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A Thousand Days in Venice (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
He saw her across the Piazza San Marco and fell in love from afar. When he sees her again in a Venice café a year later, he knows it is fate. He knows little English; and she, a divorced American chef, speaks only food-based Italian. Marlena thinks she is incapable of intimacy, that her heart has lost its capacity for romantic love. But within months of their first meeting...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
June 3rd 2003
by Ballantine Books
(first published 2002)
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As I have said before there is just something about travel books that draws me in. Ever since I read A Year in Provence I was hooked on the genre. A couple of months ago I read A Thousand Days in Tuscany. Not far into the book I realized that Venice came before Tuscany and I had missed how our lovely couple met and moved to Tuscany. I'm a stickler for reading series in the correct order so I was disturbed that I was going to have to go backward and the story would be ruined. The way de Blasi wri...more
This book had a few enjoyable moments, but unfortunately, the dull moments lasted longer. In a nutshell, the book is about a middle-aged Midwestern woman who travels to Venice, meets an Italian man who she spends a couple of days with, then he goes to visit her in St. Louis for two weeks, then she gives up her entire life to move to Venice to marry him. There have been a couple of sequels, so I know this couple are still together, but I don't think I'll bother reading any other books by this a...more
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This book did not completely achieve its potential. The author, a middle-aged woman from the Mid-West meets an Italian while she is in Venice-who is not without his eccentricities. He visits her in St. Louis and she decides to marry him and move to Venice. The story describes their relationship, her discovery of Venice and Italian culture and her re-doing of his home. The story is enjoyable and you want their relationship to work-however I thought the story line could have been better develo...more
bookczuk
rated it
What an odd combination of feelings and thoughts I had reading this book. First of all, nostalgia, both for Venice (you'd have to be dead or totally unromantic to not be wistful about Venice) and St Louis, where I used to live. When Marlena talks about Balabans, I heaved a sign, remembering all the great times and meals I had at the restaurant with friends and loved ones. When she mentioned Forest Park, I escaped back to the multitude of memories I have of that wonderful place, that was just mer...more
The sun is beginning her descent. The last few rays of sunshine illuminate my living room as I curl up tighter under my blanket. In the last remains of the day, my red wine shines purple hues onto my plate of grilled salmon and rosemary seasoned potatoes. I feel my room soak up the evening as I turn to the final chapter of A Thousand Days in Venice.
This is a book for romantics, for those who believe in love. In the words of the Chicago Tribune, it is “a true, disarming, and...more
This is a book for romantics, for those who believe in love. In the words of the Chicago Tribune, it is “a true, disarming, and...more
Seems to me I tried reading, once, her Tuscany book, and couldn't get passed the first few pages. I picked up this up over the summer at a garage sale, and finally tried it, and found it quite good.
Partially it's that I love Venice. I've been there a total of two days, but am entranced. So I had some context for the locations, and I'd like to someday explore the places she explored.
I also found her thoughts on "love" and her new relationship to be quite interest...more
Partially it's that I love Venice. I've been there a total of two days, but am entranced. So I had some context for the locations, and I'd like to someday explore the places she explored.
I also found her thoughts on "love" and her new relationship to be quite interest...more
This is a great book. Nothing as I thought it would be. Picked this up in a used bookstore. Pleasantly surprised. It is so very rich in identifying the culture of the Italian life and rich history of friends, family and relationships and how it is intertwined with the food and traditions of Tuscan living. I've been to Tuscany but what can you gleen in 10 days. Marlena De Blasi builds a fabulous story of truth and tribal knowledge steeped deeply in what we are only beginning to realize here in A...more
Move aside Eat,Pray,Love ... Marlena de Blassi has given us a truly reflective look at a woman who is unafraid to trust her soul to whatever the Fates may bring. Be it love in the form of a skinny Venetian banker who fell in love with her profile when she first came to Venice, or be it leaving her St Louise home and moving to Venice to be with this stranger, or be it embracing her new home and having that gently elegant lady embrace her.
On the surface, the story is a about a woman wh...more
On the surface, the story is a about a woman wh...more
Annmarie
rated it
To continue my travel memoir kick. . . this was a pleasing memoir with a lovely literary style of writing and wonderful descriptions of food and cooking. Good for foodies. The author is an American chef and writer who while staying in Venice meets a "blueberry eyed" Venetian man who looks like Peter Sellers and who falls in love with her at first sight. She falls in love with him too, and moves to live in Venice with him, in a decidedly unromantic apartment that she redecorates & then ...more
If you love travel, food, adventure and spontaneity then this is a memoir for you. This is about an accomplished, middle aged chef/journalist, single mother of two grown children Marlena De Blasi, from St. Louise Missouri. After a trip to Venice, she's seduced by an Italian man by the name of Fernando, that she continuously describes as the Stranger with blueberry eyes. They end up keeping in touch and after Fernando visits her in St Louise Missouri, they decide it's best that she moves to Venic...more
I was hesitant whether this would be good or not (to me, a memoir is only good if the author has an interesting story to tell, or if they can tell that story in an interesting manner) -- but three things intrigued me: 1) It's about love and chance encounters 2) It's about travel 3) Specifically, it's about Venice, Italy.
