Casanova
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Amazon.co.uk Review
In his first novel, Ingenious Pain, Andrew Miller told the tale of a man who felt too little; in his second novel, he features a man who feels too much. Set like its predecessor at the end of the 18th century, Casanova in Love follows the fortunes of that legendary lover whose name is now synonymous with "womaniser". Miller drew parts of his story from Giacamo Casanova's own Histoire de Ma Vie, and indeed the novel begins in the German castle where the real Casanova spent his last years writing his autobiography. There, as the now elderly and frail adventurer burns letters and papers, he is interrupted by a mysterious woman who has come to hear the story of one particular era in his past:
"Imagine him now: thirty-eight years of age, big chin, big nose, big eyes in a face of "African tint," a guardsman's brawny chest and shoulders, stepping down the gangplank in Dover harbour ... In the customs house he gave his name as de Seingalt, the Chevalier de Seingalt, a citizen of France. Lies, of course, or something like them, but it pleased him to dream up names for himself; it was also politic. Europe--the parts of it that counted--was a small place, and in his travels he had met at least half the people of influence in the entire continent. "Casanova" was in too many documents, too many secret reports and in the minds of too many people he would rather not encounter again".
After many years spent adventuring on the Continent, Casanova has come to England to find peace, "a span of quietude in which to find himself again; serenity." But he is not the kind of man who can long endure solitude. Soon he has started to accumulate acquaintances. One of them is the great Samuel Johnson; another is Marie Charpillon, a high-priced courtesan who becomes both his obsession and the cause of his eventual downfall. In an age when everyone is reinventing himself, Casanova attempts several guises--labourer, writer, country gentleman--in order to win his paramour, only in the end to come face to face with a darker self stripped of all artifice.
In tracing the course of his character's doomed love affair, Miller takes the reader on a graphic tour of 18th-century London from the glittering soirées of the well-to-do to the filthy flophouses of back street slum-dwellers. This might have been the Age of Enlightenment, but there are still many dark pits of misery and ignorance in this imagined universe. Miller tells his tale of obsession in cool prose that describes in intimate detail his characters' thoughts, and actions, the smells and tastes and textures they encounter, the humiliations and heartbreaks they suffer, yet from a certain detached distance. But in the world that his fictional Casanova occupies, love is a commodity and one with a high depreciation rate at that; in such a world, a little distance is singularly appropriate. --Alix Wilber
Review
'A witty novel as well as a beautiful one . . . a source of wonder and delight' (Hilary Mantel, Sunday Times )
'Sparkling and lavishly detailed . . . rich without being cloying; resonant of time and place while remaining fresh and modern . . . he captures brilliantly the downfall and partial redemption of this charming isolate' (Mary Loudon, The Times )
'Full-bodied yet razor-sharp . . . his writing is as dextrous as Casanova's love-making. Lie back and enjoy it' (Katie Grant, Spectator )
'Miller paints a perfectly crafted picture of 18th-century London and its visiting predator in language as delicate as the tendrils of fog that curl off the Thames, and as forceful as the fetid odours conjured up in the background.' (Anthea Lawson, The Times )
'Miller's prose is jewelled . . . What Casanova wrote with a swagger resurfaces here as an elegant, elegiac, meditation on the death of purpose' (David Coward, Times Literary Supplement )
'Exquisite . . . laced with luxurious imagery and wry humour' (Stephanie Merritt, Daily Telegraph )
'Sparkling and lavishly detailed . . . rich without being cloying; resonant of time and place while remaining fresh and modern . . . he captures brilliantly the downfall and partial redemption of this charming isolate' (Mary Loudon, The Times )
'Full-bodied yet razor-sharp . . . his writing is as dextrous as Casanova's love-making. Lie back and enjoy it' (Katie Grant, Spectator )
'Miller paints a perfectly crafted picture of 18th-century London and its visiting predator in language as delicate as the tendrils of fog that curl off the Thames, and as forceful as the fetid odours conjured up in the background.' (Anthea Lawson, The Times )
'Miller's prose is jewelled . . . What Casanova wrote with a swagger resurfaces here as an elegant, elegiac, meditation on the death of purpose' (David Coward, Times Literary Supplement )
'Exquisite . . . laced with luxurious imagery and wry humour' (Stephanie Merritt, Daily Telegraph )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Browsers should read with caution any reviewer who finds Andrew Miller's second novel boring. If you want an intricate plot, turn to John Le Carre. CASANOVA offers more subtle and profound pleasures. It is the work of a remarkable stylist. Miller's prose is limpid and luminous; he writes with admirable deftness and economy, in a book that shimmers with surface detail. CASANOVA is a character study. It offers an extended vignette of a very complex man as he undergoes a crisis of purpose. Casanova is blessed and cursed with uncommon talents; like Dr James Dyer in Miller's first novel, INGENIOUS PAIN, he is both larger and less than a man. Miller's documentary style is perfectly suited to a novel about the tensions between a man's visible and invisible selves. I urge you to read this book - and everything that Miller has written. Like all great artists, he teaches us to see.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When Casanova visits London in 1763 at the age of 38 he hopes to find some peace and quiet and reflect upon his past and present (indeed, a midlife-crisis) but soon he is swept away by the beautiful Marie Charpillon. The seducer is seduced, and Casanova finds himself outwitted at every turn, a plaything in Marie's hands...
This is a tale beautifully told, with delightful dialogues and full of witticisms. One of the best books I've read in years, I wish Miller would sit down and write a dozen or more of the kind.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After the extraordinary Ingenious Pain, Casanova traces very similar sylistic ground although with slightly lighter touches. Miller proves himself to be a master of the arresting image and the picture of the white faced women's pig butchery in the country snow is only one of a startling array of portraits in words. Miller creates an evocative picture of 18th century London but the plot seems somewhat rushed. Episodic in structure, it lacks real coherence and heart- but then ,in view of its cheif protagonist, perhaps that is precisly the effect Miller is hoping to create.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Central character not engaging?
Having read the other reviews, I can see what I am missing, but I don't find Miller's Casanova interesting or engaging enough to sustain the book, and have (at least for now) given... Read more
Published 2 months ago by David Bradshaw
Good in parts
Looking back on this book, it seems to be a series of vignettes rather than an integrated story. This may well have been an intentional choice by the author, since this isn't a... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2007 by N. Bennett
A book for bedtime?
This book just didn't move me at all. It seemed pointless: Casanova doesn't get the girl, and reflects upon his life. Although nicely written, the story seemed somehow empty. Read more
Published on 4 July 2002
Beautiful language -- tiresome book
After reading Mr. Miller's first book "Ingenious Pain", I found myself recommending the orig. Read more
Published on 13 July 2000 by Angela
A beautifully written historical novel
I usually prefer to read commercial fiction, but I really enjoyed this book. The writing is intelligent and elegant, with language and imagery that punches you in the gut, and a... Read more
Published on 12 May 2000
Disappointng and disjointed
After the hype given to this novel I was expecting something good. However the "plot" is very episodic and there is little indication given of what motivates the... Read more
Published on 23 Sep 1999
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