Paradise of Cities: Venice in the 19th Century

by John Julius Norwich

Book Overview

The greatest living chronicler of Venetian history brings to life the city's magical charm in a beautifully illustrated and captivating book. John Julius Norwich, the author of the acclaimedA History... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385509049
• ISBN13: 9780385509046
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Venice through the eyes of her visitors

Few cities have been as loved, eulogized, or subject to as ardent a mythmaking as Venice. John Julius Norwich, whose love for the city shines through in every page of the book, provides a sweeping, century-long view of it through the letters and memoirs of its most distinguished visitors, cramming in lots of interesting trivia and information on their personal history and quirky traits along the way. The abundant data help place these traveler's stories in the larger context of their times. The result is a compelling, if inevitably gossipy (and sometimes a bit snobbish) account of the city's famous visitors in the course of the nineteenth century. The snobbery can be a bit annoying --- Norwich, for instance, doesn't seem to notice the irony when a relative of one of his subjects talks about ladies who had their 'pet gondoliers' attend them during their endless social rounds (but, in all fairness, it must be said that this minor flaw is nowhere near the major name-dropping and silliness of John Berendt's "City of Falling Angels", to name a book dealing also with Venice). The felicity (or otherwise) of Norwich's choice of characters will naturally depend on each reader's preferences (one reviewer notes the ommission of Mark Twain). I, personally, was most interested in the ever-charming rake Byron, Daniele Manin the patriot, the great Henry James, Singer the painter... and that most insufferable of pests, the fascinating Frederick Rolfe. Other characters, such as the amateur antiquarians Brown and Layard, weren't nearly as interesting, while Daniel Curtis and his wife simply come across as unlikeable. As for Ruskin, Venice can hardly have had a more selfish, self-absorbed visitor. One wonders how his wife Effie put up with him for so long. (Norwich, incidentally, fails to mention that the reason why Ruskin failed to consummate his marriage with her, as argued by himself in the annulment proceedings, was that 'there were certain circumstances in her person which completely checked' his passion. Since Effie was a famously beautiful woman, historians have variously taken this to mean her pubic hair or menstrual blood. Whatever the meaning, one can imagine the humiliation the poor woman must have endured, married for several years to that insensitive freak). All in all, the book's an interesting, if not comprehensive, review of some of Venice's most famous visitors and inhabitants during a politically fraught and tempestuous era. Some of the descriptions of the city are as beautiful as Venice itself --- and Norwich's wry narrative voice and delight in minutiae make the read engaging, entertaining, and ultimately rewarding.

What's a historian's job?

A fascinating collection of anecdotes and potted biographies about famous people who visited Venice in the nineteenth century. In spite of its subtitle it's not really a history, although one of the biographical sketches is of Daniele Manin, who briefly restored the Venetian Republic. The history of Venice from, say, 1770 to 1870 raises some interesting questions of the kind historians are supposed to help us to answer. Why do nationalisms arise? Why do they sometimes take the form of wanting to unify and sometimes the form of trying to separate? Why did resurgent Venetian patriotism take the form of wanting to join Italy/Why are independence movements sometimes bloody and passionate and sometimes non-violent and mild? Why exactly did the Congress of Vienna "give" Venice to Austria? What was the relationship between the Venetian empire (still extensive in 1797) and the city itself? Did Ionian islanders and Dalmatians welcome their change of rulers? Norwich doesn't try to answer these questions. Perhaps he doesn't consider it his job. He says in the introduction that he considers a "straightforward recital of political events" would have been boring. Some of the accounts are of well-known figures, such as Byron and Ruskin, whose pre- and post-Venetian lives are more adequately dealt with by other others.The main interest of Rolfe lies in the fact that he is the subject of AJA Symons's "Quest for Corvo." Some of the characters dealt with at length seem nonentities distinguished only by their inherited wealth. Amongst the entertaining anecdotes I missed any account of the mystery of George Eliot's honeymoon. When was Proust in Venice?

