 "sexual nonsense" | 2008-07-23 |
| - Reviewed By spoonieduck |
| I gave this book four stars only because Casanova is such a well-known figure whose name has actually entered the English language. The book is a supposed autobiography and Casanova's sexual escapades and has much more in common with Baron von Munchhausen's fanciful tales than they do with reality. Casanova, who regarded himself as an artistic man of letters, tells literally unbelievable stories on himself. I especially like the tale in which a town's physician tells him to return "anytime" because he's infected half the women in the city with venereal diseases!br /br /The whole thing is one long dirty joke and, if you believe this thing, the joke is on you and Casanova gets the last laugh.br /br /Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico |
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 "Do Not By the Penguin Edition!!!" | 2008-05-16 |
| - Reviewed By wandermank18 |
There are dozens of different versions of this book, and they are all DRAMATICALLY different. Do not buy this "Penguin Classics" edition!!!!!!!!!
It is horrible! All the good parts have been "abridged" out of it.
This is one of the silliest ideas I ever heard-but Penguin apparently tried to "clean up" Casanova. They have removed most of his stories about seduction from his auto-biography! Since Casanova was the world's greatest lover, I don't know why they think anyone would want the book except to read about seductions but those are exactly the parts they took out!
Only Penguin could make Casanova boring.
Buy a different edition of the book! |
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 "Actual review of the product, NOT the book itself." | 2008-01-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1OD9V2QE5K9Y |
| I love reading about Casanova's exploits, so I bought this copy for my collection. The pages are durable and strong, the spine doesn't bend or break like some books tend to do, so you end up with that funny "bump", you know what I mean? The text is legible and large enough, the font is a good choice. The front photo is cute to look at, and it doesn't fade. Over all, an excellent copy of this often reprinted story. |
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| "Casanova: The cupid of hedonism ran riot in the Age of Enlightment" | 2007-03-08 |
| - Reviewed By cmmills6 |
Giacomo Casanova (his name has become synonymous with that of a fiery amatory male!) was born in 1725. Somehow he managed to live until 1798 in a life which would make many people tired by just reading about his countless adventures!
Among his many avocations was that of priest; soldier; courtier; gambler; violinist; spy;translator and famed author. Casanova managed to cram several lifetimes into his 73 wild years. If you want to follow this ultimate rake across the world be prepared to visit Italy, Germany,England,France, Spain, Switzerland, the Ottoman Empire of Turkey and Russia. Along the roue's route he met such luminaries as Voltaire, Frederick the Great and Catherine the Great.
Casanova a serial lover of the fair and innocent maidens he seduce dwith wit, charm and seductive skills. He was imprisoned at times always managing a daring escape or the ability to have friends in high place save his love machine hide. He was no dunce being able to write and converse in many languages. His autobiography was written in French being widely published in his lifetime and ever since.
The Penguin edition is an abridgement of his monumental work which in its entirety would swell to over 3,000 pages. The translators add material which connects the episodes. The book is filled with colorful characters; excellent descriptions of what Europe was like among the elite and filled with enough sex scenes to keep the reader searching for more.
Casanova was not someone you would want your daughter to bring home to meet her family. He would make an excellent guest on the TV chat shows!
Enjoy a few hours of pure escapism with this famous work! |
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| "Funny!" | 2006-01-09 |
| - Reviewed By dagpel |
I found the book delightful. Not so much all of Casanova's exploits, they became a bit boring in time, but the descriptions of life around him, the rentals of houses, rooms, parlors, the modes of transportation, the meetings with others, the management of money, they were told splendidly and believably. The now so popular movie can't do justice to the story told in the book. Even the advertisements are bad. No one ever called Casanova a "pig."
For anyone who likes to explore living situations of any class of people in the past, this is a great book. |
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| "1/2... The Life and Love's of History's Most Famous Libertine" | 2005-08-24 |
| - Reviewed By nightwalk |
Casanova. The word conjures love, lust, seduction, and romantic brilliance. The man and the name have become icons for the past two and a half centuries as the epitome in the art of love.
