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Four Seasons, The: A Novel of Vivaldi's Venice | |||||||
 
| 80% Recommended by our customers. Publisher: Voice Catalog: Book Release date: 2008-11-04 Media: Paperback Number of pages: 400 Ean: 9781401309268 Book Isbn: 1401309267  Tip: compare prices with similar booksAuthor:
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In glittering 18th-century Venice, music and love are prized above all else--and for two sisters coming of age, the city's passions blend in intoxicating ways. Chiaretta and Maddalena are as different as night and day. The two sisters were abandoned as babies on the steps of the Ospedale della Pietá, Venice's world-famous foundling hospital and musical academy. High-spirited and rebellious, Chiaretta marries into a great aristocratic Venetian family and eventually becomes one of the most powerful women in Venice. Maddalena becomes a violin virtuoso and Antonio Vivaldi's muse. The Four Seasons is a rich, literary imagination of the world of 18th-century Venice and the lives and loves of two extraordinary women. Praise for THE FOUR SEASONS "Pop Vivaldi's masterpiece into the CD player, brew a pot of tea, and prepare to relinquish the rest of your afternoon. Corona brings Venice and Vivaldi to life, delivering a stirring story of love, ambition, and music that will keep you reading long after the last note of the concerto has ended." "Corona does a magnificent job of showing us the violent contradictions of life in 18th-century Venice, through the eyes of two musically gifted orphan sisters. Their relationships with music and particularly with the complex, enigmatic figure of Antonio Vivaldi are sensitively explored. This novel resists the easy cliché and really succeeds in drawing a world that is both panoramic and intimate." "Music and the dangerous, exquisite world of 18th-century Venice form the setting of this poetic, sensual story of two orphaned sisters. The Four Seasons is a beautifully written addition to the handful of fascinating novels about women and the arts in this most intriguing of cities." "Laurel Corona's The Four Seasons is a poignant tale of two sisters, layered exquisitely over the exotic world of brilliant priest/composer Vivaldi and his 18th-century Venice. The result: a vibrant crescendo of hearts and history." "I've never been to Venice, played a violin, or for that matter carried a tune, but after reading The Four Seasons I feel that I've experienced all three, and through them come to a better understanding of the many forms love takes. Brava, Laurel Corona." |
| User Reviews: |
 Written on November 10, 2008 Summary: Intelligent and engaging... Corona's "The Four Seasons" is vivid in its historical detail, and especially in its description of Italian Baroque music. This is one of the most beautiful and intelligent works of historical fiction that I have yet read. This is not a traditional novel in the sense of an obvious conflict/resolution trajectory: "The Four Seasons" is not a soap opera. Corona is a very intelligent writer to not fall into a cookie-cutter mold of plot predictability, frequently found in historical fiction. (Frankly, I feel that this "gets old.") I saw the point of the novel to be an illustration of the lives of two women who - instead of seeing themselves as victims of a patriarchal society - work within the tools available to them to obtain happiness and fulfillment. Frequently, in works of historical fiction, I feel sorry for the heroines. This book, rather, was empowering and provided a voice for women who may have once been. I found myself moved to tears by the final chapter...and am now begging for a sequel to know what happens to Chiaretta!  Written on November 9, 2008 Summary: Four Seasons Four Seasons, The: A Novel of Vivaldi's Venice By: Laurel Corona. First I want to say this book was not what I expected, it was paperback that used newspaper type paper that made the book messy and hard to read. I loathe reading news paper type paper because I end up with ink all over and smudges. However the story was OK and nice to look back at sisters and the way they turned. I'd say 3 stars. I would not recommed this book in paperback pay extra for hard bound or Kindle read. Written on November 8, 2008 Summary: Falls Short of My Expectations I love historical fiction. I buy them whenever I can find one and I thought this one would be different since it is about an era in Venice (which I know next to nothing about) and it's about music. Everything about the book sounded good on paper but when I finally got it, I struggled to finish this book. If I wasn't reviewing it for Vine, I probably would have given it up and send it to my book box friends. There are too many other books out there to read. This book is about two sisters who were orphaned and left on the doorstep of Venice's famous orphanage, the Ospedale