Customer Reviews

Brunetti's Venice: Walks with the City's Best-Loved Detective

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think you have to be a Brunetti fan to be interested in this book. If you are, you might want it, even though, imho, it's disappointing. Try to get it cheap on Amazon Marketplace sometime. I agree with the previous reviewer that the format isn't that great; disagree about the maps. The maps are very good, glad to have them. In my experience, it's pretty hard to get around in Venice with a regular tourist guide map; you need something very detailed. Otherwise you finally figure out where you are, you set out in a direction, and right away you're lost again.

The author, Toni Sepeda, says she's trying to accommodate both a reader who's actually in Venice and following the walks, and the one who's just home trying to follow Brunetti. As far as I can see, that doesn't work. Sepeda gives walking tours of Venice professionally, and basically she's just put together a bunch of walks that you could actually take, or she could take you on, in Venice, and then, since Brunetti's been to all these places, she can throw in a few references to different novels for each walk. That would perhaps work if you're actually in Venice physically following the walks.

If you're sitting in your living room in LA or London, though, this format doesn't let you follow Brunetti through a book, which is what I was hoping for, something like the Hornblower Companion. If it at least had an index.... but nooo. So you can't very well follow Brunetti through a book, although you could, I guess, at least use the maps. That's where an index would come in very handy. You can try looking up the various campi and rii and rive on Google Maps to find the right sestieri, then look in this book for a detailed view, but that's pretty cumbersome.

It might work if you're actually there; maybe I'll try it sometime. It doesn't work too well for the overseas reader, at least not for me. As far as just sitting at home and reading the book, it doesn't hold my interest very well. The brief references to the novels are just distracting and annoying. The introduction by Donna Leon is okay.

Pictures, not just maps, would have been great; it would have been great to have organized it around novels rather than geographical areas (although that wouldn't, perhaps, have worked too well for the person in Venice trying to follow along physically). At least an index!


I guess it's kind of okay, it's a good thing, better than nothing, interesting if you're a fan of Brunetti and La Serenissima, but it's pretty much a disappointment if you want to use it to follow Brunetti around, and it's just not that interesting a read. Of course I did have high expectations. It might actually be a great thing to have in Venice; maybe someone else can comment on that.

As a devoted fan of Commissario Brunetti I have long wished to have a street plan to follow him on his cases as well as his frequent stops at bars and restaurants, visits to family and other personal errands.
Toni Sepeda makes it alsmost possible to have a coffee or un ombra with my hero or to buy a bouquet of blue Irises at Bianacat to take home to Paola when he feels guilty or even when he simply wants to please her.
Sepeda frequently reminds us of the context in which certain episodes have occurred by citing shorts passages from Donna Leon's stories. The street plans help us to pinpoint the exact corner of Brunetti's own apartment building with those excruciating ninety-one steps to the top floor, up which every bottle of wine or water, not to mention all the groceries must be carried. Sepedia's knowledge of art history infuses the book to enhance Donna Leon's own interest in the mesmerizing beauty of the Venetian architectural, pictorial and sculptural heritage.
However, despite all the praise I would like to bestow on BRUNETTI'S VENICE, I must admit to being deeply disappointed by the fact that (1) there is no overall street plan of the entire city, and (2) that this book lacks an index. It is impossible to find any of the discussed places in Venice which one would like go back to after having quickly noted them in this volume or read in Donna Leon's 18 books. It is essential for a book of this sort to have an INDEX.

This is a fascinating book. I just wish I had had it while I was reading all the Brunetti books, which I read with a guide book to Venice in one hand. It didn't have many of the important places like the Questura, and the Brunetti apartment or his favorite haunts, so it was fun to see where they all are, real and fictional. I recommend this book to all Donna Leon readers.

I enjoyed this book only because I love Guido and his Venice. I could have done with less quoting from the books-but then I know them so well. Also, some of the maps were difficult to use as they didn't line up and were cropped in to fit the page, but I solved that by tearing them out of the book (something I never do). This way I could walk through the text and the map at the same time. I would suggest if Ms. Sepeda ever redoes this book she offer the map separate from the book. This would be a valuable addition to the book and make the maps easier to use in conjunction with the text.

