Casanova's Homecoming [Paperback]

Arthur Schnitzler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2006

Subjects: Historical fiction Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

It is a historical fact that Casanova visited Voltaire at Ferney. There is, however, no historical warrant for the account of the matter given in the foregoing novel, and still less for the statement that Casanova wrote a polemic against Voltaire. It is a historical fact, likewise, that Casanova, when between fifty and sixty years of age, found it necessary to enter Venetian service as a spy. Of this, and of many other doings of the celebrated adventurer to which casual allusion is made in the course of the novel, fuller and more accurate accounts will be found in Casanova's Memoirs. Speaking generally, nevertheless, Casanova's Homecoming is to be regarded throughout as a work of fiction.

—A.S.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 86 pages
• Publisher: Hard Press (November 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1406936308
• ISBN-13: 978-1406936308
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,033,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intriguing story told well., October 11, 2000

By 

Brad Shorr "Brad Shorr" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Casanova's Homecoming (Hardcover)

Arthur Schnitzler is today a fairly obscure Austrian novelist and playwright of the early 1900's. He's received some attention recently because his novella "Dream Story" inspired Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut". ("Dream Story" is also excellent and can help you understand the movie.) "Casanova's Homecoming", if you can find a copy, is well worth reading--compact, simply told, carefully plotted, thoroughly thought-provoking. It relates a fictitious episode in Casanova's life when he has become an old man of 53. Most of his charm and all of his money are gone, but his cravings and amorality remain. Quite by chance, he comes to visit the home of an old acquaintance who is much indebted to him, and immediately sets out upon a dark seduction. It is a story about growing old, about how one's struggle to remain young can become pathetic and ugly even when it succeeds. Schnitzler likes to write about sex, dreams, coincidence, free-thinking, and deep mysteries of the soul--"Casanova's Homecoming" gets you thinking about all these themes, mainly because it's very hard to ascertain Schnitzler's attitude toward Casanova--does he like him? Loathe him? Pity him? Does he have any feeling toward him at all? After reading this, you may find yourself asking many such questions. This may have been the author's intent: his writing seems designed to provoke questions rather than provide answers. He does it well!