Watermark, by Joseph Brodsky

Watermark, with a cover featuring artwork by Matthias Schaller

Watermark, by Joseph Brodsky

VENICE-O-METER 10

Masterpiece

I wouldn’t call this a travel book, or even a book about Venice. Rather, it’s an book about the writer’s experience of Venice — the city where he spent his winter break every year for almost two decades, and where he is now buried.

The only way I could possibly do this book justice. is by quoting it extensively — on the Reading Venice map, you will find a list of places Brodsky mentions or alludes to, together with the relevant passages from Watermark.

Joseph Brodsky's tomb at San Michele Cemetery, Venice — Joseph Brodsky’s tomb at San Michele Cemetery, Venice

A plaque (Fondamenta Zattere Allo Spirito Santo, 564, —Dorsoduro) in Italian and Russian.
"Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996)
great Russian poet
Nobel prize laureate,
loved and sang this place" — A plaque (Fondamenta Zattere Allo Spirito Santo, 564, —Dorsoduro) in Italian and Russian.
“Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996)
great Russian poet
Nobel prize laureate,
loved and sang this place“