Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62398 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-18
• Original language: Italian
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Customer Reviews

Informative but deeply annoying
A book based on wide knowledge, deep thought and considerable pretentiousness that adds up to much less than the sum of its parts. Magris offers a cornucopia of information about events and books connected (sometimes rather loosely) with a journey along the Danube; he doesn't provide a lot of context, so to get the best out of the book you really need a degree-level knowledge of German, Austrian and middle-European literature and 19th-20th century history (he's not very interested in earlier periods). Plenty of philosophical musing; some of it interesting, some of it vacuous - you could reverse some of his statements and they would make no more and no less sense - all of it very Italian. The real problem is that there is no real structure, no coherence, no argument or arguments, just a series of random ideas. There is the material here (and even more if you took the whole history and geography of the Danube, not just the literary bits that interest this author) for a really great book, but this is simply too lazy or too self-consciously post-modern, or possibly both. An acquired taste at best; very disappointing.

Overrated 'sacred' travelogue
I'm afraid I agree with the less favourable reviewer below - I've now had three tries at this book, and each time find it unfinishable. Part of it is that name-dropping - you feel very much that this is a book by a rather self-important, competitive intellectual for other readers of the same stripe. As such it reads more like earnest literary criticism than anything else, and if there is humour in it, it's the kind to produce intellectual sniffs among those who understand the references rather than actual laughter. It's more an intellectual history of the region rather than something which really evokes the river and its character - if the latter is what you're after, then you'll be disappointed. For a more accessible and enjoyable book about Central Europe, Stephen Brook's 'The Double Eagle' fits the bill well, and is full of atmospheres, characters and information.

Maybe, though, I'll simply have another try at Danube in 20 years' time, see what the fuss is about, and feel I just wasn't ready for it. Or maybe not.

Essential reading
Depressing to read disparaging remarks by a couple of reviewers who have failed to see the beauty and humanity in this book. I too was mistakenly expecting a travel book. This is far more than that. Reminds me of Jan Morris' writing which also extends far beyond a superficial description of place. Isn't one of the main points of travel to extend the horizon, to enable you to recognize, accept and appreciate differences between people, including "intellectuals"? Strong taste of sour grapes in these negative reviews: this is an enriching and important read.