Venice: Pure City by Peter Ackroyd (PDF)

Description

In this magnificent vision of Venice, Peter Ackroyd turns his unparalleled skill at evoking place from London and the River Thames, to Italy and the city of myth, mystery and beauty. He leads us through the history of the city, from the first refugees arriving in the mists of the lagoon in the fourth century to the rise of a great mercantile state and a trading empire, the wars against Napoleon and the tourist invasions of today. There are wars and sieges, scandals and seductions, fountains playing in deserted squares and crowds thronging the markets. And there is a dark undertone too, of shadowy corners and dead ends, prisons and punishment. We could have no better guide to this most exceptional of cities – reading Ackroyd’s Venice is, in itself, a glorious journey and the perfect holiday.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I liked Peter Ackroyd’s “Venice: Pure City.” The book is big, about 6 1/2 by 9 1/2, with just over 400 pages, so getting through it in detail, which is worth it, can take a while.One thing immediately noticeable is the jacket, or half-jacket, that covers only the bottom 6 inches of the cover.The half-jacket bears the name of the book and a standard view of St. Mark’s Square with the Doge’s Palace, and in front of it, several gondolas in the Grand Canal.The upper part of the cover and the half-jacket reveal what almost all travelers have noted, that Venice is very beautiful.What is hiding behind Peter Ackroyd’s half-jacket is the lower part of the cover, which I daresay cannot be called beautiful. Grotesque is a better word. I won’t tell you what is depicted, which for all I know may come only with the hardcopy (the hardcopy would be my recommendation). But the pretty jacket concealing something that is not pretty, fits in with Ackroyd’s overall revelations about Venice throughout the book.Ackroyd stresses that Venice has always rested uneasy on the sea and is predominately surface and show. The façades of houses are covered with attractive sheets of varied colors of marble. Hence the beauty. Behind the façades, the construction material is brick, not blocks of marble. The houses rest on 10 or 12-foot wooden poles sunk down into the mud to reach a firm foundation of harder clay and dense sand. These pilings can last a thousand years if they remain submerged. Returned to air they would crumble.The sea continuously seeks to reclaim Venice’s 35-mile by 6-mile stretch of 117 islands. The city has always been in danger of disappearing into the sea. Yet the sea and the city’s industry have been their life of far-flung trade. Ackroyd traces its history from early beginnings to a once great warring empire to its present position of attracting and depending upon worldwide tourism.Ackroyd’s enormous research is greatly evident. His writing is masterly. He is an excellent guide through Venice’s life, religion, government, trade, industry, history, and myth. Venice is thoroughly fascinating.

⭐I assumed this would be a historyvof Venice written by a well-known author. As I approached p. 100 I kept wondering where the history was. I gave up shortly thereafter. It is instead a series of clipped sentences in short chapters that can best be called the author’s scattered (and repetitious reflections). At the same time it is judgmental without offering any useful alternatives. I rarely give up on reading a book — especially about a city I live — but this was a waste of time and money.

⭐Venice has managed to survive poised half way between land and sea for nearly 1,500 years. It is a great story that deserves to be told by a talented writer. Peter Ackroyd is a gifted writer but the structure upon which he constructs his book is faulty. Ackroyd is more interested in mood and character than he is conventional history. As an example, he would rather eloquently quote numerous sources who complain about Venetian perfidity instead of showing concrete examples of this conduct. History is best told with vivid examples of real conduct. Generalizations no matter how well written soon become tiresome. “Venice: Pure City” is a wonderful example of fine writing with no real vision.

⭐This book is indispensable for anyone who wishes to know more about the history, the people and the culture of Venice. It is thoroughly researched and beautifully written. I am getting ready for my second trip to Venice and I am very glad I had the chance to prepare some of my visits with the detailed historical analysis of this book. I strongly recommend to anyone who enjoys traveling and good literature.

⭐Having been a visitor to Venice more than a dozen times, cannot wait to to return with an heighten sense of awe, mystery, love and trepidation – thanks to the captivating writing found in this tome, which is perfect island reading.

