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THE REVIEW
This little book (only fifty-eight pages!) narrates the last days of the great adventurer and seducer Giacomo Casanova, employed as a librarian by a Bohemian duke in the city of Dux, precisely.
The little book focuses mainly on the pranks and harassments that other servants inflict on good Giacomino, guilty, in their view, of having a too haughty and arrogant character. Spectacular, in particular, is the prank in which the duke's castle courier smears with his own excrement a literary work of the Venetian, the "Icosameron," which was supposed to ensure him everlasting fame among posterity but instead remained unsold in a large number of copies, causing further financial problems for our Casanova, now far from the glories and splendors of the past.
Vassalli's writing, as always, is of astonishing simplicity, perhaps in line with the best Calvino, and it takes us by the hand into the castle of the Bohemian duke, making us laugh and, at the same time, suffer for the misadventures of the now old seducer, teaching us about the dangers of taking oneself too seriously and looking down on one's peers.
A long short story that can delight you well for a couple of hours. Vassalli is a guarantee.
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Summary by Bot
Sebastiano Vassalli’s 'Dux' is a brief but impactful narrative focusing on Casanova’s final days as a librarian under a Bohemian duke. The story humorously and sadly portrays the mischief played on Casanova, highlighting themes of arrogance and decline. Vassalli’s simple and clear prose invites readers into a world where laughter and empathy coexist. A guaranteed engaging read for a couple of hours.
Sebastiano Vassalli
Sebastiano Vassalli (1941–2015) was an Italian novelist and essayist, widely known for La chimera and for historically grounded narratives often set in northern Italy.03 Reviews
