The Story of My Life, Volume 1

By: Giacomo Casanova

Narrated by: Peter Wickham

Length: 47 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

The Story of My Life is the explosive and exhilarating autobiography by the infamous libertine Giacomo Casanova. Intense and scandalous, Casanova's extraordinary adventures take the listener on an incredible voyage across 18th-century Europe - from France to Russia, Poland to Spain and Turkey to Germany, with Venice at their heart.

He falls madly in love, has wild flings and delirious orgies, and encounters some of the most brilliant figures of his time, including Catherine the Great, Louis XV and Benjamin Franklin. He holds a verbal dual with Voltaire, a pistol duel with a Polish noble, and finds himself hauled before the court multiple times, including in London, where the judge in question turns out to be none other than Henry Fielding (The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling). His appetite for life is voracious; for him, a life lived close to the precipice is the only life worth living.

The book is divided into six sections. Volume One contains the first two sections: "Venetian Years" and "To Paris and Prison''. Translation by Arthur Machen

Download the accompanying reference guide.

Public Domain (P)2017 Naxos AudioBooks

Extraordinarily interesting

Casanova has a great respect for his readers or listeners and stays with the interesting details, page after page, minute after minute.
For example, a few pages goes through an intrigue with sonnets and stanza, and he is hired to write some stanzas in reply. pretending to be the husband, but he writes them so that the lady will know the true author. Things unravel in an unexpected way. A typical novelist would have dedicated fifty pages to this, included all the poetry, but Casanova sticks purely to the parts that are fascinating. So just for that an utterly captivating fifteen minutes.

"Life is only a succession of misfortunes."

The narrator is wonderful as he tells the long tale.

Amazing

The narrator is as brilliant in his narration as Casanova is bold. Excited to hear the following books.

Great storytelling

Interesting book, good read. Pretty long so I may wait a few to get the other two volumes but plan to finish those eventually!

The most brilliant narration of Cassanova

EXCELLENT LISTENING!! The reader makes you feel like you are listening to Cassanova himself!!
Could not put this book down.
I felt as if I were present there (probably as a fly on the wall) watching this Cassanova story in real life.
Brilliant narration by Peter Wickham

Don't miss it! Listen to all three.

Wickam's narration is superb, and Casanova an unrecognised genius of his century. I aspire to have the courage and grace of this autobiographer.

Autobiography as looong picaresque novel

Everyone has probably known at least one Casanova in their life. No, not a great lover; a person of prodigious and varied talents who achieves and then squanders great success over and over. That is the life presented in this lengthy volume, which is undoubtedly studded with fascinating episodes and acute depictions of the customs and social attitudes of the times. Casanova (or his editors and translators) is an elegant writer. But the overall length is daunting and there are extended passages that are dull or presented at excruciating length. A reader with general curiosity might be better served by an abridgment or a third party biography.

It is not particularly steamy stuff, unless you like your smut arty and verbose. Lot of polished and mannered coquetry, some of it by Casanova rather than his conquests. His love life seems devoid of any deep or lasting feeling on his part (aside from his florid protestations) and his adventures in the flesh trade are, surprisingly, some of the more tedious parts of the book, although they probably read differently when written.

Couldn't stop listening

Fascinating look into this portion of European history from the individual perspective. Loved it.

Such a great story teller

I absolutely loved this book. Inspiring, insightful, full of knowledge and life lessons that I’m glad to hear of instead of going through myself! Lol

Best adventure story ever

These memoirs are truly amazing. Listening through you will hear about an amazing life, great adventures, true philosophy, get a real view of society at the time, and be entertained the whole way through!

So Cool, So Sexy, So Funny

This book is like Baroque porno written by a fox. It is a dazzling, ravishing memoir, and Peter Wickham reads the book like some old roue who can just get it up. I am looking forward to volume 2.