dela Pieta, which is also a musical academy. Then they were sent away to live with a foster family until they became of age to come back to the Pieta. The sisters lived there until Chiaretta got married. Maddalena rose to fame as a violinst whereas Chiaretta was a beautiful and famous singer. Both of them were influenced by the great composer Antonio Vivaldi; Maddalena was even his muse. Like another reviewer here mentioned, the story falls flat. There is no conflict. There might have been a potential conflict between Chiaretta and her husband, Claudio, especially over the fact that he has a mistress. There might have been a potential conflict between Chiaretta and her mother-in-law, but it disappeared after a few pages. Chiaretta just moves the family away and that was it. There were no sparks between Vivaldi and Maddalena, not obvious ones to me, the reader. It all falls flat. Even describing the music to a non-musical talent (like me) falls flat. It is entertaining enough to read (and it did finally pick up for me to read and the last few scenes were quite touching and heart-wrenching enough to rate a three-star rating), but since I wasn't totally excited about learning something new about an era in history, this book falls short of my expectations. 11/8/08 Written on November 7, 2008 Summary: Will make you want to hear the music I'm not a musician, but when I read this book I really wanted to hear all of the music being played. I cannot say its brilliant writing or an exciting plot, but I did very much enjoy reading it and learning both about Vivaldi and Venice. The story follows the lives of two abandoned girls in Venice at the time of Vivaldi. They both are trained to be muscians in their orphanage. Their lives take very different paths as they each learn to take control over what parts of their lives they can. Extras the book provides that are very appreciated: 1) Authors note -- explains the historicity of the story. 2) Pronunciation Guide 3) Glossary -- this was very helpful while reading the book 4) Music in the Four Seasons lists what music is featured in the novel and the pages it can be found. 5) Reading Group Guide -- discussion questions. 6) An Interview with Laurel Corona The authors note and glossary were especially appreciated. I wish authors would do both of these more often. Overall an enjoyable read. Written on November 6, 2008 Summary: An Interesting Story, But It's Too Uneven to Love Laurel Corona's "The Four Seasons" tells the story of two orphaned girls who are brought up in a cloistered girls only home/school in 18th century Venice. The specialty of the school is music--and when Vivaldi, the great 18th Century composer--shows up at the school and recognizes the girls' talents, their worlds are turned upside down. The novel follows the girls for almost 40 years as their lives change and intersect with Vivaldi's. Corona's story is interesting, but underdeveloped. She picks a rich historical period, and she lovingly describes both Venice and the music which fills her novel, but she has a harder time with characters. Most of the characters--including the two heroines--are flat, one dimensional, and frankly, a little dull. I kept expecting one of them to do something unexpected--it is VENICE after all--but they are both just so good, and unwilling to stand up against the world. I know a lot of this characterization is what was "expected" of women during that period, but this is a NOVEL and it would be good to have some excitement. Without real excitement, the novel seems to plod along at times, simply telling the passage of time and not a story. If half stars were an option, I probably would have given this book 3.5 stars, since I did enjoy most of the story. But it can be slow at times and its not the best written historical fiction I've ever read. I would recommend this book to Vivaldi fans, fans of the period, or Venice fans (yes there are courtesans). |
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| Our price | $10.17 | $10.92 | $13.37 | $13.20 | $17.15 | $17.16 |
| List price | $14.95 | $14.95 | $13.37 | $22.00 | $25.99 | $26.00 |
| Lowest used price | $6.69 | $2.98 | $9.98 | $13.06 | $5.40 | $9.71 |
| Lowest new price | $7.42 | $7.00 | $10.47 | $13.20 | $12.27 | $10.92 |
| Collectible price | - | - | - | $24.00 | $25.99 | - |
| Catalog | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book |
| Release date | 2008-11-04 | 2008-07-29 | 2008-10-17 | 2008-07-29 | 2008-06-10 | 2008-09-22 |
| Media | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback | Hardcover | Hardcover | Hardcover |
| Number of pages | 400 | 304 | 208 | 288 | 336 | 416 |
| Ean | 9781401309268 | 9780060890537 | 9781904559306 | 9780385340991 | 9780446581196 | 9780151015498 |
| Book Isbn | 1401309267 | 0060890533 | 1904559301 | 0385340990 | 0446581194 | 015101549X |
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