The primary character, Margot Harrington volunteers in Florence after the devastating and damaging flood in Florence in the mid- 1960's. As an expert in book conservancy she is involved initally with a convent library where she discovers a volume of sixteen erotic drawings. The story follows Margot's life in Florence, her discovery of her purpose and sense of self as well as her romantic encounters. I enjoyed the book because it provided me with a sense of Italy and the Italian culture.

I found a this at a temp rental in Cuernavaca, apparently abandoned by a previous guest & practically falling apart. My efforts to restore it have consisted entirely of taping pages back together using masking tape, but then again this isn't exactly an "artisanal" book, unlike the type of book which the story revolves around. These paperbacks just aren't built to last, nor has any particularly creative thought gone into their printing & binding.

That being said, this is a book especially for people who really really like books - as physical objects. There are plenty of nerdy details about their history and construction, practical techniques for bringing them back from almost total ruin, and the effort it takes to preserve and protect them. It really does drive home how much of an art the physical creation of a book used to be, an art that today is more or less forgotten or just ignored due to both technology and market forces.

Aside from that particular aspect, it's a pretty good travel story about an interesting time in recent Italian history in which a massive amount of artistic artifacts from their more ancient history were in serious danger of being destroyed (and many were). The on the ground perspective of what it may have been like to show up as part of the international relief force, and a not unrealistic "intrigue" based around a secret and rare discovery, is what makes this overall a decent read.

Enjoyable

I finished this book in 2 days. I really enjoyed the descriptions of Florence and all the information about the flood in 1966 and its aftermath.

I could have done without all the sex, but I suppose it was mostly necessary for the story. My larger quibble is with the sudden shifts in narrator, from Margot to an omniscient unknown third person. Parts of the book were originally published separately, and it almost feels like the author was too lazy to change them to fit together better.

There were a couple places where my heart beat faster with suspense: Would she miss the train? Would she get caught forging? Would she become a nun? I admit I was disappointed that the answer to this last question was No.

The nuns were my favorite characters in the whole book.

the back of the book, and indeed even the title, suggests that the sixteen pleasures will be quite a bit more scandalous than it actually ends up being. in some ways i found it disappointing, not because i needed it to be more salacious but because it had all the potential to be an amazing book but just somehow failed to make that leap into awesomeness. i think in part because it focused a lot of attention on relatively inconsequential details but just sort of skipped over important moments.

Beautiful story that transported me straight to Italy. The descriptions of the scenery were crisp, the dialogue intelligent, and the details regarding bookbinding were interesting to read. Would highly recommend to someone looking for an engaging romantic read.

The plot has some of my favorite things: Florence, archives, and the value of art. The protagonist was interesting and complicated (a little bit older than Lucy Honeychurch but similarly adrift), although I wasn't totally comfortable with a male author writing a female character's perspective in a series of steamy scenes.

There is a paragraph near the end of the book that explains my feelings for the book itself:

"Have you ever read a great novel, or listened to a great symphony, or stood in front of a great work of art, and felt - absolutely nothing? You try to open yourself to the text, the music, the painting, but you have no power to respond. Nothing moves you. You are turned to stone. You feel guilty."

I have read wonderful things about this book, but it just didn't do anything for me. I still gave it four stars, though, because it is a beautiful story of discovery. I believe that if I ever go to Florence, Italy, I should bring this book along because Florence is described in beautiful detail in it.

The Sixteen Pleasures purports to take place just after the great flood of 1966 that devastated much of the city of Florence and its artistic treasures. Margot Harrington, a young American bookbinder, goes off to try and help preserve some of the cities' treasured old books, and in the process, becomes embroiled with an older Italian man, finds herself, etc., etc., etc.

I have no idea why Robert Hellenga chose to write from the perspective of a young woman, because he's really bad at it. Margot doesn't sound - ever - like a real person, but like a middle-aged man's idea of what a young woman would sound like (particularly in her love affairs!) Moreover, despite the fact that this novel is set in the late 1960s, I get no sense of the period whatsoever from it - it could be taking place in 1986 or 1996 or whenever. And finally, I was intensely annoyed by the author's habit of writing out a phrase in a foreign language and then immediately translating it into English so we would realize that people were speaking Italian or French, when it was immediately clear from context that they were speaking those languages and there was no need, other than showing off, to add in those phrases.

The Sixteen Pleasures did at least make me want to go back to Florence so I didn't hate it completely, but I was delighted to get rid of my copy immediately after finishing it, and I won't be seeking out anything else by Robert Hellenga, no matter how many critical props he gets!

Entrancing views of Florence, interesting but too much detail on book and art conservation for me. December May relationship a different kind of education for Margot.

One of my favorites

I really like this novel. I read it about 20 years ago and when I picked it up again last week, I still remembered most of the story and I remembered how it really portrays Italy in a vivid and sensual way. I can relate to the main character and her existential questions, and the quest to find herself. This is not a novel with big twists and turns, but I find it is still a page-turner, without the cliffhanger at the end of every chapter, which is a testimony to how good the author is at keeping your attention. I just got attached to Margot and wanted to follow her till the end of the story.

While the author does give a lot of info about art and/or book restoration, he does it in a very artful and smart way, weaving the info carefully within the story, so it doesn't feel like info-dumping.

A very good novel. I'm sure I will read it again some day!