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Author: Christopher Moore
ISBN : B00DB32QDW
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Venice, a long time ago. Three prominent Venetians await their most loathsome and foul dinner guest, the erstwhile envoy from the Queen of Britain: the rascal-Fool Pocket.
This trio of cunning plotters—the merchant, Antonio; the senator, Montressor Brabantio; and the naval officer, Iago—have lured Pocket to a dark dungeon, promising an evening of sprits and debauchery with a rare Amontillado sherry and Brabantio's beautiful daughter, Portia.
But their invitation is, of course, bogus. The wine is drugged. The girl isn't even in the city limits. Desperate to rid themselves once and for all of the man who has consistently foiled their grand quest for power and wealth, they have lured him to his death. (How can such a small man, be such a huge obstacle?). But this Fool is no fool . . . and he's got more than a few tricks (and hand gestures) up his sleeve.
Greed, revenge, deception, lust, and a giant (but lovable) sea monster combine to create another hilarious and bawdy tale from modern comic genius, Christopher Moore.
Books with free ebook downloads available Epub The Serpent of Venice: A Novel [Kindle Edition]
- Print Length: 336 pages
- Publisher: William Morrow (April 22, 2014)
- Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00DB32QDW
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
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- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,017 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #59
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- #59
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Humor & Satire > American - #85
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Epub The Serpent of Venice: A Novel
There is an undeniable and irresistible lunacy to the literary worlds created by author Christopher Moore. I have read every book he's ever released, so I guess you could call me a rather large fan. As much as I love his kooky portraits of a San Francisco populated by vampires and other supernatural or exotically strange entities, I really enjoy when he steps away to something altogether different. To date, my favorite Moore books have been "Lamb" (an unlikely tale about Jesus) and "Fool" (a rollicking take on the King Lear story). Having skewered Shakespeare quite effectively once, Moore is back with "The Serpents of Venice." Not necessarily a sequel as much as a companion piece, "The Serpents of Venice" reunites Pocket, Drool, and Jeff the Monkey for another adventure. Drool and Jeff don't play much of a role until late in the story, but Pocket is front and center for a tale that combines elements of Edgar Allen Poe's ""The Cask of Amontillado" with characters and plot points of both "The Merchant of Venice" (which you might have guessed from the title) and "Othello." Not a small task, to be sure, but one that Moore executes with much humor.
As the story unfolds, Pocket is still grieving the death of his beloved Queen. As an emissary in Venice, he has befriended the Doge but alienated almost everyone else. If you recall, Pocket is a boisterous little imp filled with profane thoughts and a universally biting commentary who presents his most cutting barbs through the pronouncements of a puppet. A wealthy merchant and his cohorts want to put an end to our good Pocket, and they enact a plot to make him disappear. Without spoiling anything, let's just say that his demise is forestalled when an unlikely ally comes to his rescue.
Not too long ago, I reread Christopher Moore’s novel 2009 Fool, where readers were introduced to Pocket, King Lear’s court jester. As a rule, when rereading books there’s a law of diminishing returns. Simply put, things are never quite as good the second, third, or fourth time around—for obvious reasons. You know the story, surprises have been revealed, jokes told, etc. Christopher Moore seems to defy this rule because, if anything, I enjoyed Fool more upon reread than even my considerable entertainment the first time around. I’d found Moore’s Shakespearean satire to be wildly amusing and clever upon first read. On second, I appreciated the characters, heart, and depth of the tale further.
How very, very glad I am, then, to see Pocket and a handful of cohorts returning in a second Shakespearean romp! The Serpent of Venice is everything I could have hoped for and more! As the novel’s title suggests, this time The Merchant of Venice is in the mix, mashed up with a healthy dose of Othello. There was a third element I couldn’t identify until reading the illuminating author’s note at the novel’s end. It was—of all things—a short story by Poe, The Cask of Amontillado. Having shared the ingredients for this Mooronic gallimaufry, it would be a shame to discuss the details of the plot further.
What I can tell you is this: as much as I loved Fool, The Serpent of Venice is even better! Moore’s homages to Shakespeare are unbelievably clever. Not just the borrowing of plot elements and characters, but the manner in which he shapes these familiar elements into a fresh new tale. The story here is fantastic on its own merits. I couldn’t turn pages fast enough. Above I mentioned the “heart” of Fool. That is even more evident here.