Venetian Dreaming

I am only on page 57 and continually am expressing to E., my husband, what a wonderful read Weideger's Venetian Dreaming is FOR ME, which seems to cater to my peculiar fascination and obsession with Venice. I have a library of books - both fiction & mostly nonfiction - on my beloved Venice. As I read, my worn map of Venice is by my side and consulted frequently. Thus, I travel around the watery city with Paula. It is marvelous. The many interesting factoids that crop up add to my knowledge of Venice. For example, I didn't know there is a University of Venice in the Dorsoduro sestieri. Perhaps most readers do not find this to be an item of interest. Oddly, I do. I also relate to her personal history as it is woven into the narrative of the Venetian experience. Should I revisit Venice again (and I expect to), reading this book will enhance my next journey to the watery wonderland.

I read this book on the plane back to the USA from Venice, where I had been (for the first time) for about a week on combined business and pleasure. I was captivated by the city and was hungry for anything more to read about it, so I picked up Venetian Dreaming at Marco Polo airport before boarding. I was surprised by the extremely negative reviews of the book, although I can understand the reasons for their criticism. I had read a fair amount about Venice and its history before the trip and wandered the city through crowds and quiet back streets and canals for a few days. From that perspective, it was interesting simply to read a description of many of the same places and a few more facts that weren't in the guidebooks. At the next level, it was interesting to read an account by someone who acted on the fantasy many visitors to Venice have and move there for an extended period of time. Here we find Weideger moving to a city where she knows no one and trying to establish a social network. As a professional writer, she has the potential to move into literary and artistic circles, and she attempts to do so with some success. I too was struck by her brutal characterization some of the people she meets. Actually, I should say her attempts to do so, because Weideger has a journalistic style of writing that lacks depth in characterization. I was reminded somewhat of A Sun Also Rises which to me was a boring book about bored inhabitants of an artistic colony who are searching for something to do. However, Weideger's colony is more interesting because Venice provides a focus of past glories and present problems in contrast to Hemingway's troupe of self-indulgent drunks. Yes, Weideger is trying to work her way into the inside of Venice, and yes, she lives in an artificial world because, after all, she hasn't just move to Venice, she also is going to write a book about it. But in doing so, we meet characters who are part of what is left of Venice, and in contrast to what some reviews have implied, some of these characters are interesting and admirable. And then on another level, we become acquainted with Weideger herself. No, she doesn't seem very happy. And apparently a precondition for continuing to live together with "H." is that she can't really write about their relationship. But do we care? And we find that Weideger's lack of flexibility alienates her from her landlords, yet she doesn't seem to have any insight into this. Again, her journalistic style makes it easy to take sides with her landlords, who are interesting people. Finally, we are left with a matter-of-fact account of one writer's year in a world that stopped turning in 1797 with the death of the Venetian Republic. It's not an uninteresting read.

I really enjoyed this book. Having lived in the Veneto Region and visited Venice so many times I'd often wondered what it was like to live inside one of those Venetian palaces. Ms. Weideger with luck managed to land an apartment in a most famous "Casa", and brought me every detail into vivid view. The charming stories of the people she meets, many of whom become her friends, are scattered throughout and interspersed are interesting stories of Venetian history, and insider views regarding the future of Venice with all its politics. There was much of what I read that filled in the gaps of my personal knowledgebase of the city. I also loved how she included the sometimes unpleasant episodes with her landlords and how she finally resolved them "venetian style". This was a very balanced book with something for everyone. And I think this is what the author wanted to achieve, or rather share with us, the reader. I had my engineer husband read the chapter of the MOSE so he could read more of what could become the largest engineering project in the world, and why many Italians question its worth. I was drawn to admire the author's tenacity as a student of the language. I myself have several times lived and studied in foreign countries where I did not know the native language and forced myself to become as fluent as possible finally making myself understood in conversations of the most particular. After reading this book you can't help but say bravo! to this lady who embraced a city and who embraced her in return.

I can only imagine that james whatever reads through a veil of vitriole. Where I see wit, he sees complaint. Where I see interesting and engaging painting of historical background, he sees brief and occasional scribblings. I can only think he is either an embittered armchair traveler who never gets to go anywhere or just a plain mean spirited person with an unstated agenda. Too bad 5 out of 5 who read this poison chose to believe an obvious canard.

From the first paragraph of her introduction, Weideger invites you to experience with her the discovery of a new social, historical and artistic world. As a person who has been struck by the extraordinary beauty of the tourist's Venice, I was delighted to journey with the writer into the palaces and gardens I had only imagined. A witty and intelligent voyage into a hidden world.