VENICE IN THE 19TH CENTURY COMES ALIVE

In this beautifully written account of Venice in the 19th century, John Norwich makes his characters come alive. These characters include Napoleon,described here to have a great despise for the city he conquered, and his irresponsible looting of the great city, Lord Byron's eccentric and eclectic lyfestyle, Ruskin's prediction that Venice would decline way before anybody would have forseen it, and many other writers, composers, painters, thinkers and socialites, including, Wagner, Henry James, Robert Browning, Whistler and Sargent. John Norwich describes, here, the decline of Venice in the 19th century with great detail and magnificent prose. Here, also, he tells us of the movements for independence and revolution against the occupation of Austria. Part of those movements is the charismatic leader Daniel Manin. If you are acquainted with Venice and all its eccentricities, this book will delight you. It has everything, intrique, passion, extravagances, and yes, sexual escapades. It reads like a novel but depicts Venice in the 19th century as an attractive place for people wanting to get away from a world that cannot match Venice's beauty, exciting and eccentric being. This book, for a lack of better words, is colorful, delightful and beautifully written. For all lovers of Venice, this is surely a must read. Highly recommended and very enjoyable.

Fascinating History of a Fascinating City

Venice is one of the most romantic cities in the world and John Julius Norwich knows the city and its history better than almost anyone (having written a two volume history and edited an anthology about the city). Now he brings his history up through the 19th Century as seen through the eyes of some of its most famous residents (and some famous in their time but now forgotten). He writes in an endlessly readable prose with wit, fascinating anecdotes and an enthusiasm that is infectious. A treat for the armchair cultural historian.

LIfestyles of the Rich and Famous

My first exposure to the writing of John Julius Norwich was through his excellent series on Byzantium. ["A Short History of Byzantium"; "Byzantium: The Early Centuries"; "Byzantium: The Apogee"; "Byzantium: The Decline and Fall"]. He is an excellent writer, producing elegant prose combined with a love for his subject and an enticing sense of humor. Because of my enjoyment of this series, I picked up this book without hesitation. Venice has a proud history: politically, as an independent city-state; economically, the wealthy center of trade routes; artistically, possessing architectural treasures that still lure tourists. All this in addition to a breathtaking natural beauty. By the time covered by this book, however, the city had lost its political independence and power [being conquered by Napoleon at the beginning of the 1800s, and then being passed on to Austria], as well as its economic importance [as new trade routes were developed; as the US developed as an economic power, causing trade with the west to eclipse trade with the east]. Venice continued, however, to attract wealthy and prominent citizens from England the America. Was it the natural beauty? The cultural offerings? A sense of nostalgia? "Paradise of Cities" relates snippets of the lives of the "rich and famous" who visited, often for extended periods, Venice during the 19th century. Norwich includes biographical sketches of Napoleon, Lord Byron, Wagner, Henry James, Robert Browing, James Whistler, and John Singer Sargent, among others, emphasizing their time in and love of Venice. Unfortunately, while there are many interesting tidbits about their lives in Venice, there is little insight as to what it was about Venice which enchanted them. It would have been fascinating to know what they were running from, or what they were searching for. I expected more of a traditional history than it is. Aside from a short chapter on the ill-fated revolution of 1848 [very interesting!], the author provides little discussion on the evolution of the city or its people during this century. Nearly all the encounters and relationships reported on are with other foreign visitors - strange, from an author who claims an overwhelming love of the city. I wonder, too, on how he selected his cast of characters... Missing was Mark Twain, who visited the city in 1867 and again in 1878. His pithy description of Italy and the Italians in "Innocents Abroad", first published in 1869, was so resented in Italy that the book was not published there until 1960! [not an unusual reaction - there is a small town in Germany which, until at least the late 1970s, wouldn't even list Twain in its card catalog]. To recap: I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5, due to the lack of history of the city. But it is enjoyable reading, if somewhat episodic.