From Publishers Weekly
October 31, 1756: the incorrigible playboy and roving gambler Giacomo Casanova escapes from a pestilent Venetian prison. Aiming for Munich, he stops near the Austrian border at an inn in Bolzano. The imperious septuagenarian duke of Parma, Casanova's victorious former rival for the hand of Francesca—then a teenager, now the duchess of Parma, and still in love with Casanova—just happens to live nearby. To prevent another duel, the duke blackmails the legendary womanizer: either he seduces Francesca, breaks her heart and leaves, thereby curing her of the "infection" that is Casanova, or he risks being killed or turned in to the authorities. The fervent colloquy echoes the centerpiece tête-à-tête that structures
Embers, Márai's only other novel to be translated into English. Unlike
Embers, however, this book fizzles out; an austere and poignant exposition on the inexorability of fate that has been building for over 200 pages collapses into an intolerably tedious, long-winded rant by Francesca as she tries to persuade Casanova to run away with her. The harangue makes it hard to believe that anyone would fight over her and makes the reader wonder why another Márai (1900–1989) work was not translated before this one.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
It is appropriate to read Marai's Casanova in the form of a "talking book," as it is the talkiest book you'll read in your life. The plot, such as it is, proceeds in alternating monologues. At first, many of these are interior; then the characters start declaiming at each other at stunning length. The Duke of Parma shows up in Casanova's room and talks without interruption for a disc-and-a-half about a love letter four words long. Then his wife shows up in Casanova's room and talks even longer--or maybe it just seems that way. Simon Prebble's narration is absolutely masterful, which is no surprise. He delivers these repetitive speeches with respect and interest, as if continually finding new fine points in the arguments. Whether his skill compensates for the flowery longeurs of the structure is an open question. B.G. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
