The Memoirs of Casanova

The Memoirs of Casanova Giacomo Casanova – With ‘The Memoirs of Casanova,’ William Pocock offers us a newly abridged translation of Giacomo Casanova’s notorious ‘Story of My Life.’ Casanova dashed through an extremely controversial life in pursuit of love and fortune that is well worth reading. In his final years he wrote down his memoirs to make confession, reflect on his many adventures, and describe the vast array of people he met in brilliant detail. Perhaps too much detail, as his 1.25 million words, though very entertaining, are a bit more than most busy readers are willing to endure. This edition seamlessly distills his story from 3,875 into 1,188 pages, encompassing his entire life. Casanova’s deep interest in romantic poetry, Greco-Roman myth, and Enlightenment ideals inspired his driving passions, with countless lovers and broken promises left behind. Casanova’s great love affairs, the diverse variety of his seductions, are maintained here to offer the reader a representation of the whole. His memoirs are most engaging in his pursuit of romance, intense intrigues, and impassioned letters, fully explored in this essential version. The Chevalier de Seingalt was much more than the libertine playboy of popular imagination, as the following pages will reveal. If his memoirs are now considered a great masterpiece of French literature, it’s largely due to its historical significance. Casanova’s extensive travels and a lifetime of journalism enabled him to offer insightful portraits of the various humble and notable inhabitants of 18th century Europe. Through the magic of his words that distant world springs to life for us now and forever. In recent years, his memoirs have risen from the depths of moral outrage to the most exalted dignity within his beloved France. In 2011 his original manuscript, designated a ‘national treasure’ by the French government, was acquired by the National Library for $9.6 million, the institution’s most expensive acquisition to date.