This morning I finished John Berendt’s The City of Falling Angels. The story uses the fire and destruction of the Fenice opera house in Venice in 1996. (Pictures of the fire and ruins are here.) Berendt does discuss the cause of the fire and the investigation and prosecution of two men accused (and convicted) of setting Fenice aflame.
But in reality, the book is about so much more than just the Fenice. The book’s title references the perception of Venice in the late 1970s and 1980s that Venice was decomposing and that one must be fearful of angels falling off of nearby buildings.
In his meanderings through Venice, Berendt introduces the reader to much of the city’s history and, just as interesting, its people. Archimedes Seguso, a master glass blower, who following the Fenice fire told the story of the fire as he had seen in from his window in a series of pieces, which are currently under wraps because of a probate battle following his death. Olga Rudge, concert violinist and mistress of Ezra Pound. Peggy Guggenheim. The Curtis family. Larry Lovett and Bob Guthrie and Save Venice–a non-profit foundation that spent considerable funds helping to restore Venice. The list goes on and on.
The book ends with the re-opening of the Fenice–eight years after the fire. A fitting ending to a story about the renovation of Venice itself. Definitely worth a read.
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