Rendezvous in Venice
by Philippe Beaussant
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A new edition of this superbly crafted narrative, in which a man searches for the truth about his uncle's love affair, only to find love himself.Tags
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This beautiful little book tells the story of Pierre, who finds a diary while going through the papers of his late uncle, an old-fashioned art historian who was a confirmed bachelor. Discovering a secret love affair his uncle had in Venice, Pierre finds himself forced to question how much he really knew about his uncle. Filled with some beautiful writing about paintings, by an author who clearly shares his characters' passion for art.
haven’t #named the translator for this delightful French novella, because I read it in French. Le Rendez-vous de Venise by Philippe Beaussant was first published in 2003 and when I read Emma’s billet at Book Around the Corner last year I decided with her encouragement to order the French edition, completely forgetting that I already owned the English Pushkin Press English edition (Rendezvous in Venice, 2014, translated by Paul Buck and Catherine Petit) through my 12-month subscription to Pushkin Press. As it turned out, I was very glad to have both. (And for the ease of readers I have referenced the page numbers of the English translation.)
The novella will appeal to anyone who likes art. Pierre Voisin, the narrator, introduces his show more Uncle Charles as an erudite art historian whose affectionate patronage and skilful mentoring has guided Pierre’s own career as an art historian too. They had a very close relationship, but it was not until after his uncle’s death that Pierre discovers in some old notebooks that Uncle Charles had once been passionately in love with a woman called Judith. Pierre, who has modelled his own austere life on his uncle’s, is astonished, because he thinks that Uncle Charles thinks of women only as portraits. Poor Pierre, he can’t imagine his uncle kissing a young woman in the streets of Venice.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/02/19/le-rendez-vous-de-venise-rendezvous-in-venic... show less
The novella will appeal to anyone who likes art. Pierre Voisin, the narrator, introduces his show more Uncle Charles as an erudite art historian whose affectionate patronage and skilful mentoring has guided Pierre’s own career as an art historian too. They had a very close relationship, but it was not until after his uncle’s death that Pierre discovers in some old notebooks that Uncle Charles had once been passionately in love with a woman called Judith. Pierre, who has modelled his own austere life on his uncle’s, is astonished, because he thinks that Uncle Charles thinks of women only as portraits. Poor Pierre, he can’t imagine his uncle kissing a young woman in the streets of Venice.
How can I imagine my austere old uncle with a woman? I only ever saw him with old Mariette dressed in black, with her blue apron and her hair in a bun, herself resolutely old-fashioned, smiling sometimes, yes, smiling, looking up from her work or into the glass of a window she was busy wiping, and who, I knew, reminded my uncle of Françoise in Swann’s Way? How can I imagine Uncle Charles close to a woman?
Yet, of course, women were not absent from his thoughts. He loved them. I know, I’ve seen it. When he started to talk about them, he just couldn’t stop. But they were always painted women. He talked about them like a lover but, unlike a jealous lover, he gave the impression, while talking about his beloved (the beautiful Eleanor of Toledo, painted by Bronzino, or Giovanna Tornabuoni in the fresco of Sante Maria Novella) that he would have wished you to share his passion and that his dearest wish was for you to fall in love with her too. (p. 26-7)
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/02/19/le-rendez-vous-de-venise-rendezvous-in-venic... show less
"There was so much melancholy that I spent the entire novel kind of vacillating between feeling the chill of a lack of emotion and being annoyed by the frequent invitations to the self-pity party" read more: http://likeiamfeasting.blogspot.gr/2015/12/rendezvous-in-venice-philippe-beaussa...
Splendido ! Un piccolo gioiello dal quale ci si separa a fatica
Sep 20, 2008Italian
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34+ Works 254 Members
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- Original publication date
- 2003
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Romance
- DDC/MDS
- 843.914 — Literature & rhetoric French & related literatures French fiction 1900- 20th Century 1945-1999
- LCC
- PQ2662 .E2196 .R4613 — Language and Literature French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese literatures French literature Modern literature 1961-2000
- BISAC
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- 51
- Popularity
- 590,943
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 1
