Giacomo Casanova is widely considered the greatest seducer of all time. The name Casanova is synonymous with the term lady's man. However, most of us know very little about this man, whose sexual escapades have become the stuff of legend. Casanova came to fame, or infamy, with the publication of his memoirs. His memoirs span several volumes, and are the length of several books. Amazingly, all of this can be found online for free. Look up "The memoirs of Giacomo Casanova de seingalt" and click on the site called project gutenburg.

I've been reading off and on for a couple of months, and I've read nearly half of it. It is very long, which is good, because it's packed with value. It's part autobiography, part history, part field report, part sheer entertainment. The language is somewhat hard to understand, because it was written in the late 1700s and was originally written in French. If you are not an avid reader, and if you do not have a good vocabulary and ability to read classic works, then this book is probably not for you.

Casanova was a very interesting character. He was about 6'2, well built, and considered by many, including Catherine the great and Frederick the great, to be one of the handsomest men around. He personally did not believe himself to be that good looking, although he did describe himself as having the physical qualities which "are a passport to society". He was witty, endlessly curious, and decently educated. He was an excellent conversationalist, and he on many occasions managed to charm the aristocracy of the day. He met characters such as Voltaire, Ben Franklin, Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great, Louis the 15th, and many, many more. In fact, he was the author of the libretto for Mozart's opera, Don Giovanni, which was due in part to his reputation as a skilled seducer and "libertine". For reference, the term "libertine" is defined as a person without sexual morals.

That said, Casanova should not be put on a pedestal. He was a flawed man, like we all are. He had good in him, and he had bad in him.

Casanova was no stoic. He was very emotional, and fell in love with many, many women. His intense emotional nature both helped and harmed him. In one of his first romantic encounters, he was 16 and in love with a girl who absolutely refused to consummate the relationship before marriage. However, with Casanova, things tended to be "out of sight, out of mind". Once away from a girl, he would "sober up", and he could never commit totally to one woman, although in his early years he did try. When he was offended, or wronged in any way, his temper could become very dangerous. One man who had kept him locked in a military compound enraged him so much that he and several others ganged up on him at night and beat him nearly to death. He was very inclined towards revenge, which did not often bode well for him.

Casanova had an abnormally high level of desire for both love and pleasures of the flesh. This was the driving force behind his whole life. In some instances his tender, good hearted side shined through. He would often help girls out if they were in desperate need of money. In one instance a girl he knew, who was very beautiful, was running away to be with her lover, who her father did not approve of. Casanova hid her in his room, and she slept naked in his bed. He was very tempted to sleep with her, but he did nothing because he felt bad for the girl and did care about her. On another occasion, he fell in love with a girl and promised her marriage, and the promise was actually genuine, until they were separated and he had time to think. Feeling bad for deceiving the girl, he arranged a marriage between her and a very handsome, virtuous nobleman. The two ended up in a very happy relationship.

However, his love of pleasure often led him down dark roads as well. In one instance, he purchased the services of a young girl being prostituted by her mother. When she refused to have sex, he gave her a beating, which later caused him to go to court. In another instance, there was a beautiful girl he wished to court, but he could not obtain an audience with her. In his memoirs, he admits that this was not his finest hour, and that he has no explanation for his evil actions. What he does is, he waits for her to go in the basement to do laundry, and when he sees her he immediately grabs her and gets to work. He wanted to have his way with her, and was inclined to use force if necessary. He does not end up doing this, at least in total, because he falls into a laughing fit due to hearing loud sounds. The girl immediately runs away.

Besides his violent, "rapey" tendencies, he also had 0 qualms about sleeping with married women. In one story, he and a gang of his friends in the orchestra are out roaming the streets causing trouble, and they somehow end up "kidnapping" a married woman. After they have dinner with her, they tell her of their plan to all sleep with her. She is excited, and consents. 8 people thus "run a train" on her, and then they return her to her home.

There is a lot to be learned from reading these memoirs. They are a goldmine of information on the history of the time period and culture, as well as of course the information on Casanova's methods of seduction and just his general life advice. The man lived one of the most interesting lives of all time. I won't bother delving into the different lessons to be learned, because you have to read it yourself, and take what you want from it.