Casanova's Homecoming [Paperback]

Arthur Schnitzler (Author), 1stWorld Library (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

Casanova was in his fifty-third year. Though no longer driven by the lust of adventure that had spurred him in his youth, he was still hunted athwart the world, hunted now by a restlessness due to the approach of old age. His yearning for Venice, the city of his birth, grew so intense that, like a wounded bird slowly circling downwards in its death flight, he began to move in ever-narrowing circles. Again and again, during the last ten years of his exile, he had implored the Supreme Council for leave to return home. Erstwhile, in the drafting of these petitions - a work in which he was a past master - a defiant, wilful spirit seemed to have guided his pen; at times even he appeared to take a grim delight in his forwardness. But of late his requests had been couched in humble, beseeching words which displayed, ever more plainly, the ache of homesickness and genuine repentance.

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: 132 pages
• Publisher: 1st World Library - Literary Society (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421821729
• ISBN-13: 978-1421821726
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

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!