A very difficult book to read and follow.the format is what makes it difficult.I found the maps not very helpful.

While the book itself is entertaining, using it as a walking guide is almost as hopeless as trying to solve one of Brunetti's cases by reading only the first chapter.
What few maps are in the book are very hard to make out; also, the book switches back & forth from excerpts from Leone's books to the actual walks. Also, I wanted names & web sites for restaurants, bars, & shops that were along Brunetti's walks. There were none. Also, in many cases I didn't know if the places that Brunetti visited were real or fiction. It will be interesting to see how much I can find on my next trip to Venice with this book.

Alas, Donna Leon must be ready to retire and is "marketing" everything about Brunetti for some last quick bucks.....Need a magnifying glass to read the print...and who needs to rehash Brunetti's walks to the Piazza Roma when I had hoped for some real accounts of strolls in Venice and what one would encounter...Thought this just might be the ultimate armchair travel book about my beloved Venice but it is soooo much less..

For any Donna Leon and Guido Brunetti fan, this book is a must for a visit to Venice. I was unsure about the setup, as Sepeda states she is trying to write for the "armchair reader" at home as well as someone walking around Venice. I used the book while I was physically in Venice, so I can only comment to that side. I hadn't realized how confusing and difficult Venice is to navigate, so I found the maps helpful and the walking instructions fairly clear. Judging from tourist maps of Venice, I think it might be more helpful to have the book, as at least there the routes are plotted. The content is very good. Sepeda does an excellent job of merging locations with passages from the books. Even though I'd already read all the books, I found having short passages in front of me while experiencing "Brunetti's Venice" quite enjoyable. I also enjoyed short quotes from other famous books about Venice and Sepeda shows a clear knowledge of the city's history. All in all, a fun book to have in the city, helps bring Brunetti to life.

My husband & I were planning a trip to Italy, for both business & pleasure, & decided to cap it off with a trip to our beloved Venice (we live near Venice, CA) to celebrate my 50th birthday. And what do I randomly come across prior to travel? Brunetti's Venice !! I was excited to get it & see what I might discover. And even though we had a friend with us in Venice, who's from the Veneto, as well as a Venetian meet us for drinks, it was also thrilling for me to take the time to consult the book & find La Questera as well as Brunetti's apartment. When I read the next book I will have a new set of images in my head to go with it, which is great fun for me. By the way, the Venetian claims he may consult for author Donna Leon (with him I'd say there's a 50/50 probability; he's just one of those kinds of guys) which would only add to my enjoyment of her series.

I HAVE SPENT ABOUT SIX WEEKS IN VENICE SINCE 2001 AND LOVE THE DONNA LEON MYSTERIES SITUATED THERE IN WHICH GUIDO BRUNETTI IS THE MAIN CHARACTER. WITH THAT SAID I ENJOYED, THOUGH DID NOT LOVE "BRUNETTI'S VENICE."

TONI SEPEDA SET OUT TO WRITE A GUIDE FOR VENICE FOR BOTH THE "ARMCHAIR" VISITOR AND SOMEONE ACTUALLY TOURING AROUND. I DO NOT THINK THIS BOOK WOULD WORK FOR ANY CASUAL VISITOR TO VENICE NOR DO I THINK IT WOULD BE AN ENJOYABLE READ FOR A NON-LEON FAN. IT SET INTO AN ORGANIZED FORM A TOUR OF PLACES MENTIONED IN THE LEON BOOKS, SOMETHING I HAVE BEEN COMPILING MYSELF FOR THE LAST NINE YEARS AND AS SUCH INTERESTED ME. THE WRITING IS COMPETENTLY DONE AND THE IDEA IS FUN BUT I FEAR IT WILL PLEASE A VERY LIMITED AUDIENCE.