Venècia. Ciutat de pèrdues

Venice is a city that cannot be named; a city that we cannot reach. It is a city of shadows, dampness, mists and beauty; a city of melancholy. It is a unique city that, for a long time, was simply 'the city'. Now, however, we see it disordered and out of fashion, like an ageing actress. It has been in decline for far too long. Drowned by the endless waves of tourists — the 'barbarians', as Henry James called them — it has embarked on an irreversible path. Nevertheless, it continues to draw us in and seduce us, arousing the curiosity of visitors for time immemorial. It is becoming a global village with fewer than fifty thousand inhabitants, but where residents' associations defending the city hold extraordinary power. This book provides an overview of the city where the author has lived for the past few years alongside his personal testimony. It contains notes on an unusual, lost Venice that no longer exists, but which is brought back to life in the words of Proust, Morand, Zanzotto, Brodsky, Matvejević and Scarpa, as well as other artists and writers who preserve its memory.