Reading matters

'Night Letters' by Robert Dessaix

Fiction - paperback; Picador; 276 pages; 1999.

Night Letters was published in Australia to critical acclaim in 1996. I had long been aware of its existence but had never got my hands on a copy -- until now.

Picking it up, it's hard to work out if it is a fictional story or a real-life travel memoir. This confusion is aided by its subtitle -- A Journey Through Switzerland and Italy -- and the note which claims it is "edited and annotated by Igor Miazmov". But for those who aren't quite sure, this is a novel and Miazmov is none other than Dessaix under another name. (Quite hilarious, then, to see that Amazon.co.uk lists Miazmov as if he is a real editor.)

The book comprises a series of 20 letters written on consecutive nights by an Australian man staying in a Venice hotel. The man, who is named Robert, has been diagnosed with an incurable illness and while the disease is never named one gets the impression that it is HIV.

These letters, which are not addressed to anyone in particular (but are effectively you, the reader), are filled with Robert's wide-ranging thoughts on travel, love, religion and mortality. But the common theme, which threads in and out of the often meandering narrative, is man's search for paradise and whether, in fact, it exists. This is underpinned by references to Dante's The Divine Comedy, which Robert is reading out of sequence, so that when he finishes Paradise he feels "oddly becalmed [...] if that didn't bring you to a point of absolute stillness, nothing would".

'Venetian Stories' by Jane Turner Rylands

Fiction - paperback; Anchor Books; 304 pages; 2004.

I am not a great fan of the short story, but I made an exception for this collection, because of its setting. It's no secret that I have a soft spot for Venice, so, when I found Jane Turner Rylands' Venetian Stories in a local charity shop I snapped it up, took it home and then spent the next six months reading it very, very slowly.

All the stories -- there are 12 in total and each is about 20 pages long -- are set in the watery city. They are told from the perspective of the residents, whether new or old, Italian or foreign, rich or poor. Some are even interlinked, but this is done in such a subtle manner that it's not immediately obvious and, to be honest, I wouldn't have even picked this up if it wasn't for the blurb telling me this was the case.

In fact, subtle is the key word here, as the entire collection seems to lack any great impact. There's no "wow" factor in these stories, but they are pleasing and effortless to read, if slightly fey in places. They supposedly provide an insight into real Venetian lives, but I have my doubts because many of the people portrayed here are downright snobs, corrupt or stupid.

There's also a decidedly American feel to everything, which is no great surprise given the author is an expat American. But what concerned me most was the condescending prose style adopted by Turner Rylands; there's no greater turn off than being talked down to, as if I could not possibly be as well travelled or as well connected  as the author.

In my humble opinion, Venetian Stories is not a great collection and has done nothing to make me reassess my usual distaste for the short story, but if you love Venice and consider yourself an armchair traveller (rather than a real traveller) you just might enjoy it.

'Venice: Tales of the City' edited by Michelle Lovric

Fiction & non-fiction - hardcover; Little, Brown; 448 pages; 2003.

Venice is one of those wonderfully intriguing cities that has inspired artists and writers alike for centuries. London-based author Michelle Lovric is no exception. She has penned several novels set in the watery Italian city, including Carnevale and The Floating Book, but this time around she leaves the writing to others and selects some of her favourite poetry, fiction pieces and non-fiction extracts and brings them together in this varied collection.

"In this anthology," she writes, "the voices of today's Venetians mingle with those of their ancestors, just as they still do on the streets of the city". And she is right: some of the writings included here date back centuries (several have been translated in English here for the first time) and others were written as recently as the late Twentieth Century.

'Miss Garnet's Angel' by Salley Vickers

Fiction - paperback; Harper Collins; 342  pages; 2000.

Set in contemporary Venice but with a decidedly old-fashioned ring to the writing style, Miss Garnet's Angel is one of the most delightful books I've ever read.

In this startling original debut novel by Salley Vickers we meet a just-retired school teacher who has lived a fairly staid and sedate life, a natural introvert who lacks self-confidence despite her fierce independence.

When her housemate of 30 years dies, Miss Garnet finds herself truly alone. When she takes an extended six-month trip to Venice, Italy, to come to terms with her loss little does she realise the changes -- spiritually, emotionally and mentally -- that she is about to undergo.

