yagirlvic's review
4.0
First book back from my 2 month reading drought lol I enjoyed this! A lot of full circle moments and also we love Venice
blueskygreentreesyellowsun's review
5.0
Second reading: still so very gossipy, still so very very good.
First reading: Gossip cleverly disguised as commentary upon the citizens of Venice, Italy. Mmm, good.
First reading: Gossip cleverly disguised as commentary upon the citizens of Venice, Italy. Mmm, good.
blevins's review
3.0
The first half of this book on Venice and people who live in Venice is about as good as non-fiction can be. Highly readable, highly entertaining, highly interesting. The second half kind of loses steam sadly as it gets bogged down in a couple of long essays that just are not interesting at all. Still a good book, just not on the overall level of Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil from a few years ago.
kristinjones28's review
3.0
I really enjoyed this book when I started reading it, but the end felt like a bit of a chore to get through. I had no interest in all of the characters and their backstories. I understood the thread tying everything together was the Fenice burning, but it felt like it took a back seat. The whole book felt messy and discombobulated, which maybe was the point. I just happened to not like it. Which is a shame because I enjoyed Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
allieeveryday's review
4.0
The entire time I was reading "City," I wanted to go live in Venice (and I still do now that I'm done). In the first few pages, a man describes Venetians as prone to exaggeration, so clearly I was born in the wrong country. "City" was non-fiction, but most of it read like a novel. It chronicled the author's time living in Venice in the aftermath of a fire that destroyed the Fenice opera house and the subsequent attempts to rebuild it "as it was, where it was." It also delved into the politics of restoration in Venice, and all the drama that went on behind the scenes as organizations came forward to try to rebuild the Fenice and various other palazzos. The nature of Venice as a whole compared to elsewhere in the world awed me. I really hope to see it someday.
mjfmjfmjf's review
4.0
Not my usual fare, but a good read if a little slow. Now I've got to decide if I want to read, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Unlike Venice, I've actually been to Savannah - though it has been a long time. Not a lot of plot. Or perhaps too much disorganized plot. 4 of 5.
kc_ashton's review
4.0
Intriguing story about Venice... a City I did not know much about. I enjoyed all the history in this novel.