[.ca] Venice (ISBN 0316645362)

NOT HIS BEST WORK:
Having been a huge fan of Simon Marsden for years now, I was excited about the publication of this book; I had hoped it would be as evocative and haunting as his other books. Alas, it is not. Mr. Marsden is at his best when describing and photographing places in such a way as to give us a spookily romantic vision of a long-ago time, a time when the people of a land where closer to the spirits of that land than they are now. Mr. Marsden includes a lot of sharply focused, colour photos in this book. The photos and the subjects they portray lack the same ghostly allure that he is so well known for. Perhaps Venice was not spooky enough! All I know is that his foggy, other-worldy visions of castles and ancient houses take me to a haunted past and fill me with dreams of wandering spirits that cannot rest. He does not achieve this in "Venice." I would only recommend this book to someone who is in love with the city itself, and not with Mr. Marsden's work.

I hate this book, because I love Venice:
Don't waste your money on this book if you love beautiful photos of the most exotic city on the planet. The photos are fuzzy due to the photographer's attempt to evoke spookiness. Ugh. I never thought someone could make Venice look bad, but this guy has managed to. So disappointing. I mean, it's a photo book, and the photos suck. I have never understood the city's reputation as spooky, haunting and morbid- I find it to be the most bustling, vivacious, colorful of places. I guess it's just humanity's innate hydrophobia.