"It would have been easy for Brunetti to grow indifferent to the beauty of the city, to walk in the midst of it, looking and not really seeing. But then it always happened: a window he had never noticed before would swim into his ken, or the sun would gleam in an archway, and he would actually feel his heart tighten in response to something infinitely more complex than beauty."
-- Death in a Strange Country (1993) by Donna Leon. This is the second in Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery series set in Venice.
Leon does a good but not great job of using the spectacular setting. She has a few passages of soaring praise, like this one, throws in a lot of place names, and makes a few generalities about the people of the city, but she could do more. Hopefully the later books in the series will better capture the spirit of the place.
Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.
Very interesting teaser!
ReplyDeleteHere is my Teaser Tuesday: The Elephant Tree by RD Ronald
I've only read one in the series, Acqua Alta, which I thought used the Venice setting well.
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate if the setting isn't used very well. But at least your teaser caught the atmosphere anyway. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy own teaser is another one that deals with atmosphere -- this time in the medical world in Philadelphia in 1889. It has a slight Sherlock Holmes-ish air to it, as well as capturing the attitudes of the time period extremely well.
It's at Bookishgal.
gautami tripathy: Thanks for visiting!
ReplyDeleteCarol: Acqua Alta comes later in the series, so it is good to know that Venice itself plays a larger role.
shinyideas: I love Venice, so I think I will always want MORE. Your teaser sounds great.
here's mine http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/02/teaser-tuesday.html
ReplyDeleteA beautiful teaser that makes me want to see what more the author has to offer. I hope the other books in the series take advantage of the setting!
ReplyDelete~ Amy
Amy's teaser!
I hope you are enjoying your book. Here is my Teaser for Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite books are set in foreign places I dream of visiting, usually because of a book set in that city. Hopefully the author gets better about using such an amazing setting!
ReplyDeleteYou can find my TT here: http://ksbooks.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/teaser-tuesday-30/
I forgot about this series. Thanks for reminding me and giving me some hints of what to expect. Looking forward to it. I love Venice, but for the parts off the beaten path. Hopefully some are in there. It's only so big after all.
ReplyDeleteI love these books, and one of the things I like is that Leon describes the life of the Venetians not the awe-struck tourists. Brunetti and his family and his city and fellow citizens are all wonderfully drawn, and the plots are interesting as well.
ReplyDelete