Venetian reading?

   
    If you've seen this post (and I'm still astonished) you'll know I'm off to Venice next month. I may not manage to fit in any Venetian books before I go, but should time permit, what would you recommend? We have lots of Donna Leon's novels, for instance, and I've read Michelle Lovric's The Undrowned Child, (here's Michelle on living and writing Venice for children), but other books with Venice as a setting? What comes to mind?

Comments

[Vivienne Dunstan]

Definitely read Venice by Jan Morris. Also for when you are there I would recommend Venice for Pleasure by J.G. Links. Both are non-fiction books, the first an account of a long-term stay in Venice / love-letter to the city. The second is a guide to how best to explore the place on foot.

Have fun. I've been to Venice twice, always out of season, in November or December. It's a magical place.

[adele geras]

Can't tell you how I envy you! If you see the Foscari Palace Hotel, near the Ca'd'Oro, give it our regards. It's a blissful place and we just loved it. As to books, THE ASPERN PAPERS by Henry James is my suggestion and it's very short too!

[Diana Birchall]

Byron's letters from when he was in Venice, and then visit the Armenian island monastery where he stayed.

[salome]

never been in Venice and probably never come but can recommend J. Brodsky "Watermark, or The City of Falling Angels of J. Berendt

[Sue]

Is Death In Venice too obvious?

[Susan E]

Another suggestion of The Aspern Papers...short, atmospheric story of a scholar in pursuit of a literary lion's long lost letters...I reread it this summer and got such flashbacks to Venice.

[LizF]

Well definitely Donna Leon but also Marina Fiorato, who is half Venetian and whose books were recommended to my daughter by the Italian language assistant at school who was a native Veneziana (hope I have got that right or I am in big trouble!). Her most recent book is The Venetian Contract.
As you are also a keen cook, Tessa Kiros's Venezia is a gorgeous book (her husband is Venetian and a lot of the recipes in it came from her sister in law)

[Victoria Corby]

I would have thought that Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers is a must-read or re-read for a trip to Venice. My OH has been trapped in bed for the last week and has been enthralled by The City Of Falling Angels. Michael Dibden's Aurelio Zen is Venetian and at least one of the books is set in Venice.

[Mary]

I'd also recommend City of Falling Angels, and Miss Garnett's Angel which is light but has lots of charm. Lucky you ... I spent Christmas in Venice once, it was magical.

[Mary]

Also, if you dip in to Thomas Coryat's Crudities, he is very funny about Venice. I have a battered old edition, but I think it's available online. I know I read it shortly before I last visited Venice and it brought history so vividly to life, I felt as if Tom was trotting around the canals by my side!

[Caroline]

My family and I are also off to Venice for a few days in October and we can't wait! Set in Venice, Cornelia Funke's Thief Lord is a thrilling children's book whilst I highly recommend both Ann Bridge's Illyrian Spring in which some entrancing early scenes are set in Venice, as well as Daphne du Maurier's chilling Don't Look Now. Both give memorable, if opposite, descriptions of the city's effect on an English temperament.

[LizzySiddal]

Grab yourself a copy of City-Pick Venice - it will keep you company through all aspects of your visit as well as introducing you to a stash of books to follow up with.

http://lizzysiddal.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/venice-in-february-adjourned-to-may/

[B R Wombat]

Not a book, but a film - one of my favourites - Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You has a very funny section set in Venice.

[Danielle]

What a thoughtful gift! :) Happy belated birthday by the way. I have to ditto Caroline--Daphne du Maurier's short story, Don't Look Now is wonderfully atmospheric and the movie with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie is suitably creepy. I was lucky enough to go to Venice years ago, but it was only for a few days--you are going to love it there! :)

[FleurFisher]

It's out of print and it's terribly sentimental, but if you can find a copy E Temple Thurston's City of Beautiful Nonsense it is a gem.

[Georgina]

Lucky you. The Stravaganza series by Mary Hoffman is really teen fiction but a good read for adults too.

[Kristine]

For light but informative reading, a memoir by Paula Weideger called "Venetian Dreaming".
As the blurb says, "A wonderful portrayal of Italian life - helpful to anyone who plans to visit the city and tempting for those who don't." - Literary Journal.
I really enjoyed it.

[Carol Norton]

I've read and enjoyed all of Libby Purves' novels but perhaps my favourite is More Lives then One, partly set in wintery Venice.

[thevelvetnap]

Absolutely Miss Garnet's Angel- but also Wings of the Dove film may help romance the appetite...

[Mary Grover]

I agree about Brodsky's "Watermark." It's very brief and beautifully written and has been described as "equal parts extended autobiographical essay and prose poem..."
But it does focus on Venice in winter.

[jodi]

I read The Thief Lord when I was there in the spring. Made the book so much more real. Plus it was an easy read. Perfect for vacation. Have a wonderful time. I loved Venice. It is a place like no other.

[Mary Hoffman]

No-one has mentioned the wonderful books of Michelle Lovric! Both adult books like Carnevale and The Floating Book and children's, like The Undrowned child, all take place at least partly in the city, where the author has a home.

[Lauren]

The Aspern Papers may be my favorite but I'd also recommend Alibi bu Joseph Kanon. It's a thriller.

[Lindsay]

Aspern Papers, Dont Look Now and Death in Venice all well worth reading, but two books not mentioned so far are:

Jeanette Winterton, The Passion, a very short exciting novel which gives a sense of the excitement, mystery and drama, often glamourous and often sinister, of the city

And Ruskin's Stones of Venice is essential to look at, if not to read completely through. There's a modern illustrated edition, which combines Ruskins adamantine views with the rocks of which he speaks. A marvellous insight into two different worlds

Happy reading, from Zimbabwe!

[Fran H-B]

The Glass Blower of Murano: Marina Fiorato, also James Runcie's The Colour of Heaven, both easy reads but evocative of Venice.

[Rose]

A Taste of Venice
At Table with Brunetti
Culinary Stories by Donna Leon
Recipes by Roberta Pianaro

[Rose]

That's all one book! published by Heinemann

[Rose]

Just got it for a birthday present yesterday to celebrate a joyous trip there in March (earlier this year!)

[Chloe]

As Lindsay says, definitely The Passion (sorry to repeat myself) - also we got a great book there called My Local Guide or similar, pigeons on the cover, written by Venetians, look out for it