Thomas Mann, like many great writers, was predictive. Venice is a set of visions, splendid and tragic at the same time. For the German journalist Petra Reski it is – first and foremost – her adoptive homeland. “Living in the lagoon for at least 30 years has meant witnessing his death – explains the author to time.news – This is why I wrote ‘Venice, final act’, a manifesto book, in which I denounce the rape of the city by mass tourism , real estate speculation, the pollution generated by cruise lines and the effects of climate change “.
The portrait he makes of the lagoon city in the pages of the volume – which will be released on May 19 for Sulfur publisher – is very different from certain glossy images of the news and cinema we are used to: red carpets, gondolas, fireworks. Instead, he is melancholy, never flowered, but above all sincere. “I have witnessed, like many, the exodus of the Venetians and the collapse of the historic shops. I have seen the corruption of the ruling classes and the failure of politics in managing the phenomenon of high water”.
Themes that are intertwined with the story of personal experiences, with encounters with Venetians, friends, neighbors and with a life partner. And then readings, historical and artistic events, which reveal all the culture, beauty and values of the city. With irony and passion, Reski reconstructs the past of Venice, revealing its secrets and showing political backgrounds. And inevitably she wonders about his future.
‘A splendid city that suffers the love of over 30 million tourists a year’
“I live in a city that suffers for the love of over thirty million people a year. Nothing to complain about: there are, in fact, worse fates. But today life in Venice consists above all in witnessing the death of the city: it will not come shortly, but hoping that it will heal is no longer possible “.
Reski graduated in French Literature, Political Science and Sociology, starting her career as a reporter for the weekly “Stern”. She arrived in Italy in 1989 to write a report on “Primavera” in Palermo, she decided to stay there to deal with the mafia. You write for “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, “Die Zeit” and “Geo”.
La traduzione italiana dall’edizione tedesca “Once I fell into the Grand Canal. About life in Venice” Droemer Verlag (2021), è di Stefano Porreca.