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A place everyone wants to see, but no one wants to protect

Book review written by Ranveig Eckhoff
As I once fell into the Grand Canal. From Life in Venice
Forfatter: Petra Reski
Forlag: Droemer GmbH & Co, (Tyskland)
VENEZIA: The high tide in Venice – up to 1,87 meters – is man-made, just like the huge technical flood barriers are described as a giant scam.

(All photos: Eckhoff)

In Petra Peski's book As I once fell into the Grand Canal you come across several words of this type: "Airbnb plague" (Venice has Italian record in Airbnb landlords), "water highway" (more than five hundred cruise ships dock in the lagoon city every year ), «Disneyification» (the city has 33 million tourists every year).

The fact that Venice is threatened with doom was noticed, not least after Luchino Visconti's film Death in Venice from 1972. The city where all the streets lead to water is – to put it with Shakespeare – "of the same substance that dreams are woven of." He wrote The merchant in Venice without even having been there. Richard Wagner needed the city as a workplace while writing his greatest works. WA Mozart let Venice inspire its easily seduced ladies in Cosi. . .

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Ranveig Eckhoff
Eckhoff is a regular reviewer for Ny Tid.

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