Customer Reviews

History of My Life, Vols. 3 & 4

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Giacomo Casanova wrote his memoirs at the end of his life and they certainly read like a novel. However, the large amount of footnotes clearly show that this is all true. The places he describes did exist and historical records do show the details of his dramatic escape from an horrific prison. He lived from 1725 to 1798, a time when Venice was considered the pleasure capital of Europe although it was past its peak as a commercial power by that time. His memoirs, which he wrote towards the end of his life, not only give the reader a view of the manners and norms of Venetian society but also makes the reader appreciate the author as a person to be admired for his bravery, compassion and love of the women in his life.

Yes, Casanova did love his women, and he had many love affairs. During those times, when wealthy families only had enough dowry money for one daughter, other daughters were often sent to convents. These nunneries were hotbeds of intrigue and romance. There were secret letters smuggled out to lovers, private meetings and very romantic love affairs. Casanova was self reflective as he described his relationships and there is no doubt that he really did love each of the women he romanced. In those days each rendezvous entailed complicated communication involving secret letters carried by various "go-betweens" and days of waiting for answers which had the effect of increasing the level of desire. Masking was part of the culture then and there were strict social rules about certain masking days and about who was allowed to mask. All this added to the intrigue of the times.

Casanova fell in love over and over again, adored each woman he was with, and treated them well. Even after his ardor waned for a particular woman he still kept in touch and did everything he could for them to help them with their lives. There was no guilt. There were no regrets. He just embraced life as a big wide wonderful world. This particular volume speaks of his love affairs. And it also speaks of his several years of imprisonment and his dramatic escape. This escape goes on for pages and pages and reminded me of some swashbuckling movies I've seen which I know could only be pure fiction. However, there are real historical records that show that he did, in spite of one setback after another, climb out of windows and over rooftops to eventual freedom. And the fact that this really happened is absolutely amazing.

I loved this book, loved being transported back in time, and loved all the characters Casanova met along the way. And some day I might even read all eight of the volumes.

Casanova's life was amazing, with enough adventure and intrigue to fill... well... volumes and volumes of text. Unfortunately, that's exactly what he decided to do, and while much of it is interesting and involving, after a while I just kept saying 'how much longer does this go on?' Certainly worth reading, but pace yourself or your head will go numb.