Giacomo Geronimo Casanova was born in 1725 at Venice to parents who were actors. At a young age he was brought to a boarding school near Padua where the child developed a precociousness which impressed his elders. At 17, he obtained a doctorate in law from the University of Padua and began a career in the clergy. He travelled to southern Italy and Rome and became a secretary to the cardinal. His career with the church was cut short by scandal, an occurence which would become a fixture all throughout his life. Shortly after he joined the army as an officer of low-rank for the Republic of Venice and was stationed at Corfu, but gave up military life to become a violinist back at Venice. At the age of 21, he saved the life of a Venetian nobleman who became a patron of long-standing to the young man and who elevated him to the status of a wealthy gentleman. This gave him the privilege to travel across the breadth of Europe, meeting famous people of the day and pursuing amorous encounters where his lasting reputation rests. A talented conversationalist, he was frequently invited to the social circles of diverse European society, rubbing shoulders equally with cobblers and royalty. His fickle and temperamental personality got him into frequent scrapes with the law: he duped gullible socialites, started lotteries; became a spy, diplomat, and writer. The Inquisition of Venice accused him of witchcraft and was sentenced to imprisonment in "The Leads" prison, one of the most secure penal infrastructures of the time, where he made a sensational escape. He became an exile from his homeland and resumed his travels across Europe. In 1785 he became librarian to the Count of Waldstein in the castle of Dux, Bohemia, where he spent his last years recalling his brilliant and turbulent life and writing his memoirs.
And it is in this memoirs where his life and legacy are contained. Written in a flowing, stainless elegance, Casanova's "Memoirs" is one of the best and most representative artifacts from the Age of Enlightenment. The sights and sounds of 18th-Century European life are recreated through the eyes and senses of one intelligent and opinionated observer. Witness the humor of Casanova being duped by his first love and the theater women of Paris. Revel in the taboo of peeking into the loverboy's seduction of a nun as he goes to great lengths to provide the right place and mood for their nocturnal trysts. Read in barely contained excitement and tension as he makes his remarkable escape from the dreaded "Leads" prison. Be thrilled and sympathize with the proud but foolish fop as he duels with a Polish noble and almost get's hanged in the process. Watch in fascination as he meets and matches intellect with the leading notables of his day, all now prominent figures of world history: Catherine the Great, Voltaire, Frederick the Great, etc. Experience the sensations of our hero as he attempts to seduce a French noblewoman (dissapointingly), and an attractive Spanish girl (more successfully), both incidents decades apart. The man is given justice by the able translation of Stephen Sartarelli and Sophie Hawkes.
My only criticism of this edition is the scarcity of material offered. Although this 500+ page abridgement serves as perhaps the best introduction in the English language, for a work that totals nearly 4,000 pages, the editor could at least have made the book double in size to cover more aspects of the man's colorful life story. The man's meeting with Mozart is not included, and one can imagine many more incidents worthy of reading which were omitted.
After reading his reminiscences, one can admire Casanova for the vastness of his intellect and personal and social skills. But one can't help but feel that the man wasted his talent and life by focusing too much on the petty and lowly preoccupations of human existence. With the man's intelligence and talents, one feels that he could have done more for society and his fellow man. The use of wisdom gained through such a life should have been elevated to a more worthy and longer-lasting goal. One is left with the impression that Casanova was a mere Hugh Hefner or Larry Flynt with culture. That's all.
This is the memoir of the greatest icon of Western romance. Any person with the slightest interest towards love and sex should read this book in his/her lifetime. After satiating one's appetite with this mere appetizer, one should immediately dive into the complete oeuvre of the man's autobiography. This has been quite an experience already. |
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 "entertaining, but it definately has its problems..." | 2005-06-02 |
| - Reviewed By kandachu |
Casanova himself is not nearly as interesting as I was hoping he would be. In this book he looks back on his life through rose colored glasses. He makes light of his womanizing and he finds it humorous that he infects large populations with std's. He definitely has a giant ego and he really comes across as a looser. I can't imagine why any woman would have ever fallen for him.
Despite that I did not really care for the person of Casanova, I must say that I found the book entertaining. There are lots of interesting tidbits and descriptions of places and people from the late 1700's that are really fascinating. Even though there were still sleazy men around, the late 1700's were definitely a very different world than what we know now.
One of my big complaints about this edition of his memoirs is that there seemed to have been a lot of really juicy parts cut out. At the end of each chapter there is a brief italicized section that summarizes the bits that were left out. I would have preferred to have an unabridged version so that I could have skipped over the parts I did not want to read and not have someone else make that choice for me. I am not sure if there is a better, more complete version out there in English, but if you are really interested in Casanova you may want to look for a different version or if you speak French, you may want to see if you can find a copy of the original.
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 "men can be such nice people" | |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| well this essentially an exceprt from the much larger story of my life. it is essentially the autobiography of a self-absorbed ladies man. womanizing, debauchery and what seems to me to be pure boasting fills the book. i found it to be ok but definately felt i could have been doing something better than reading this. |
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