The Story of My Life (Hardcover)

~ (Author), (Translator), Sophie Hawkes (Translator), Gilberto Pizzamiglio (Introduction), Giovanni Giacomo Casanova (Author)

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Product Description

Coming to the big screen this January—Buena Vista’s Casanova, starring Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller

Seducer, gambler, necromancer, swindler, Good Samaritan, spy, swashbuckler, self-made gentleman, entrepreneur, poet, translator, philosopher, and general bon vivant, Giacomo Casanova was not only the most notorious lover the Western world has known but also astoryteller of the first order.

The Penguin Classics edition of Casanova’s The Story of My Life features a brilliant translation by Stephen Sartarelli and Sophie Hawkes and provides readers with the most famous episodes as well as the overall shape of Casanova’s monumental memoir in one beguiling, unique volume. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) was born in Venice, the son of actors who wanted him to become a priest.

Stephen Sartarelli is a poet and translator of a wide range of literary works from Italian and French.

Sophie Hawkes is an artist, printmaker, and translator.

Gilberto Pizzamiglio is professor of Italian literature at the University of Venice. He has written on Goldoni, Gozzi, and Foscolo. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 532 pages
• Publisher: Marsilio Publishers (August 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568860633
• ISBN-13: 978-1568860633
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #489,988 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 1/2... The Life and Love's of History's Most Famous Libertine, August 23, 2005

By	Takipsilim (Manila, Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Story of My Life (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Casanova. The word conjures love, lust, seduction, and romantic brilliance. The man and the name have become icons for the past two and a half centuries as the epitome in the art of love.

Giacomo Geronimo Casanova was born in 1725 at Venice to parents who were actors. At a young age he was brought to a boarding school near Padua where the child developed a precociousness which impressed his elders. At 17, he obtained a doctorate in law from the University of Padua and began a career in the clergy. He travelled to southern Italy and Rome and became a secretary to the cardinal. His career with the church was cut short by scandal, an occurence which would become a fixture all throughout his life. Shortly after he joined the army as an officer of low-rank for the Republic of Venice and was stationed at Corfu, but gave up military life to become a violinist back at Venice. At the age of 21, he saved the life of a Venetian nobleman who became a patron of long-standing to the young man and who elevated him to the status of a wealthy gentleman. This gave him the privilege to travel across the breadth of Europe, meeting famous people of the day and pursuing amorous encounters where his lasting reputation rests. A talented conversationalist, he was frequently invited to the social circles of diverse European society, rubbing shoulders equally with cobblers and royalty. His fickle and temperamental personality got him into frequent scrapes with the law: he duped gullible socialites, started lotteries; became a spy, diplomat, and writer. The Inquisition of Venice accused him of witchcraft and was sentenced to imprisonment in "The Leads" prison, one of the most secure penal infrastructures of the time, where he made a sensational escape. He became an exile from his homeland and resumed his travels across Europe. In 1785 he became librarian to the Count of Waldstein in the castle of Dux, Bohemia, where he spent his last years recalling his brilliant and turbulent life and writing his memoirs.

And it is in this memoirs where his life and legacy are contained. Written in a flowing, stainless elegance, Casanova's "Memoirs" is one of the best and most representative artifacts from the Age of Enlightenment. The sights and sounds of 18th-Century European life are recreated through the eyes and senses of one intelligent and opinionated observer. Witness the humor of Casanova being duped by his first love and the theater women of Paris. Revel in the taboo of peeking into the loverboy's seduction of a nun as he goes to great lengths to provide the right place and mood for their nocturnal trysts. Read in barely contained excitement and tension as he makes his remarkable escape from the dreaded "Leads" prison. Be thrilled and sympathize with the proud but foolish fop as he duels with a Polish noble and almost get's hanged in the process. Watch in fascination as he meets and matches intellect with the leading notables of his day, all now prominent figures of world history: Catherine the Great, Voltaire, Frederick the Great, etc. Experience the sensations of our hero as he attempts to seduce a French noblewoman (dissapointingly), and an attractive Spanish girl (more successfully), both incidents decades apart. The man is given justice by the able translation of Stephen Sartarelli and Sophie Hawkes.

