Hello everyone, as reported in our section interesting book, now I want to offer my review of the book Eyes of Venice.
Title: The Eyes of Venice
Author: Alessandro Barbero
Pages: 429
Price: € 20.00
Publisher: Mondadori
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Plot
Venice, late sixteenth century: a sprawling city and ruthless that even the walls have eyes, the Doge use the iron fist of all suspected and the Inquisition. These are hard times, especially for the people swarming around the opulent palaces ... La Serenissima observing, listening and condemnation. Even unfairly. And it is precisely to escape unfounded accusation that Michael, a young mason, is forced to embark on a jail, without even leaving all the time to say goodbye to his beautiful wife, Bianca, just seventeen. Banished from Venice, rowing on a ship that roams the Mediterranean office of sequins and without hope of returning soon, Michael will live extraordinary adventures in the waves, islands and ports of the mare nostrum, until he lands in the lands of the Sultan. To survive, my thoughts always turned to White, a boy, ignorant and inexperienced man will be smart, brave and strong. Meanwhile, Bianca is completely alone in the city. His tenacious and proud temperament will be met with evidence if possible to touch harder than Michael, and important meetings no less terrible and the wait in the maze of alleys and streets, among the strong scents of the shops of apothecaries torso water cold when washing clothes and mattresses that are just lousy bed for the poor.
The land and sea, East and West, two lives and one great love, the dawn of modern world history of the most authoritative, Strega Prize winner, Alessandro Barbero wrote a great, gripping novel of adventure and love.
My Review
The initial environment, as the title suggests, is the Venice of the sixteenth century by a wealthy and beautiful part of the other dingy and dirty, a city full of contradictions and corruption, extreme wealth and extreme poverty.
The characters belong to a family of low social and living through the work of builders from Matthew and the sole breadwinner son Michael, but this relative stability is interrupted by the dispute had by Matthew with a rich client, who refuses to pay, and the insults of a mason, responds with a denunciation of the ten cities. Matthew, they decided to condemn the edge of the language to do justice, but here the situation worsened, the attempted arrest of the Venetian soldiers, Michele reacts badly and Matthew accidentally dies.
This is the beginning of the adventure that will bring the young Michael to leave the city picking up and leaving a young wife, Bianca and her mother, Zanetta, to face the world alone macho and hard.
The story told in this historical novel begins by following a single narrative strand, and then follow the next fork roads completely different but equally difficult, winding, followed by Michele on the galleys, that the oars, the Mediterranean turns addressing the dangers that will become a white man and trying as it can, to survive in a hostile and complex city.
Two stories are so different yet inexorably linked by love, but always present in the immature young protagonists in the backdrop of Venice, that dark and dangerous than white and much longed for and dreamed of Michael.
basically I have to say that the novel has not the power that much, especially the part dedicated to the male protagonist that I found in some parts a little flat (the life of a rower's not for me XD!), While parties dedicated to Bianca are very beautiful and well-designed, contrasting the feelings of the protagonist, are told very well.
Absolutely wonderful historical reconstruction, which is sometimes picturesque and thoroughly respond to the collective imagination of the setting of the sixteenth century, but others are really raw and realistic, very similar to what was supposed to be the life of the time.
really evident in the narrative is the psychological development of characters who have to deal with multi-faceted humanity, need to grow and learn not to be overwhelmed in the jungle of life.
check Consequently, four stars, because it is a serious and mature novel that not only bases its success on the engaging storyline, but it has a historical setting made in a masterly way, in short, is truly complete.
would definitely recommend it to all lovers of history.
Lya
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