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City of Falling Angels by John Berendt
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Once described as a closed community and insular
place, Savannah, the garden city, became overrun with tourists following the
publication of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. An addition to
the airport became necessary, and the now-famous residents rose to the occasion
by creating their own guided tours of the city. The author examined the dark
mystique of a city that gives equal credence to voodoo and the courts.
Now, fifteen years later, John Berendt explores the dichotomy of the fair city of Venice, Italy. A famous resident intimates to the author that whatever a Venetian tells you, he means the opposite. What a paradox, then, to inquire into the nature of this city. Through interviews with residents, research into the influential Venetian families, and attention to the works of artists and writers, Berendt is up to the task of revealing the wonder and wretchedness of a city like no other. Just as Jim Williams was the common thread connecting the elements of Savannah, the January 1996 burning of the Venice Opera House, The Fenice, is the leitmotif of The City of Falling Angels. We watch the fire from the top floor apartment of a glassblower, the flames burning just outside his window. The changing light as the fire burns through the night and into the morning hours will be recreated in the glass works of Archimede Seguso, a twenty-first generation glass blower. “After seventy-five years of turning the steel pipe hour after hour, Signor Seguso’s left hand had molded itself around the pipe until it became permanently cupped, as if the pipe were always in it.” Instructed to leave their home immediately by the police, the Segusos rebelled, staying in the apartment all night long. Seguso knew the intrinsic nature of fire, and he watched the wind and the flames and never once considered moving from his apartment, even though he was only yards away from the entirely wooden structure that would prove to be an “exquisite pile of kindling.” Because the wind came from the Southwest, the fire blew away from the surrounding buildings, preventing the fire from taking a swath through the city. Because renovations were occurring on The Fenice, the surrounding canals had been drained, which prevented the fireboats from reaching the burning building and deprived firefighters of a source of water. Hoses were run through surrounding homes, through kitchens and dining rooms and out windows to get water to the flames. Ironically, on the same evening in New York City, a meeting was being held by the “Save Venice” organization. A group devoted to prevent decay and to restore the grandeur of the city, their membership included Venetians and non-Venetians alike. The book, then, becomes an inquiry about how this fire started: who is responsible for the rebuilding costs, and who will be awarded a contract for the reconstruction. Berendt entertains as he ascertains just what happened the night of the fire. We are introduced to the first American expatriates in Venice, owners of one of the grand palatial estates, who find themselves unable to maintain the residence. He tells of the time Ezra Pound spent in Venice with Olga, his mistress, and shows how art does imitate life in some of the work of Henry James. Also appearing in this marvelous tale of suspense are Mafia, fruit vendors, eccentric families, and the gondoliers who inhabit the city. Take the Rat Man of Treviso, who gives his exterminating a German-sounding name, and makes rat poison for all of Europe. Because rats eat what people eat, the rats in Holland are killed by Dutch chocolate-flavored poison while the poison for the French is infused with butter, and the German poison is 45% pork fat since the local cuisine favors Weiner Schnitzel. For India, the Rat Man adds curry. The rats in Venice will eat anything because they are so used to it, but because there’s more garbage than ever, rats have become very choosy about what they eat. Soon, The Rat Man discovers that rats are eating more plastic. Panic struck. “My God, I’m ruined! What am I going to do? Rats are beginning to eat food that human beings don’t eat! This cannot be true!” Then he realized that people eat non-food too - junk food. The Rat man is a good example of how things are not what they seem. Consider the son of Archimede Seguso, an ambitious glass blower in his own right. He launches an angry crusade against his father, declaring him incompetent, only to pay homage to him in his spin-off of the “family” glass making business. The pigeons in Venice are pests, and the city is constantly killing them. At the same time, there are vending machines for tourists to buy pigeon food. The sensible thing would be to get rid of the machines, however, there are two reasons not to: The tourists like feeding the pigeons, and the income from the vending machines is so great that each vendor pays the city $150,000 for a license. Additionally, the only place where it is legal to feed the pigeons is in St. Mark’s Square. The fine is $50.00 to feed the pigeons even ten feet outside of the square. A resident observes, “It’s worse than absurd. It’s contradictory, hypocritical, irresponsible, dangerous, dishonest, corrupt, unfair and completely mad. Welcome to Venice!” The final chapter is “Open House,” a celebration to re-open the newly restored Fenice Opera House. Berendt cleverly closes with this gathering of the characters he has so richly portrayed in the book, analyzing the seating charts and providing the insightful back story of the grand event, noting not only who is in attendance, but also who is not. Because this is Venice, a city of masks, the evening’s musical offering was an orchestral concert rather than an opera, a detail no one challenged. In the words of one resident: “as everybody knows, going to the opera has always been a social thing. It’s even built into to the architecture. Only a third of the seats are positioned so they have a good view of the stage. The rest, particularly the boxes, are really best for looking at the audience.” Having read this luminous book, I wish I could have been one of them. Review by Sarah Bagby, September 22, 2005
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