⭐One of Ackroyd’s best. A delightful (and sometimes awful – see the chapter on the first Ghetto) historical survey of a marvellous city, filled with anecdotes and interesting facts, in the author’s usual excellent style. I can’t think why more people haven’t five starred this extremely diverting book.

⭐Books received in great condition. I loved Venice and really enjoy this history of Venice.

⭐ONE OF THE LAST BOOKS ON VENICE VERY WELL WRITTEN THAT GIVES A GOOD IDEA OF A REPUBLIC THAT LASTED 2000 YEARS I I I I REALLY ENJOY IT .

⭐A work of synthesis and integration as Peter Ackroyd reads everything that has been written about Venice rather than uncovering new sources or conducting original research, but what he adds to the material is a poet’s imagination in making metaphorical connections which colour his – and our – view of this version of Venice.This is often more like a collection of thematic essays rather than a linear ‘biography’ of the city: some of it is relatively well-known – the Venice of the nuns and courtesans, the masked balls, the slavery, banking and trade of nascent capitalism; but there are nice illuminating moments too.Some of the connections can feel a bit forced – Venice is both parsimonious and lavish, according to which idea Ackroyd needs in the moment; both conservative and radically innovative; both patriarchal and allowing women an unprecedented freedom. And my biggest criticism is that there is a defiance of a sense of historicism here as we whizz from the sixteenth- to the nineteenth century often in a single sentence: as if Venice is timeless, somehow outside of time, always the same despite the changes in the world outside.All the same, this is a gloriously pleasurable read: a book that has absorbed a lot of information and reconstituted it via Ackroyd’s vision.

⭐The guidebooks wont tell you the fascination of the Arsenal or the why Venice has long been a home to foreigners. Nor will they discuss the battles with Genoa and the rise and fall of industry on a small set of islands. The information you are looking for is in here somewhere. Maybe. However the style of writing is so haphazard, it comes across as more ponderous that informative. I was rather surprised because his biography of London does not suffer from the same banality.Its the classic line. It seems Ackroyd didnt have to write a short (or good) book, so he wrote a long one.

⭐As a Venetian living in London, I have picked up this book out of nostalgia…and because all books (written in Italian) about Venice I have ever read were essentially aimed to display the knowledge of the author! What Peter Akroyd does in this book, is to organise the content in themes, making historic fact more “digestible” for the reader, because everything follows a logic path. Dates bore me to death, so for me, this way of getting information really works. This is, even if founded on solid historic background, quite an emotive book, that makes you see how this amazing city evolved and giving a sense of what life in the city must have been throughout centuries. Only somebody with a huge sensibility and intelligence could have written so delicately, capturing all nuances of my hometown. On quite a few passages, I almost felt I was there, hundreds of years ago, walking inside that “big mosque” that is the Basilica. Absolutely unmissable.

⭐I assure you this book is certainly better in audible form. The whole darned written book is composed of short sentences.Like this one.Occasionally interspersed with observations of everything Venezia by some mediaeval or later Englishman traveller, including Ruskin. This pattern repears itself. Over and over again. The single short sentences. They, like this book, could drive you quite mad after an hour of it. It also suffers from dire logical repetition.Always preferred Genoa anyway, La Superba!

⭐This is a thoroughly enjoyable biography of Venice. I found the writing style very engaging, and I learned a lot about the city and its history. Although the book is organised into themes rather than as a chronological history , it is easy to follow the development of the city from the middle ages from up to the present day, through this vivid and entertaining account. There is quite a collection of characters in the pages; Tintoretto, Vivaldi, Marco Polo, Casanova, Canaletto, Saint Mark, and Napoleon all feature in the narrative, and all contributed in their own way to what is a unique and fascinating place.The author, Peter Ackroyd, makes clear that the pursuit of wealth and trade underpinned Venetian society, and this single minded focus facilitated, and was supported by, relative stability of government and life.I found this to be a real pleasure to read, and it has certainly motivated me to visit Venice again as soon as possible

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