经济学家估值（一个跌落神坛的冒险家）
经济学家估值（一个跌落神坛的冒险家）[Paragraph 2]To his many admirers over the centuries Giacomo Casanova who lived from 1725 to 1798 embodied a certain kind of freedom. He was an unapologetic hedonist indulging his urges in defiance of social conventions and moral hypocrisy. A self-professed libertine he lived by the philosophy that pleasure was “a gift of God” and that it was monstrous to think God enjoyed “the pains sorrow
《经济学人》：一个跌落神坛的冒险家？原文标题：
Scoundrels of yore
Pleasure without principle
A scoundrel’s life
The dark side of Casanova’s hedonism
By today’s standards Leo Damrosch recounts he was a rapist and murderer
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To his many admirers over the centuries Giacomo Casanova who lived from 1725 to 1798 embodied a certain kind of freedom. He was an unapologetic hedonist indulging his urges in defiance of social conventions and moral hypocrisy. A self-professed libertine he lived by the philosophy that pleasure was “a gift of God” and that it was monstrous to think God enjoyed “the pains sorrows and abstinence that people offer in sacrifice to him”.
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As Leo Damrosch chronicles in “Adventurer” his new biography this approach took Casanova into some pretty grim territory. In addition to being a serial seducer by 21st-century standards he was a rapist a murderer a child-abuser a crook and an all-round scoundrel. He was also an engaging storyteller whose “Histoire de ma vie” not only established him as the archetypal ladies’ man but also provides one of the most vivid and perceptive accounts of life and manners in 18th-century Europe.
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Casanova was born in Venice an independent republic that had long since transformed itself from a maritime power to a tourist destination in large part by guaranteeing a degree of anonymity to seekers of illicit pleasure. A child of actors in this city of masks Casanova was naturally inclined to play fast and loose with his identity. From a young age the intelligent and ambitious boy realised that he would have to enact many different roles to satisfy his voracious appetites—and to enjoy a life in keeping with his sense of himself as a member of the aristocracy of talent if not that of birth. He variously passed himself off as a nobleman soldier magus expert in finance and even a hydraulic engineer.
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He is of course most famous for his amorous escapades. In his telling he was simply irresistible to women. Invariably his partner comes to enjoy the experience as much as he does—even when that experience would today be considered criminal or at least exploitive. In Casanova’s world women are as sexually adventurous as he is and just as willing to defy norms in pursuit of carnal gratification. In this if nowhere else Casanova can be seen as a proto-feminist acknowledging and even celebrating women’s sexuality.
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But as Mr Damrosch points out not only is Casanova an unreliable narrator of his libidinous career: the nature of his conquests usually discounts any notion of mutuality or consent. “Casanova” Mr Damrosch writes “aspired to a life of freedom from restraints—but freedom at whose expense?” The answer is painfully obvious in the scores of deceived swindled abandoned and abused victims who populate these pages. The author is clear-eyed about Casanova’s faults. To cite a typical example in a case involving the purchase of a 13-year-old girl for sex he observes that his subject “seems oblivious to the darker implications of his actions”.
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Ultimately however the indignation seems inadequate. Why should modern readers care about a man whose pursuit of pleasure now seems much more sinister than liberating and whose idea of freedom is merely the freedom to trample the feelings of others? “Adventurer” doesn’t excuse Casanova’s selfishness or hide his cruelty yet it fails to offer a coherent critique of the inequalities that he exploited. As colourful and entertaining as it often is the book knocks Casanova off his pedestal without making a compelling case for why readers should follow Mr Damrosch into the mud.
Adventurer: The Life and Times of Giacomo Casanova. By Leo Damrosch. Yale University Press; 432 pages; $35 and £25
（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量约677左右）
原文出自：2022年5月21日《The Economist》Culture版块。
精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路
本文翻译整理：Fei Min
本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。
【补充资料】（来自于网络）
贾科莫·卡萨诺瓦（Giacomo Girolamo Casanova，1725年4月2日－1798年6月4日），极富传奇色彩的意大利冒险家、作家、“追寻女色的风流才子”。18世纪享誉欧洲的大情圣。生于意大利威尼斯，卒于波希米亚的达克斯（现捷克杜克卓夫）。
威尼斯早先是东罗马帝国的一个附属国，于8世纪获得自治权。中世纪时期，威尼斯由于控制了贸易路线而变得非常富裕，并开始往亚得里亚海方向扩张，曾统治爱琴海内的很多岛屿。15世纪奥斯曼帝国崛起后逐渐衰落，1797年被拿破仑灭亡，成为奥地利帝国的一部分。
【重点句子】（3个）
He was an unapologetic hedonist indulging his urges in defiance of social conventions and moral hypocrisy.
他是一个无可非议的享乐主义者，对社会习俗和道德伪善置之不理，一味放纵自己的欲望。
He is of course most famous for his amorous escapades. In his telling he was simply irresistible to women.
当然，最出名的还是他的风流韵事。在他的记叙中，他说自己对女人简直无法抗拒。
Ultimately however the indignation seems inadequate.
然而，归根结底，只是愤怒还不够。
自由英语之路
