Casanova

Casanova
$14.99
In the style of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE comes the deliciously rousing romantic comedy CASANOVA. For the first time in his life, the legendary Casanova (Heath Ledger) is about to meet his match when the alluring Francesca (Sienna Miller) does the one thing the notorious lover of women never thought possible - refuse him. Through disguises, subterfuges and wit, CASANOVA manages to get closer and closer to Francesca. But he's playing the most dangerous game he's ever encountered. A game that will not only risk his life and reputation , but his only chance of true love.

The Story of My Life (Penguin Classics)
$18.00
Just like most people looking at this book, I grabbed it because I didn't think there would be any difference between this version and the unabridged version. I was dead wrong. This version is abridged, and is almost completely censored. So if you're looking for racy tales about Casanova's exploits with the fairer sex, you will be very, very disapointed. In fact, if you're looking for any evidence of Casanova's cleverness, his wit, his great writing style, or awesome storytelling ability, you will not find it here at all! However, the book "History of My Life", which is the completely uncensored translation of the book by William Trask is a gem. Not only does it have all of the exploits that make Casanova,well, Casanova, but it also lets us see him for who he truly was: a Renaissance man (arguably a genius) who had one hell of a libido.

History of My Life, Vols. 1-2
$35.00
i became interested in casanova after his famous and daring escape from prison was explained to me during a tour of the doges palace in venice. i found his autobiography is much more than a personal story: it is an extended observation and commentary on the mores of european elites in the middle of the 18th century.

this excellent and complete english translation by willard trask contains all casanova's major exploits, including the prison break and his principal seductions. there is a useful editorial introduction, detailed endnotes and an exhaustive index included in the last volume. there are dozens of black and white illustrations of people, costumes, artifacts, buildings and locales described in the text; unfortunately, reproduced from printed copies, these are often muddy and almost illegible.

casanova is a marvelous human paradox: a "sensation seeking" risk taker who prided himself on reason and intelligence; a freethinking skeptic of religion who nevertheless believed in the necessity of religion and the psychological benefits of prayer; a cheat, liar and seducer who prided himself on his honor; an enlightenment denier of superstition who nevertheless practiced cabalistic incantations and dark arts; a man of whim and impulse who claimed never to have abandoned his duty, when he had one. his book scintillates with character sketches, brisk dialog, wit and spates of philosophical argument, and is filled with memorable characters, humble and great, rich and poor, famous and faceless.

casanova lived at a time when the institutions of nobility and clergy were rupturing under the weight of their own immoraity and arbitrary power. this book makes very clear that his amorous and duplicitous escapades were acts of defiance against the moral authority of church and state. to give one intricate example: casanova seduces and "marries" with personal vows a teenage girl, who is clapped into a nunnery. a young nun at the same nunnery -- daughter of a noble family, an atheist and mistress of the french ambassador to venice -- seduces casanova's "wife" into a lesbian affair and becomes enamored of casanova himself. she initiates a liaison with him into which her other lover, and casanova's "wife", are drawn as a "menage ��� quatre". the lover later becomes a bishop in the church; but casanova is clapped into prison because he seduces a married woman who is also lusted after by one of the venetian grand inquisitors. across many similar escapades, frauds and exploits one becomes starkly aware of the hypocrisy and abuses of power that were commonplace in the 18th century, and shaped the resentments that erupted in 1792 in france.

an extraordinary subtext is the aberrant code of "honor" among the upper classes. case in point: the irish soldier o'neilan, who kills an old woman by riding over her with his horse, enjoys beating the clients of prostitutes and raping the whores to infect them with veneral disease, and when asked to return some plums he has eaten casually vomits them up on the floor. for all that casanova calls him an "honorable man", praises his company and mourns his death in battle. lecherous bishops, venal judges and corrupt nobility fill out the ranks of the "honorable" aristocracy.

there is hardly one page across the more than 3600 pages (excluding critical materials) that is not hair raising or jaw dropping for its picture of human conduct and human character. despite his protestations of honor and intelligence casanova is candid about his own decadence and stupidity -- written, as he says, so that others may laugh with him at his life, even as he laughs at all the fools he has encountered. his honesty has led posterity to heap the sins of the century on his head, but the book makes clear that he was no more than a slippery and cheerful swimmer in a very polluted sea.

Casanova: Actor Lover Priest Spy
$28.95
Like most people, when I hear the name Casanova, I think of sex. Ian Kelly offers a more rounded view of a fascinating man who has come to be defined by a single facet of his complex life.

Casanova's autobiography, "The History of My Life", offers more than the story of one man's life. It allows us a unique glimpse into the life of people from all walks of life during the eighteenth century. He mingled with prostitutes and kings, actors and bishops, a Tsarina and famous courtesans, nobility and tradesmen. He wrote about all of them, detailing their lives and loves, their triumphs and travails.

He seemed to be in perpetual motion, travelling throughout Europe and into Russia, never living anywhere for more than two years. Even his mode of travel was unique. He used public transportation rather than the private coaches used by most travelers of the day. He hitchhiked and even sailed on slave-galleys. He wrote about it all, a veritable treasure trove of information for historians. He details the inns, apartments, castles and prisons where he stayed or was forced to stay.

He loved food, leaving a record of hundreds of meals, many of which featured dishes that are mentioned nowhere else and would have been lost to history if not for Casanova's writings.

As for his supposedly insatiable sexual appetite, Mr. Kelly rightly points out that his sex life was normal for men who had no fixed address, constantly moving around. More than a few of his contemporaries recorded more numerous encounters than Casanova. Just like modern times, he contracted sexually transmitted diseases over and over. In fact, syphilis may have caused his death. He was apparently bisexual, enjoying encounters with the occasional man, both singly and as part of group sex. Perhaps the most shocking act he committed was the possible incest with one of his daughters leading to the birth of a son that may or may not have been his.

This is an extremely well written book that brings to life both a man and his times. I found it to be totally engrossing for the details it provided of Europe and Russia during the eighteenth century.