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Venice
 
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Venice (Paperback)

by Jan Morris (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber; New ed of 3 Revised ed edition (7 Oct 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571168973
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571168972
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.4 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 7,552 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #3 in  Books > History > Europe > Italy
    #4 in  Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Europe > Italy > Cities & Regions > Venice
    #9 in  Books > History > Cultural History > Local & Urban History

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Product Description

Product Description
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


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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Still Stunning After All These Years!, 24 Jan 2003
By Andrew Howell "andyhowell3" (Birmingham, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
I've never been to Venice, something that I intend to put right in a couple of months time. And so I thought I'd better have a look at 'Venice', it being one of the few Morris books that I hadn't read. To call this a masterpiece would be an understatement.

Here we have the story of the life of Venice told in the most engaing way: the history of the place; details of the Venician personality; reflections on great faded glory' the memories of someone who used to call Venice home and - not unlike her work on Wales - some lovely, dreamy thinking about how Venice could, once again, find her proper role and place in the world.

This is not a travel guide or the account of a journey, but something altogether more satisfying. Forget the Lonley Planet guide, start you research here ...

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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars the real Venice - a personal view, but very evocative, 20 Dec 2005
By Mr. Ian A. Macfarlane "almac1975" (Fife, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This 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.
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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An exquisite love letter to Venice, 13 Nov 2006
By kimbofo (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   
I 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 a cheek-by-jowl, back-of-the-hand, under-the-counter, higgledy-piggledy, anecdotal city, and she is rich in piquant wrinkled things, like an assortment of bric-a-brac in the house of a wayward connoisseur, or parasites on an oyster-shell (page 201)".

And: "There are palaces to see everywhere, and precious churches, and bridges, and pictures by the thousand, and all the criss-cross pattern of antiquity that is picturesque Venice, mocked by the materialists, sentimentalised by the Romantics, but still by any standards an astonishing phenomenon, as fruity as plum pudding, as tart as the brand that flames about its holly (page 219)".

In fact the writing throughout this superb book is sublime (much like Venice itself) and I would quote entire chapters here, except it's probably better if you just took my word for it and got hold of a copy of "Venice" for yourself. It's a beautifully written and researched book, jam-packed with anecdotes and all kinds of historical fact. Whether you have been to Venice or not, I'm sure once you have read Jan Morris's delightful memoir you will be clammering to book your flights!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Shimmering Vision
Since its publication over 40 years ago this book has remained the best book on Venice. It offers a shimmering vision of the most magical and unique city that civilization has... Read more
Published 11 days ago by John

4.0 out of 5 stars "Even now, until you have seen Venice, there is an asymmetrical gap in your education"
So declares Jan Morris, famed travel writer and quasi-Venetian. This is a review of the fourth edition of 1993. The book was originally published in 1963. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Nicholas Casley

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, passionate prose intertwining past and present
The 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... Read more
Published on 31 May 2005 by fileybriggs

2.0 out of 5 stars 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? Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2005 by Mr S P Driver

5.0 out of 5 stars If you havent 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 -... Read more
Published on 15 Nov 2003 by maglinders

4.0 out of 5 stars A Different Dimension to Travel Writing
Jan Morris's book makes the perfect companion for a trip to Venice, completely counterbalancing the arid information of a standard guide. Read more
Published on 7 May 2003 by A. Weston

5.0 out of 5 stars A timeless classic
Neither a guide book or a reference book: just a collection of reflections and anecdotes which link together as effortlessly and seamlessly as the canals. Perfect relaxation!
Published on 4 Feb 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars a transport of the senses .. !
This is one of the few books I would take to a desert island. It is one of the most evocative books I have ever read - it is a companion to a rainy day or a trip to Venice itself... Read more
Published on 11 Dec 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Encapsulates the spirit of Venice
This is not a guide book, but a book about the city of Venice, its history and people. It is one of the most entertaining pieces of non-fiction I have ever read. Read more
Published on 25 April 2000

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