Overall, I wasn't disappointed. Turns out, the author did have an interesting story to tell, and she told it in a mostly interesting manner. I found some of it to ...more
Overall, I wasn't disappointed. Turns out, the author did have an interesting story to tell, and she told it in a mostly interesting manner. I found some of it to ...more
A Thousand Days in Venice is a memoir describing how De Blasi, a divorced, middle-aged American chef, met and married her Italian husband in Venice. The romantic traveler in me looked forward to this story with relish, but the book was difficult for me to finish because De Blasi's style is train-of-thought, and there was little coherence in time, place, or characters even within paragraphs.
Distracted as I was by the lack of referents for many of her observations, I found myself stari...more
Distracted as I was by the lack of referents for many of her observations, I found myself stari...more
I've had this book for a long time (probably bought it in 2001 or so) and re-read it a few days ago. I like it despite its over-the-top flowery style. The author is a gourmet cook, and she seems to write like she probably cooks: lots of fancy ingredients, exotic details and flair. It's almost hard to believe that she's telling a true story since she waxes on so poetically about it all. But I still like it. It's great escapist fare for the part of me who would love to fall in love with a rom...more
I am completely in love with Venice. I've never been to this lovely place on the Adriatic, but reading what I have (see also: Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers, Story of My Life by Giacomo Casanova and Death in Venice by Thomas Mann), watching the movies that I have (Bread and Tulips, Wings of the Dove, Dangerous Beauty, and Casanova), knowing what I know and enjoying a chilled wineglass of sgroppino (recipe for this exquisitely delectable lemon gelato with vodka and sparkling wine is includ...more
This one's an easy,fun read. The author, a divorcee of a certain age, meets a local banker of a certain age while on a trip to Venice with some girlfriends. He's unattached and smitten with her and though she initially resists, the two begin a relationship. Very quickly, and against most of her friends' advice, she closes up her life in the U.S and moves to Venice to be with him, and they eventually marry. This is a true story (though I suspect some of the sharper edges have been sanded down), a...more
I loved this book because I love Venice. I was especially engrossed with the first two thirds -- as she is really unraveling the secrets of the city. I appreciate DeBlasi's being so in tune with all Venice's beauty and nuance and finding the perfect words to convey it. FOR ME it was a love story of a place, moreso than of her husband...who goes from sounding incredibly romantic, to a tad too controlling and distant as the book progresses. But that may just be from all the adjustments that have t...more
This book seemed well written, intelligent and great descriptions, but there was very little heart. The only passion was about food. There were recipes thrown into the story, a bit reminiscent of Like Water For Chocolate (which I loved).
It was a strue story, written entirely in first person. An unexpected romance, it says on the cover. For being a love story, it was written with a great and glaring obvious lack of emotion.
Being a true story, I have a hard time with...more
It was a strue story, written entirely in first person. An unexpected romance, it says on the cover. For being a love story, it was written with a great and glaring obvious lack of emotion.
Being a true story, I have a hard time with...more
Italy fascinates me and this book was highly recommended so I just had to buy it. I was not disappointed. De Blasi's approach to living parallels mine, which is: never be afraid to start again; never stop believing in the power of love; let your life be an adventure; never stop learning and growing; go with your heart even if all the voices say you're crazy to step away from the safe, tried and true...
As a prolific reader and a writer, I found her writing style exquisite. Her imager...more
As a prolific reader and a writer, I found her writing style exquisite. Her imager...more
Ok, I tried to read this, but couldn't actually get through it without skimming. The concept for this book was cute, but De Blasi is an artless writer who still needs much help in honing her craft. The first person narrative was my first clue. Not that first person narrations can't be good (Jane Eyre!), but in my experience, a great number of second-rate writers go for the first-person narration because it's easy. I thought the characters here were flat. Obvioulsy, De Blasi knows her Italian cui...more
I really enjoyed this book. A similar life-experience novel to Under the Tuscan Sun, at least the book version.
You'd be forgiven for thinking this book is set in the early 1900's its hard to belive a modern woman could really have behaved so recklessly. Unbelievably this book it a true account of Marlena life from meeting her lover annoyingly called the stranger throughout and deals with her move to be with him in Venice. As a chef there are details of meals eaten and each chapter has the recipe at the end. If you are expecting sensual perhaps even sexual foody narrative you wont find it here, infact the...more
This book was the selection for the foodie book club this month, and I did not like it. I never liked the man of her dreams, Fernando, because of whom she basically gave up her idyllic seeming life in the states to move to Venice. She was in tears too many times to count, and the book comes off a bit depressing as she sobs her way through a midlife crisis. There are some excellent looking recipes in the back of this book I will commend Marlena because I liked her writing style. She manages to co...more
Needed something to lighten my reading of Jane Mayer's The Dark Side and found this on the bookshelf. Anything set in Venice should be good, right? So far it is light, Italian and watery -- just right!
