. of Venice's famed historic opera house, the Fenice--and the byzantine aftermath of this great loss to the city. The Ezra Pound and Save Venice incidents largely involve dubious Americans with huge egos that need stroking. She threw herself to the ground in front of the theater, flailing her arms and rolling on the pavement. Enjoyed it, though, and oh how it made me want to be a mysterious American expat occupying a palazzo... Audiobook note: Well done. Just a disclaimer: I read that one when I was about 14, so perhaps my tastes have just changed. They were large, muscular hands, the hands of an artisan whose work demanded physical strength. I enjoyed learning that everyone walks in Venice--there are no cars. It was while he was staying in Marcello's palace, in fact, that Brodsky had written his last book, Watermark, a lyrical reflection on Venice. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. The canal between the Segusos' building and the back of the Fenice was now a deep, muddy gulch with a tangle of exposed pipes and a few pieces of heavy machinery sitting in puddles at the bottom. It does make me wish the Venice as described still existed - but it's still my favourite place of those visited so far (you never know) and this book increased my knowledge and understanding of this fascinating place. A narrow canal wrapped around two sides of the building before flowing into the Grand Canal a short distance away. THE CITY OF FALLING ANGELS (Non-Fiction-Venice, Italy-Cont) – VG+. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. The press frequently sought him out for comment, knowing they could count on a frank, often provocative quote or two. He no longer had the stamina to stand in front of a hot and howling furnace eighteen hours a day, but he worked every day nonetheless, and with undiminished pleasure. Lovely! “City of Fallen Angels” is a hot summer mystery, saturated in Jameson, drifting on the tense waves of LA Palm-thick sizzle. You can even see it in the architecture. A dozen bewildered guests rolled suitcases out of the Hotel La Fenice, asking directions to the Hotel Saturnia, where they had been told to go. Sadly, this book isn’t it. City of Fallen Angels. I love Berendt's style of writing and this is very well done. This books starts well with excellent eyewitness descriptions of the fire that destroyed the famous Fenice opera house in January 1996, and this is followed up later by accounts of the long drawn-out investigation of the causes of the fire, with its oscillating conclusions, and the labyrinthine bureaucracy that surrounded reconstruction, and which contributed to long delay of seven years before the opera house was reopened. This book was slow going. These are subjects that are undoubtedly interesting, at least to some, but are remote to the lives of ordinary Venetians. The City of Falling Angels Summary & Study Guide Description The City of Falling Angels Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. Two fireboats managed to navigate to a water-filled canal a short distance from the Fenice. Venetians do appear, but they are either a few eccentric characters, or the elite of the city, and they are outnumbered by foreigners, mainly expatriate American, again of a certain class. For two hundred years, audiences had delighted in the sumptuous clarity of the Fenice's acoustics, the magnificence of its five tiers of gilt-encrusted boxes, and the baroque fantasy of it all. They directed half the water onto the theater in an attempt to contain the fire and the rest of it onto adjacent buildings. The door opened. About The City of Falling Angels. Turning to the magic, mystery, and decadence of Venice, Berendt gradually reveals the truth behind a sensational fire that in … 11 cds. THE CITY OF FALLING ANGELS opens on the evening of January 29, 1996, when a dramatic fire destroys the historic Fenice opera house. A very quirky angle to write in such a way. THE AIR STILL SMELLED OF CHARCOAL when I arrived in Venice three days after the fire. It’s a foray into the classic noir genre, it’s an amble into a sympathetic journalist character who we can or we cannot trust. magazine: who attended what party in what palace etc. 1-4159-2476-7 $76.80. Opera house to New York so she dialed 112 for the police, crossed paths patrons! Reading about particularly if you liked `` Midnight, and I the city of falling angels it as being one of Ristorante... Been smoke plot on the subject old days, '' he said softly, `` the boxes... Had curtains you could close, even during the performance their houses by the fire and people. 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