Gianfranco Bettin
Autor de Nemmeno il destino
Sobre El Autor
Obras de Gianfranco Bettin
Giu La Maschera Venezia 1 copia
Nebulosa del boomerang 1 copia
L' erede 1 copia
Petrolkiller 1 copia
Nemmeno il destino 1 copia
Eredi 1 copia
Qualcosa che brucia 1 copia
Etiquetado
Conocimiento común
- Fecha de nacimiento
- XX sec. d.C.
- Género
- male
- Nacionalidad
- Italia
Miembros
Reseñas
Estadísticas
- Obras
- 22
- Miembros
- 63
- Popularidad
- #268,028
- Valoración
- 3.1
- Reseñas
- 1
- ISBNs
- 14
- Idiomas
- 1
Review of the Comma Press paperback edition (May 2021)
[Average 3.2 rating, rounded down to 3]
See image at https://s26162.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/View_of_the_Grand_Canal_Santa_...
"View of the Grand Canal Santa Maria della Salute and the Dogana from Campo Santa Maria Zobenigo" (c. 1743) painted by Bernardo Bellotto (1722-1780). Image sourced from LitHub
The Book of Venice provides a variety of short stories centred around the world of the city of Venice. It is part of Comma Press' Reading the City/A City in Short Fiction series of which I have really enjoyed every one that I've read. This one had perhaps a few too many stories about hating tourists, which brought the average down a bit.
1. Venice 2084 by Samantha Lenarda. ** A couple tours Venice in the year 2084 when the entire island portion of the city has become a theme park with locals acting out historical reenactments.
2. Venice is my Mother by Cristiano Dorigo. ** The writer reminisces about previous times in Venice while visiting the addresses of various districts with houses that are numbered 2666, in tribute to the book 2666 by Chilean author Roberto Bolaño (1953-2003).
3. The Casket by Marilia Mazzeo. **** An aged painter in Venice resents the presence of modern impolite people, especially tourists, while thinking about the old days. He thinks of Venice as a casket, a container of precious things.
4. A Farewell to Venice by Michele Catozzi. **** Commissario Aldani is alarmed to read in the newspaper that Police HQ will be transferred from its old building in Venice to a new location in the borough of Marghera. He sets out to stop the move. This is a short story featuring Catozzi's regular police inspector from the Commissario Aldani series.
5. Carmen by Elisabetta Baldisserotto. ** The story describes the clothes washing, drying and ironing habits of the woman named in the title. She sings (not necessarily opera) while doing the work. This is very short at 4 pages and nothing much dramatic happens until the final few sentences.
6. Beautiful Venice by Gianfranco Bettin. **** A man assists in the cleanup of dead fish and algae from the Venice canals and lagoon. He recovers the remnants of an old shop sign that used to read "The Beautiful Venice." The sign helps trigger memories in his mother.
7. Atmospheric Conditions by Enrico Palandri. *** A journalist extends his stay in Venice after the Film Festival in order to work on a translation over which he is procrastinating. He lends his apartment to a young courting couple who are hiding from their parents.
8. Lagoon by Roberto Ferrucci. *** Basically a rant against cruise ships visiting Venice and the environmental and ecosystem damage caused by them.
9. Why I Begin at the End by Ginerva Lamberti. ***** A writer who earns most of their money from apartment rentals in Venice tells stories about her various partnerships and procrastinates from telling us about "ghost mortgages" while making constant digressions. This was a standout story due to its humour.
10. April 25, 2020 by Annalisa Bruni. *** Various Venice residents and some distant friends join together on a Zoom call during the pandemic to celebrate Italian Liberation Day April 25, 1945 in the 2nd World War.
I read The Book of Venice due to its selection for the 2021 Borderless Book Club for which it was the July 29, 2021 selection. Selected audio from the meetings of the Borderless Book Club are posted here (link is to Apple Podcasts). The Book of Venice July 29, 2021 meeting is not posted yet though (as of late August 2021).
Trivia and Links
These links are thanks to Maddie Rogers of the Borderless Book Club.
Recommended for background reading by publisher Becca Parkinson:
Read On the Enchanting, Hopelessly Beautiful Splendor and History of Venice by Orsola Casagrande, a recommended reading list on the city, for Lithub.
Read interviews with Orsola Casagrande, Enrico Palandri, Samantha Lenarda, Ginevra Lamberti and Michele Catozzi about their relationship with Venice at The State of the Arts.
Watch the launch of The Book of Venice for free on Comma's YouTube.
A recent piece from The Guardian re. Italy's choice to ban cruise ships from the Venice lagoon to protect it's UNESCO status: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/13/italy-bans-cruise-ships-from-venic...
Watch Orsola Casagrande read from her translation of Enrico Palandri’s 'Atmospheric Conditions' on Translators Aloud.… (más)