Partita in Venice

by Curt Leviant

Fiction. In Curt Leviant's new tragic-comic novel, PARTITA IN VENICE, "we follow Tommy M., who has written speeches for some Very Important People, in his so-suave, so-certain sophistication toward his so-boorish, so-certain downfall. As Tommy becomes more uncertain...we become more certain. A doom stretching straight from Grecian times is after you, Tommy, isn't it? And all your male nonchalance and coy humor won't help the least when its lone, fine talons grab hold.Rarely will you read the heavy hand of tragedy played so lightly. It's as if Leviant were a transmigrated Vivaldi whose strains had dipped into Venice's canals to find--surprise!--both Wagner and Sophocles."

198 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Curt Leviant (born 1932, Vienna) is a retired Jewish Studies professor, as well as a novelist and translator.

He came to the United States in 1938. His 1957 master's thesis was on Lamed Shapiro. 1966 doctoral thesis was a translation with commentary, published in 1969 as King Artur: A Hebrew Authurian Romance of 1279.

Leviant was also a book reviewer, usually of Jewish authors, with reviews appearing in The New York Times, The Nation, and other publications, especially Jewish media. In more recent years, he has been, co-authoring with his wife, a Jewish travel writer.

According to Lewis Fried, "his fiction is nuanced, surprising, and often arabesque, dealing with the demands of the present and the claims of the past."

His parents were Jacques and Fenia Leviant. They spoke Yiddish at home, and encouraged their son's interest in Yiddish literature and theater. He married Erika Leah Pfeifer, they had three daughters, Dalya, Dvora, Shulamit.

His degrees[6] are a BA from CUNY (Brooklyn), an MA from Columbia, and a PhD from Rutgers, where he taught Hebraic studies from 1960.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curt_Le...

Reviews

[Catherine Girard-Veilleux · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to jump right to the end- it was such a boring read that took forever. Also, I had figured out the ending well before I read it (but that always happens...). I think the shocking ending is one of the few good things about this book.

I give it 2 stars instead of 1 because I like the Italian sentences/words sprinkled throughout the book and the descriptions of Venice - it all made me travel in my mind.

Other than that, the writing is beautiful, almost melodic; however, the story goes nowhere. There's not much dialogue, mostly thoughts, and no action whatsoever.

Unfortunately, I don't recommend this book. And to say I was so excited to dive into the story when I first saw it at the library... Such a shame.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this on my way to Venice for the first time. It does a good job of name dropping Venetian sights but the writing is so incredibly bad that I found myself laughing out loud throughout. Instead of losing yourself in the story you can't help but think about what the author was trying to do but failing. Too precious.