My only criticism of this edition is the scarcity of material offered. Although this 500+ page abridgement serves as perhaps the best introduction in the English language, for a work that totals nearly 4,000 pages, the editor could at least have made the book double in size to cover more aspects of the man's colorful life story. The man's meeting with Mozart is not included, and one can imagine many more incidents worthy of reading which were omitted.

After reading his reminiscences, one can admire Casanova for the vastness of his intellect and personal and social skills. But one can't help but feel that the man wasted his talent and life by focusing too much on the petty and lowly preoccupations of human existence. With the man's intelligence and talents, one feels that he could have done more for society and his fellow man. The use of wisdom gained through such a life should have been elevated to a more worthy and longer-lasting goal. One is left with the impression that Casanova was a mere Hugh Hefner or Larry Flynt with culture. That's all.

This is the memoir of the greatest icon of Western romance. Any person with the slightest interest towards love and sex should read this book in his/her lifetime. After satiating one's appetite with this mere appetizer, one should immediately dive into the complete oeuvre of the man's autobiography. This has been quite an experience already.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adventurer in love and life..., August 1, 2004

By	C. Middleton (Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Story of My Life (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Casanova has been hailed as the greatest lover of the 18th century and has become the first person we think of in the ways of seduction. He is the quintessential ladies man for some, and for others, a manipulative scoundrel, an expert at self-promotion, and at worse, a spinner of colourful tails. In fact he is all these things and much more. On top of his many amorous affairs with not only servants and chambermaids but also ladies of nobility, he is a compelling storyteller, a gentleman of taste, a violinist, theologian, philosopher and a gifted courtier. There has been so much written about the man, that I felt compelled to read about his life from his own words. Casanova is the most notorious seducer of women in history, and if you read The Story of My Life, you will understand an aspect of this man that is all too often over looked, and that is, he more often than not loved the women he seduced, and in some cases, remained in love with them for the rest of his relatively long life. In other words, he cared about women, respected them, idolized them and ensured that the pleasures they gained from these liaisons, exceeded his. He used women but he also loved them.

The book is written in a flowing style, descriptive to the point where the reader gains almost a visceral impression of 18th century Europe. Casanova's escape from the Venetian prison, for example, has all the suspense and realism of our modern thrillers. I could almost hear his finger nails scraping against the prison walls as he descended, sliding down in the dead of night during his escape. In his meeting with Voltaire, the gnome-like genius came to life, as they discussed the state of literature and the greatest poets of the ages. And, of course, the many beautiful women, his conquests and those that seduced him, fill every chapter - tasteful eroticism without the slightest hint of vulgarity. Casanova was an adventurer in love and life and he ensured he did not waste a minute of it.

Casanova wanted to be remembered as a man of letters, in the 18th century sense of this term. And with The Story of My Life, he certainly achieved this aim, as scholars from around the world have acknowledged. He also wanted to be remembered as a man who loved women, and to this end, there is no question. Those that love intrigue, eroticism, a little pomp and circumstance, and swashbuckling adventure, read this incredible memoir - a pleasure in every sense.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Do Not By the Penguin Edition!!!, May 16, 2008

By	Bill Mann - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Story of My Life (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

There are dozens of different versions of this book, and they are all DRAMATICALLY different. Do not buy this "Penguin Classics" edition!!!!!!!!!

It is horrible! All the good parts have been "abridged" out of it.


This is one of the silliest ideas I ever heard-but Penguin apparently tried to "clean up" Casanova. They have removed most of his stories about seduction from his auto-biography! Since Casanova was the world's greatest lover, I don't know why they think anyone would want the book except to read about seductions but those are exactly the parts they took out!

Only Penguin could make Casanova boring.

Buy a different edition of the book!