Venice: In Context
 Robert S. Wayne
 (Associate Reviewer - Victor Cohen)
 2002 Independent Publishers Group
  ISBN: 0972022872


The Independent Traveler's Guide to Venice, narrated by Joel Godard.

Associate Reviewer Victor Cohen writes:

Venice: In Context is the perfect vade mecum for the sophisticated, independent tourist in Venice. This is much more than a typical guide book. The beautifully recorded narratives on two accompanying CDs provide the listener with one's own personal guide on the twelve tours that are presented & described in meticulous detail.

The book, in a sense, is a supplement to the CDs. It provides instructions on how to use the CDs while touring, & includes summary descriptions of each of the tours, enhanced with carefully-selected photographs.

The final sections of the book, following the tour descriptions, provide discussions that are typical to most guides: an historical overview, how to plan your trip, & the various means of arriving in Venice. In addition, however, there are several special features: a section on gondolas with tips for selecting your ride, information on Venice's famous vaporetti or waterbus system of transportation, & a list of useful internet Web sites for planning one's trip. The appended glossary will come in handy for those with limited knowledge of Italian, & specifically Venetian, art & cultural terminology.

While both the book & the CDs are beautifully & carefully executed, a caveat is in order. These materials are not for the traveler whose primary interest is in acquiring carnival masks or Murano glass, or exploring the culinary delights of Venice.

The book & CDs are designed for the serious explorer of Venice's cultural treasures, who is prepared to take the time to view its wonders. The narratives are replete with artistic & historical detail. There are sufficient anecdotal side excursions to entertainingly break up the cultural-historical narrative. Of course, the tourist is not expected, nor is it desirable, to undertake each of the twelve tours on any given visit: two or three would probably be as much as most mortals would want to handle. The opening tours are the most extensive, so it might be a good plan to select one of those & supplement it with a couple of the less ambitious tours described on the second CD.

As the author explains in his Foreword, the motivation for this series of guides is his aversion to “being herded, rushed, or told I have to wait until the 2 o'clock tour to begin my exploration of a new city.” With your CD player & earphones you can pause the narrative at any point, not only where you are instructed to do so by the narrator, & step aside to let the tour groups pass, while you inhale the sights & sounds that intrigue you the most.

Venice: In Context has paved the way toward a new generation of travel guides. What I believe will set it apart from any potential competitors is the quality of its narrative, the depth & care of its research, & the deep, rich, carefully-paced voice of Joel Godard, the narrator, whose pronunciation of both English & Italian is impeccable.

The materials chosen for inclusion in these tours was clearly based on a broad acquaintance with Venice & its innumerable points of interest. I have only one criticism: there is no mention anywhere of the famous Venetian ghetto, the place that has given us this term, which today houses several synagogues & a museum. Jewish travelers from around the world regularly visit the ghetto as a primary place of interest.

Putting this criticism aside, if I am ever fortunate enough to visit Venice again, the Robert Wayne/Joel Godard CDs will be safely packed along with a CD player to enrich my experience.
(03/16/03)

Victor
2003©Victor Cohen
A RebeccasReads.Com Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
Victor Cohen has degrees in Mathematics, Literature, & Linguistics. He has worked as a writer & translator, university instructor, school director, & software engineer. With a lifelong interest in music, he was a builder & teacher of recorders, & director of a consort in Israel. He is a founder of the Triad Early Music Society of Greensboro, North Carolina. Today, retired from his software career, he leads recorder workshops & teaches English at the Center for ESL at the University of Arizona in Tucson.