- Hardcover: 368 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster International (19 May 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0671047299
- ISBN-13: 978-0671047290
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.7 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,210,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Here is Venice for our century where life is lived and recorded by the passionate eye of Paula Weideger...This is an enchanted world and you're in it the moment you open Venetian Dreaming"
Product Description
Paula Weideger boarded a "vaporetto" on the Grand Canal, and under the sunny blue Venetian sky she, like millions of others, fell in love with the city. Venice was where she wanted to live and, with a combination of luck and determination, she did. This is the story of her adventures in one of the world's most treasured places.
Follow in her footsteps as Weideger makes her way into the labyrinth and discovers the city's secrets. There are mysteries, obstacles, and surprises -- many of them delightful -- at almost every turn. Always there are puzzles to solve: How to find an apartment? Where to buy take-away lasagne? Will she ever learn Italian or, more urgently, can she stop getting lost? Is it true that Venice is about to drown -- or that speeding drivers destroy magnificent buildings in this city without cars?
Weideger's search for a home eventually takes her to "Palazzo Dona dalle rose," perhaps the last palace in Venice to be continuously occupied by the family of the man who built it -- in this case a legendary "doge." She describes the rooms and their exquisite furnishings with a sensitive eye and an affectionate touch, and shows us how the story of the house fits together with the history of Venice and becomes part of her own.
Venice's art and architecture are a constant presence. Yet even more strongly felt is the passage of time, the panorama of the seasons as reflected in special events -- Carnival, the Film Festival, September's historic regatta, Midnight Mass at San Marco -- they are all here. And people. Always people. We accompany Weideger as she explores the Ghetto, meets nobility and boatmen, artists and fish mongers. We learn how she makes peace withthe ghost of Peggy Guggenheim, how her home is threatened, if briefly, by the Merchant Ivory crowd, and how she manages to survive both high water and high drama with her landlady, along with much, much more.
Weideger's vision of Venice -- wry, intelligent, and love struck, if occasionally blurred by tears -- is at once haunting and down-to-earth. With a glass of "Prosecco," the traveler, armchair or otherwise, will experience a perfect pleasure.
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First Sentence
How was I going to find a place to live in Venice? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
How was I going to find a place to live in Venice? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book simply because I love Venice and it looked promising. However, within a couple of chapters I found myself intensely disliking the author and this grew the further I read on.
I would give this book 2 stars for Venice itself - any description of such a beautiful city would be hard to fault. For the narration I would give it zero.
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book to read because I'm hoping to go to Venice later this year. At the end of it I (a) wondered if I really wanted to go at all, and (b) actively disliked the author. It's full of turgid prose, a great many excrutiating details (included, I suspect, to pad out the length of the book) and some very dull descriptions of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Her treatment of Venice is only slightly less objectionable than her treatment of the people she met there. The book is full of complaints about named individuals who, no matter how awful they actually were, cannot possibly have deserved this treatment. Was it written for revenge? If so, the only person she belittles is herself. I kept reading in the hope it would get better but in vain. It's a brilliant example of how not to write a travel book.
Format:Paperback
How much you enjoy this book rather depends upon where you are coming from. It is inclined to be a little smug and the author obviously moves in rather different circles than most of us - but on the other hand isn't that why we read this type of book in the first place? Sure, there are some occasions in the book when I wince at her approach to life but not enough to stop reading. Some of the "excruciating details" I found rather fascinating and there is no doubting the passion that Weideger brings to her book. If you are looking for tourist information then look elsewhere, but if you might be interested in a quirky account of living in an historic and beautiful city then read this. At least it doesn't suffer from the over the syrupy creative writing style of some other American writers who have spent rather too long under the Tuscan Sun!
Incidentally, am I alone in thinking there is more than a passing resemblance between the author and Gene Wilder as evidenced by the cover photo?
Incidentally, am I alone in thinking there is more than a passing resemblance between the author and Gene Wilder as evidenced by the cover photo?
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