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Mémoires
First published 1922 · 2216 pages
A scandalous, glittering romp through 18th-century Europe guided by history's most unapologetic libertine.
What it feels like
Reading this memoir feels like being cornered at a lavish, candlelit masquerade by the most fascinating, scandalous guest in the room. The narrative moves with a brisk, theatrical energy, sweeping you from the gambling dens of Venice to the royal courts of Paris and beyond. It is steeped in a mood of unapologetic decadence, where every encounter is an opportunity for seduction, philosophical debate, or a daring con. The prose is elegant yet remarkably conversational, bridging the gap between high-minded Enlightenment ideals and base, hedonistic desires. It delights readers who crave immersive, picaresque adventures and are willing to be charmed by a deeply flawed, endlessly inventive narrator looking back on a life lived entirely on his own terms.
- Mood
- opulent
- hedonistic
- restless
- decadent
- Tone
- wry
- boastful
- charming
- candid
- unapologetic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the pursuit of pleasure · self-invention · high society theater · fleeting youth · intellectual curiosity
- The writing
- Elegant, conversational, and richly detailed, balancing philosophical musings with bawdy, theatrical storytelling.
- The arc
- A breathless sprint through youthful hedonism and daring escapes that gradually mellows into a nostalgic reflection on a life fully lived.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love immersive, scandalous historical narratives, picaresque adventures, and unapologetic, larger-than-life narrators.
Content notes
- sexual content
- gambling
- imprisonment
- deceit and manipulation
- period-typical sexism
About the book
"The name of Giacomo Casanova, Chevalier de Seingalt (1725-98), is now synonymous with amorous exploits, and there are plenty of these, vividly narrated, in his memoirs. But Casanova was not just an energetic lover. In his time he was a diplomat, businessman, trainee priest, traveler, prisoner, magician, confidence man, gambler, professional entertainer, and charlatan. He financed business projects, organized lotteries, wrote opera libretti, and dabbled in high politics. Above all he was an autobiographer of enduring brilliance and subtlety who left behind him what is probably the most remarkable confession ever written. Casanova explored to the full all the possibilities eighteenth-century Venice offered by way of love and profit before being imprisoned, escaping from jail, and fleeing from the city to begin travels that took him across Europe. In Moscow and London, Berlin and Constantinople, he met the famous men and women of his time--Catherine the Great, Voltaire, Louis XV, Rousseau--and recorded his encounters for the memoirs he wrote in retirement at the end of his life. History of My Life is by turns touching, thrilling, wonderfully comic, and quite irresistible. The present edition, which includes approximately one third of Casanova's enormous (and unfinished) book, contains all his major adventures and all his greatest affairs of the heart."--Publisher's description.
Description from Open Library.
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