Scan barcode
A review by wslockard
The Floating Book by Michelle Lovric
4.0
Books like this book, this book specifically, should be added to a canonical "Venice" collection of art and literature. Since the city of Venice itself is severely at risk of being drowned and washed away by climate change, at least readers and art lovers have a chance to be immersed in the place as it existed throughout different points in history.
Here in this book we see the late 1400s, and the city's inhabitants are richly imagined and detailed.
Venice is amazingly stuffed full of contradictions. Luscious vs. grotesque. Gentle vs. brutal. Sweet vs. rotten. The author describes the city like it's a sentient entity, like it's a woman with breath and life, who is capable of decisions. Readers can imagine themselves on the streets, bridges, and boats. We imagine the vendors selling the world's best goods, as Venice is at the center of many trade routes. The produce was so modern! Grilled pumpkin, baked pears! The fish market has a never ending smell, but everyone welcomes that nourishment!
And the characters who compose the plot of this book fit into the puzzle and highlight even more of the contradictions. And really it's not entirely like they are in control of their fate. The city controls them. We see a German printer who falls in love with a Venetian girl; he lets himself become vulnerable to love, but he unwisely disregards the evil that is ever-present in the streets and canals. We see men in power who become helpless when they fall in love with an evil woman. We see a Jewish doctor, a good man, but consumed by guilt. We see a nunnery which is not a house of God, but instead more like a murky estuary, where corpses arrive daily, and the sisters spend their days hemming shrouds. And above the crypt of this nunnery, rumors say that the sisters manage a brothel.
As far as the "plot" goes, it's about the poet Catullus, who lived around 60 B.C., who wrote beautiful, filthy poetry. In 1468 a printer in Venice decided to print a volume of these, for public distribution. Results include rumors of counterfeit money production, public executions of printers, monks and friars declare that hell has arrived in Venice, and books are burned.
We also wonder about witchcraft and insanity; it's impossible to measure how much evil roams throughout the streets and squares. Dreams shift into nightmares.
I was overall impressed how pure goodness, and also pure evil live side by side, and it is described so beautifully in this book! And it's also amazing to read about how good and evil blend together. Pure states are transient!
Here in this book we see the late 1400s, and the city's inhabitants are richly imagined and detailed.
Venice is amazingly stuffed full of contradictions. Luscious vs. grotesque. Gentle vs. brutal. Sweet vs. rotten. The author describes the city like it's a sentient entity, like it's a woman with breath and life, who is capable of decisions. Readers can imagine themselves on the streets, bridges, and boats. We imagine the vendors selling the world's best goods, as Venice is at the center of many trade routes. The produce was so modern! Grilled pumpkin, baked pears! The fish market has a never ending smell, but everyone welcomes that nourishment!
And the characters who compose the plot of this book fit into the puzzle and highlight even more of the contradictions. And really it's not entirely like they are in control of their fate. The city controls them. We see a German printer who falls in love with a Venetian girl; he lets himself become vulnerable to love, but he unwisely disregards the evil that is ever-present in the streets and canals. We see men in power who become helpless when they fall in love with an evil woman. We see a Jewish doctor, a good man, but consumed by guilt. We see a nunnery which is not a house of God, but instead more like a murky estuary, where corpses arrive daily, and the sisters spend their days hemming shrouds. And above the crypt of this nunnery, rumors say that the sisters manage a brothel.
As far as the "plot" goes, it's about the poet Catullus, who lived around 60 B.C., who wrote beautiful, filthy poetry. In 1468 a printer in Venice decided to print a volume of these, for public distribution. Results include rumors of counterfeit money production, public executions of printers, monks and friars declare that hell has arrived in Venice, and books are burned.
We also wonder about witchcraft and insanity; it's impossible to measure how much evil roams throughout the streets and squares. Dreams shift into nightmares.
I was overall impressed how pure goodness, and also pure evil live side by side, and it is described so beautifully in this book! And it's also amazing to read about how good and evil blend together. Pure states are transient!