present a personal portrait of an eccentric city. From the Back Cover: The classic evocation of Venice, acclaimed as one of the finest books ever written about the city. 'Entertaining, ironical, witty, high spirited and appreciative....Both melancholy and gay and worldly, I think of it now as among the best books on Venice; indeed as the best modern book about a city that I have ever read.' -Geoffrey Grigson 'One of the most diverse and diverting books ever written about Venice...A taut and personal report, wholly absorbing, quickened by vivid prose and astringent humour.' -Sunday Times 'For those to whom Venice is a memory, a treat in store, or even a dream, the broad canvas of this book covering a thousand years in the life of one of the most complex, original, and active communities the world has ever seen, is a work of lasting interest.' Guardian 'Venice is not a guide book exactly, although no visitor to Venice should omit it from his satchel. It is a highly intelligent portrait of an eccentric city, written in powerful prose and enlivened by many curious mosaics of information...A beautiful book to read and possess.' -Harold Nicolson, Observer Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - An exquisite love letter to VeniceI decided to read "Venice" in preparation for a week-long stay in the Italian city. Broken into three sections -- The People, The City, The Lagoon -- "Venice" is not a chronological history of the city but a meandering look at its past, present and future. Nor is it a guidebook, although it does contain a mine of information about what to see and where to go. I think "The Times" probably described it best when they said it was "a classic love letter to Italy's most iconic city", because it is, indeed, a beautiful missive dripping with exquisite descriptions. I found it an enormously engaging and evocative read by an accomplished writer who really knows how to string a simile or two together.For example: "Venice is ... Read More: Rating:  - the real Venice - a personal view, but very evocativeThis is a wonderful book which catches the flavour of Venice and is beautifully written. Jan Morris is one of the most individual and memorable of all travel writers, and this city is one she knows well and loves greatly ; that is evident on every page. The visual descriptions are precise and quirky, the little stories from Venetian myth and legend add character to the book and her knowledge of the history and culture of the place, worn lightly and always enlightening, never intrusive, make this a fine book. Above all she is a marvellous writer. Rating: - Brilliant, passionate prose intertwining past and presentThe most evocative and well balanced description of a place and people. Morris writes beautiful prose with passion, knitting together the present and past in a seamless fashion which is nothing short of genius. The only criticism is that lists of things found in Venice can be a little tedious e.g. the description of the different Venetian Lions Rating:  - Am I a Philistine?I purchased this book after carefully reading the reviews, the majority of which were ecstatic! On receiving it, I found it to be (dare I say?) rather "high brow" and not really a guidebook at all but a literary tribute to a glorious past of Venice. Please don't think that I am a McDonald's hunting moron, but as a first time visitor to Venice, I don't think I can use it to find my way around the city too clearly Rating: - If you haven�t been to Venice...... and maybe aren't even going, but wonder why all the fuss about Venice, here's your answer. Reading this book is like inhaling the soul of the place without ever going there - armchair travelling of the highest order. Nowhere that Morris visits feels like 'just another place' if you carry her writing in your mind - as you will - when you arrive there. This is effortless writing in both senses: for her (seemingly) and for you. Perfect word-painting just flows from her pen: images... stories... legends... history... atmosphere and small curiosities. It's like listening to the perfect dinner-guest who could not patronise you if she tried, unaffectedly recalling in direct, easy language, her own experience of this unparallelled, unique ... Read More: |
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