Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi
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'Clever, funny, an intellectual with a resolutely bloke-ish stance; irreverent and incorrigibly subversive ... Dyer is more than a cult writer; he's a virus, invading your system. You look at things differently, embracing the idiosyncratic, keeping the obvious at bay ... vintage Dyer, painfully funny, slyly observant, brilliant, full of wild misery.' Spectator
Michael Ondaatje
A raucous delight. Jeff in Venice is truly surprising - very funny, full of nerve, gutsy and delicious.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written and keenly observed,
By
This review is from: Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi (Paperback)
I bought this book because I heard the author interviewed on the Litopia Daily podcast. In the gap between purchasing it and reading it I heard his name mentioned almost exclusively in conjunction with superlatives. The best writer practising in English today was one of them. Like a young Kingsley Amis was another.
To say I had high hopes is an understatement. The writing is without doubt accomplished; the perfect mix between quick and easy to read, and intelligent and poignant. I don't think it deserves either of the two monikers above, but as a writer he is certainly impressive. Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi is really two books. The first part is a third person romp through the Biennale, as journalist Jeff Atman drinks and snorts his way through parties and exhibitions and enjoys a passionate but shallow affair with American gallery director, Laura. This section is very funny, often laugh out loud in it's grotesqueness and stays on just the right side of parody or whimsy. The second is first person, as an unnamed journalist (I assumed it is still Jeff, but I could be wrong) becomes increasingly seduced by the madness of Varanasi. There is a lingering sadness to the second part of the book, and while still funny in parts it lacks the frenetic, almost farcical nature of the first part. Based on Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, both parts of the book borrow themes and motifs from this classic Novella- unrequited love, the personality of places, and indeed it is Venice and Varanasi that are the real main characters here. Both are lovingly described in exquisite detail, both are decaying beauties, both are facades under which there is very little substance and yet both are revered as place of spiritually and culture. The people are secondary, as too is the plot really, and it is the spirit of the two cities, so perfectly captured, that made this book such a pleasure to read.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A curious combination,
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This review is from: Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
A curious combination of two long stories, apparently concerning the same main character, one written in the third person and the other in the first person.
The first section deals with a jaded journalist's brief but passionate affair, his discovery of something fresh and momentarily rejuvenating, among the party animals, the cliches, the drugs, the bellinis and the cynicism of the Venice biennale. For me, this was by far the more successful of the two sections of the book, all the better for its immediacy. The second section is a considerably more philosophical, spiritual, first-person piece as one of the characters from the first section apparently seeks some sort of enlightenment in India. I am sure it would be perfectly possible to read each part as an entity in its own right, but what brings them together (apart from the main character) is the acknowledgement of ageing, the ongoing search for meaning in life and the ultimate recognition that that meaning is likely to be found within rather than outside oneself. Interesting but flawed.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hugely memorable,
By John Fraser "John" (St Albans) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi (Paperback)
First up, Geoff Dyer is a very talented writer - he's written art criticism, WWI history, literary biography, you name it. But the book he's best know for is, obviously, the brilliantly written (and titled, it's fair to say) short story collection Yoga For people Who Can't be Bothered to Do It.
I'll be honest, I wasn't convinced that Geoff Dyer could neccesarily take his wonderful short story writing style into the novel territory - it's fair to say that he's not big on plot development and narrative arcs - and arguably this book is, in fact, two novellas. There's no real plot to speak of and yes - the two halves do have very different tones. However, to say there's nothing connecting them is strange. I found the two narratives flowed rather wonderfully from one to the other and - maybe I'm being far too literal here - I just read it as though they were about one and the same person. Two sides of the same story, in fact. To suggest that this book isn't memorable seems a bit strange too, as many of the scenes, particularly those in Varanasi, are beautifully evocative and hugely visual. He writes wonderfully about the pace and mood of Indian life, the weird rituals and events that pass as normal in any given day in this extraordinary city. And the character's progression (or maybe regression) is compelling and pretty heartstopping. It's fair to say that this won't be for all the fans of Yoga... but it's nonetheless a very rewarding experience. You'll be hard placed to find such an unusual and arresting piece of writing published this year.
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