If you love Venice and you love Italian food (and who among us does not), this is a fun romp. At times it drags down into that "oh, the problems we Americans face when we try to buy a house/remodel a flat/find a man in Europe (lots of sighs and sore thumbs), which is getting very tir...more
If you love Venice and you love Italian food (and who among us does not), this is a fun romp. At times it drags down into that "oh, the problems we Americans face when we try to buy a house/remodel a flat/find a man in Europe (lots of sighs and sore thumbs), which is getting very tir...more
Loved, loved, loved this book. But not while on a diet.
Read in 2006 and here is my Bookcrossing Journal entry.
Journal Entry 19 by LindyLouMac from Viterbo, Lazio Italy on Saturday, October 07, 2006
A quick, easy and enjoyable read. I am sure that Marlena now loves her 'stranger' but one wonders if she did when she first rushed off to Italy, or was she just infatuated with Venice and all things Italian? He did rather chase her, anyway she follows him back to Venice and LOVE grows!
It appealed to me though because of my own lov...more
Journal Entry 19 by LindyLouMac from Viterbo, Lazio Italy on Saturday, October 07, 2006
A quick, easy and enjoyable read. I am sure that Marlena now loves her 'stranger' but one wonders if she did when she first rushed off to Italy, or was she just infatuated with Venice and all things Italian? He did rather chase her, anyway she follows him back to Venice and LOVE grows!
It appealed to me though because of my own lov...more
The travel writing assignment that takes de Blasi to Venice is not her first visit. She adores the city and its watery ways. This time she runs into a man who has been admiring her from afar. The sparks fly. It’s rather awkward as he speaks little English and she speaks even less Italian. The stranger, as she calls him in the beginning, is passionately and deeply in love with her as only Venetians can be. Upon completion of her task, de Balsi returns to St. Louis, the home she has worked har...more
Having just finished That Summer in Sicily: A Love Story, I have to add another by this author. This is the first of a trilogy about her marriage with Venetian. I chose this over Amandine: A Novel b/c I believe when authors stick to what lies close to their heart, that is when they write best! But Amandine looks interesting too, so I am a bit undecisive..... I am wondering of this is a typical love story or forigner getting use to a new culture book. You know like the Peter Mayle books. And is t...more
Let me take you to a city by the Adriatic Sea, of stone bridges and gondolas and floating palazzos. Prepare to fall in love...
Exiting the now empty train, I tug my suitcase onto the platform...and stride through the tumult of the station, amidst vendors peddling water taxis and hotels, travlers in the anguishes of arrival and departure. The doors are open and I step out into wet, rosy light, onto a sweep of wide shallow steps. Shimmering water glints from the canal below. I don't kno...more
Exiting the now empty train, I tug my suitcase onto the platform...and stride through the tumult of the station, amidst vendors peddling water taxis and hotels, travlers in the anguishes of arrival and departure. The doors are open and I step out into wet, rosy light, onto a sweep of wide shallow steps. Shimmering water glints from the canal below. I don't kno...more
I got this as a gift several years ago and shelved it, thinking it was a fluff romance, but then was happily surprised to find out it's a real story. It's a light and interesting read that follows the author through her fast romance and moving to venice for awhile. The best part is that she's a cook and does a wonderful job writing about meals she cooks and eats and markets she visits. She also does a great job of writing about cultural and personality differences and what it feels like to live ...more
Kate
rated it
Marlena De Blasi was a chef in St. Louis who traveled to Italy and fell in love with Venice and a man named Fernando. He visited her in St. Louis, where they decided to marry, she sold her house, got rid of most of her possessions, and moved to Venice, marrying a man whom, throughout the book, she calls "the stranger".
A Thousand Days In Venice tells the story of her first meeting with Fernando through their wedding and on into the time that they decide to leave Venice and t...more
A Thousand Days In Venice tells the story of her first meeting with Fernando through their wedding and on into the time that they decide to leave Venice and t...more
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“Living as a couple never means that each gets half. You must take turns at giving more than getting. It’s not the same as a bow to the other whether to dine out rather than in, or which one gets massaged that evening with oil of calendula; there are seasons in the life of a couple that function, I think, a little like a night watch. One stands guard, often for a long time, providing the serenity in which the other can work at something. Usually that something is sinewy and full of spines. One goes inside the dark place while the other one stays outside, holding up the moon.”
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21 people liked it
“Much of my crying is for joy and wonder rather than for pain. A trumpet's wailing, a wind's warm breath, the chink of a bell on an errant lamb, the smoke from a candle just spent, first light, twilight, firelight. Everyday beauty. I cry for how life intoxicates. And maybe just a little for how swiftly it runs.”
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12 people liked it
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