Casanova in Bolzano

Just a note to add my enthusiastic review of this masterpiece to the others on view, and to point out the richness of George Szirtes' masterly translation. I can think of few books one can read, even in their original language, with this novel's extraordinary evocative power. In reading Casanova, as with Szirtes' other Marai translation, the earlier, lesser and far more youthful novel, The Rebels, I find myself reading half a page, then drifting off into a reverie the text has evoked, returning only when a timeless time has passed: it is as if Marai's extraordinary, passionate density of detail, and the interiority with which he invests it, play a Proustian trick on the reader--the text remains short and highly concentrated, while the reader performs his own feats of extensive Proustification. Bravissimo! The translation of the excellent Embers, done from the German translation, cannot perform this trick, alas.

1) Casanova in Bolzano is a masterpiece - Sandor's previous book to be published in English, Embers, was a masterpiece on the subject of friendship, while Bolzano is a masterpiece on the subject of love between men and women. It is clear that Sandor understands people better than most writers of the twentieth century, or in fact any that come to mind. From his writing, Sandor must have lived, really lived-- experienced and understood human ambition and disappointment, true love and one night stands, youth and age, celebrity and exile, and the mysteries of the sexes. 2) Casanova is Bolzano is not a young man's (or woman's) book. I would probably not understand this novel well at the age of 18 or 20 because Bolzano is a novel whose insights are entirely for those who've lived a good chunk of life, had many lovers, experienced adulthood and grappled with love and sex. It's a mature work from a mature writer. 3) This is not a historical novel; it has precious little to say about the eighteenth centory, or Italy, or even specific characters. The characters in Bolzano are not even "characters," as such-- in fact, the name "Casanova" does not appear once, outside of Sandor's introduction (the original Hungarian title is "Vendégjáték Bolzanóban," which also does not mention "Casanova"). It's about people, archetypes. 4) The novel starts off a little slow, especially in comparison to Embers, but quickly picks up for one classic Sandor scene after another: two people in a room, talking, saying exactly what they feel. Can't wait for the next Sandor novel to be translated.

Who better to read this inspired story of Casanova than the acclaimed Simon Prebble? His English accent and rich tenor add immeasurably to a listener's pleasure. Combine these with his ability to inhabit all make of diverse characters within a single reading and you have an audio book head and shoulders above the rest.In an opening author's note Marai makes it clear that the only actual event in this story is Casanova's escape from an unspeakably horrid cell in Venice's ducal palace in 1796. What follows is totally fiction - ah, but what fiction it is. With the assistance of a defrocked priest, Balbi, Casanova makes his way to an Italian village, Bolzano. Once there he demands and is given the finest rooms by an innkeeper who at first distrusts the pair because of their ragged appearances and lack of luggage. But Marai has given Casanova a silver tongue, one which commands, influences, and, of course, woos. Bolzano is far from what most would consider a safe haven because some years before Casanova had dueled with the duke of Parma for the love of Francesca, then a 15-year-old girl. The Duke got the better of Casanova but did not take his life, rather making him promise never to see Francesca again. Now, the duke is an old man and has come upon a note Francesca has written to her former lover asking to see him. She, too, has changed over the years. Married to the Duke she is no longer a susceptible teenager but a rather willful woman. Will the two meet? Throughout his richly told tale Marai treats us to painterly details and ruminations pertaining to the human condition - desire, honor, love, duty. Simon Prebble treats us to a superb reading.- Gail Cooke

First published in Hungary in 1940, this is the first English publcation of this novel. The story is an erotic telling of the story of Giacomo Casanova after his escape from Venice's most infamous jail. He goes to Bolzano to rebuild his life and to resume his life of seduction. He picks Bolzano because of his history with the place and this particular lady. The story picks up when her husband, the elderly duke .... Well you can guess the story from there. It marks the second novel of Sandai Marai that's in print. It also makes you wonder what other great novels were printed in a time, place and language waiting to be rediscovered.

Venice, the 18th century: The days when Venice controlled trade by the sea are long over, and the city has descended into decadence. Carnivale, the annual event celebrated by Venetians, lasts half the year; the elite of Venetian society gamble and drink behind the anonymity of masks. In 1756, Venice was home to the infamous Casanova, a rake who lived the high life to the hilt. Born in obscurity, Casanova managed to befriend a duke and move himself through the ranks of Venetian society. Although not by accounts a physically attractive man, he captivated all kinds of women with his charm and flair. With a kind of poetical language which is all his own, Sandor Marai wrote this practically perfect novel which attempts to recreate the period immediately following Casanova's escape from a Venetian prison, in which he hid out in a room in the ton of Bolzano on the mainland. A surprisingly passionate man, one tiny event or word from someone brings on a torrent of passionate words from the famous aristocrat, who is startlingly violent in his actions. After sixteen months in prison, Casanova is ready to enjoy the finer things of life, but finds that he has lost his touch. Marai, who wrote Casanova in Bolzano in the 1940's, gives a warm, sensual depth to descriptions as well as a finely-tuned insight into the subject of his narrative. Going back and forth in time, Marai mixes the present with past memory, and reality with that which can't be touched. He recreates the day when Casanova fought in a duel with the Duke of Parma, five years before over a country girl, a woman he might have been in love with. The paragraphs in this book are long, and there is quite a lot to take in; but this book is certainly worth the read.