'Venice' by Jan Morris

Non fiction - paperback; Faber and Faber; 336  pages; 1993.

I am not a great fan of travelogues or travel memoirs, because I often think they don't really make sense, or resonate strongly enough, unless you have been to the places depicted. For instance, it's all well and good to read a travel tome about Australia and how terrible the flies are in the desert, but until you've actually experienced flies swarming around you and crawling into every face crevice it really doesn't mean anything -- you think you know but you really have no idea!

I decided to read Venice in preparation for a week-long stay in the Italian city. I had been to Venice several years ago, so felt I knew a bit about the city and its famous landmarks, which is why I wasn't so bothered about reading this memoir. I'd done the homework already, so to speak.

'A Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance' by Marlena de Blasi

Nonfiction - paperback; Ballentine Books; 272 pages; 2002

I have just discovered that the medication I am currently taking for a chest infection is the same medication given to people with Anthrax, so this might partly explain the snarky review which is to follow. Then again it might not.

A Thousand Days in Venice is one of those lovely-looking personal travel memoirs that promises everything and delivers not very much at all.

There's no doubt that it is well written: the prose is clear, lucid and free from too much 'waffle' and de Blasi definitely knows how to write about food in a wonderfully evocative way.

But the story -- how can I say this without sounding too mean? -- is woefully sappy and overly sentimental, which is fine if you like those things, but terrible if you don't.

'Acqua Alta' by Donna Leon

Fiction - paperback; Pan Books; 399  pages; 1996.

Acqua Alta is the fifth book in Donna Leon's series of crime novels set in Venice starring Commissario Guido Brunetti.

In this book we are re-acquainted with American art historian Brett Lynch, who appeared in Leon's first book Death at La Fenice, and her lesbian lover, the beautiful operatic diva Flavia Petrelli.

Brett, who organised a recent exhibition of Chinese pottery in Venice, is brutally attacked by two men, who warn her off keeping an appointment with Dottor Semenzato, the director of the museum at the Doges Palace.

While Brett recovers in hospital, Guido Brunetti launches an investigation, seeking a motive for the crime. Amid the winter rains that lead to acqua-alta (high tide), he slowly unravels a network of lies and corruption in the art world...

'A Noble Radiance' by Donna Leon

Fiction - paperback; Arrow; 289  pages; 1999.

This is book number 7 in Donna Leon's crime series featuring Commissario Brunetti, but only the second one that I have read.

In this book Brunetti reopens an investigation into a kidnapping that was never solved. The badly decomposing body of the victim, a young man from a noble Venetian family, has been discovered on farm land in the Italian Dolomites several years after his disappearance.

Brunetti has the difficult task of breaking the news to the victim's family and then sets about trying to work out who murdered him and why.

As a story it is a relatively interesting and fast-paced one. But I had some problems with the book as a whole.

**Please note there are spoilers below**

'Death at La Fenice' by Donna Leon

Fiction - paperback; Arrow Books; 338  pages; 2004 (originally published 1992).

Until very recently I was not aware that Donna Leon's books were set in Venice. I had seen her books cluttering shelves in every book store I've ever haunted but for some weird reason I had never been inclined to pick one up, much less read one. Silly me.

Death at La Fenice introduces us to Leon's creation, the quiet family man and police detective Guido Brunetti. It also introduces us to the mysterious, romantic beauty of Venice's canals and alleyways, her bridges, beautiful buildings and sense of history.

'The City of Falling Angels' by John Berendt

Non-fiction - hardcover; Penguin Group (USA); 382 pages; 2005.

"The air still smelled of charcoal when I arrived in Venice three days after the fire." So begins John Berendt's unique travelogue of the world's most romantic city.

Taking the fire that destroyed the Fenice theatre in 1996 - one of the most important theatres in Italy if not the world - Berendt takes his readers on an extraordinary voyage into the (quite literally) stinking heart of the city that has intrigued and delighted mankind for centuries.

Having read Berendt's much-acclaimed Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil when it was first released a decade ago, I had expected The City of Falling Angels to be a tour de force that would not only capture the essence of the city and its inhabitants but weave a spellbinding account of the Fenice fire and its aftermath. What I got was a disappointing and, quite frankly, aimless narrative that leaves the reader wondering if they've missed something along the way.