Among the big movies that I won't be seeing today is Casanova. Instead I'll stay home and read a book which promises to be much more entertaining. "What Casanova Told Me," was written by former Hotel Chelsea resident Susan Swan. However, there appears to a Casanova Craze going on and Susan tells us why she thinks interest is at an all time high.
Writing my latest novel about Casanova, I discovered that I wasn't alone in sharing a fascination with the legendary eighteenth-century Venetian lover. This Christmas, a BBC movie starring Peter O'Toole will be shown in the UK on Dec 21 and 23. A Hollywood movie about Casanova starring Heath Ledger will be released Christmas Day. And in the last five years, at least ten other male and female writers have published books about Casanova (1725-1798).
Why are so many women and men writing and making movies about him now?
Do we feel starved for sensual enjoyment in the 21st century? Certainly, we live in a culture where new technologies like email mean that many of us work almost a month more a year than we did in the 1970's. I came to the conclusion that Casanova is the Dionysian figure whose interest in freedom will redeem us in a work-obsessed Apollonian age. The master of self-invention, he enjoyed performing whatever role the situation required and he showed little interest in acquiring power or wealth.
Eloquent, self-confident and fashion-conscious, Casanova spent most of his life outwitting social controls of any sort. He appears to have become a symbol of liberty for contemporary writers and readers because he lived as if pleasure and adventure are as worthy of our time as money and fame, believing that the greatest aphrodisiac of all is happiness.
Susan always stays at the Hotel Chelsea and often in Thomas Wolfe's old suite on the 8th floor. If for some strange reason she decides to try another Hotel I've found the perfect fit. The 8th floor of Manhattan's Library Hotel features a Casanova room.
Recent Comments