Andrea Camilleri was an Italian writer. He is considered one of the greatest Italian writers of both 20th and 21st centuries.
Originally from Porto Empedocle, Sicily, Camilleri began studies at the Faculty of Literature in 1944, without concluding them, meanwhile publishing poems and short stories. Around this time he joined the Italian Communist Party.
From 1948 to 1950 Camilleri studied stage and film direction at the Silvio D'Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, and began to take on work as a director and screenwriter, directing especially plays by Pirandello and Beckett. As a matter of fact, his parents knew Pirandello and were even distant friends, as he tells in his essay on Pirandello "Biography of the changed son". His most famous works, the Montalbano series show many pirandellian elements: for example, the wild olive tree that helps Montalbano think, is on stage in his late work "The giants of the mountain"
With RAI, Camilleri worked on several TV productions, such as Inspector Maigret with Gino Cervi. In 1977 he returned to the Academy of Dramatic Arts, holding the chair of Movie Direction, and occupying it for 20 years.
In 1978 Camilleri wrote his first novel Il Corso Delle Cose ("The Way Things Go"). This was followed by Un Filo di Fumo ("A Thread of Smoke") in 1980. Neither of these works enjoyed any significant amount of popularity.
In 1992, after a long pause of 12 years, Camilleri once more took up novel-writing. A new book, La Stagione della Caccia ("The Hunting Season") turned out to be a best-seller.
In 1994 Camilleri published the first in a long series of novels: La forma dell'Acqua (The Shape of Water) featured the character of Inspector Montalbano, a fractious Sicilian detective in the police force of Vig脿ta, an imaginary Sicilian town. The series is written in Italian but with a substantial sprinkling of Sicilian phrases and grammar. The name Montalbano is an homage to the Spanish writer Manuel V谩zquez Montalb谩n; the similarities between Montalban's Pepe Carvalho and Camilleri's fictional detective are remarkable. Both writers make great play of their protagonists' gastronomic preferences.
This feature provides an interesting quirk which has become something of a fad among his readership even in mainland Italy. The TV adaptation of Montalbano's adventures, starring the perfectly-cast Luca Zingaretti, further increased Camilleri's popularity to such a point that in 2003 Camilleri's home town, Porto Empedocle - on which Vig脿ta is modelled - took the extraordinary step of changing its official denomination to that of Porto Empedocle Vig脿ta, no doubt with an eye to capitalising on the tourism possibilities thrown up by the author's work.
In 1998 Camilleri won the Nino Martoglio International Book Award.
Camilleri lived in Rome where he worked as a TV and theatre director. About 10 million copies of his novels have been sold to date, and are becoming increasingly popular in the UK and North America.
In addition to the degree of popularity brought him by the novels, in recent months Andrea Camilleri has become even more of a media icon thanks to the parodies aired on an RAI radio show, where popular comedian, TV-host and impression artist Fiorello presents him as a raspy voiced, caustic character, madly in love with cigarettes and smoking (Camilleri is well-known for his love of tobacco).
He received an honorary degree from University of Pisa in 2005.
The seventh investigation by Montalbano on the disappearance of a Sicilian Madoff who ruined a few dozen savers, some of whom, perhaps, were a little vindictive.
Un conocido personaje de Vigata, realiza una estafa piramidal entre los vecinos y desaparece con la pasta. El fino instinto de Montalbano le lleva a mirar donde nadie se lo espera: 驴Mafia, asesinato pasional, simple desaparici贸n a un para铆so del Pac铆fico? La resoluci贸n es previsible y se mezcla con una especie de "deja vu" on铆rico de Montalbano, que no se sabe muy bien a qu茅 viene.
Un poco m谩s de lo mismo, pero un poco menos disfrutable que en entregas anteriores. Montalbano sigue siendo el mismo cabr贸n con el coraz贸n de oro. Un poco cansino esto de que todas las t铆as buenas que desfilan por los libros pasen por la piedra del subcomisario Augello y que se queden con las ganas de hacer lo mismo con nuestro comisario, menos mal que est谩 Livia con su car谩cter transalpino que lo tiene recto como un palo. Un poco de machismo le rezuma por las costuras al bueno de Camilleri. En fin esperemos que la siguiente entrega por esa Sicilia "hecha de tierra avara de verdor y de hombres avaros de palabras", vuelva por sus fueros.
The Publisher Says: The number of Inspector Montalbano fans will continue to grow with this ingenious new novel featuring the earthy and urbane Sicilian detective. Half the retirees in Vig脿ta have invested their savings with a financial wizard who has disappeared, along with their money. As Montalbano investigates this labyrinthine financial scam, he finds himself at a serious disadvantage: a hostile superior has shut him out of the case, he鈥檚 on the outs with his lover Livia, and his cherished Sicily is turning so ruthless and vulgar that Montalbano wonders if any part of it is worth saving. Drenched with atmosphere, crackling with wit, The Smell of the Night is Camilleri at his most addictive.
My Review: Salvo Montalbano and the Vig脿ta police force have a strange case, one that's not their case and not particularly important seeming as the Common Knowledge has already given it an ending: A Ponzi-scheme swindler comes home to Vig脿ta after being away most of his life, seemingly to answer the greediest prayers of the Vigatese by providing huge returns on the investment of their life savings. One fine day, he fails to appear and disburse the income due, and is never seen again. A major investigation by Montalbano's wretchedly political and horrifically petty bosses has led to the conclusion that Mr. Ponzi's follower was offed by the Mafia, either for taking the wrong widow's life savings or plowing fields they felt were their own. After getting involved due to a ludicrous hostage standoff, Montalbano can't help but keep worrying at the threads not in their proper places. In the end, to no one's surprise, the Ponzi schemer is found dead, but not where, or how, anyone could have expected at the beginning of the case.
I am on record as a fan of the series, and I've given plenty of reasons I feel the books are superior. But one idea has occurred in multiple places and from multiple sources: These books reek, to some, of the corruption and wickedness that mysteries, as distinct from thrillers or noirs, seek to combat. Montalbano doesn't shy away from rule-breaking, he flirts with and even goes far afield with some of the beauteous women Camilleri clearly thinks we all want to read about; his world contains those who aren't morally upright but are valued friends.
Yeah, so? As does your own life, nine bets in ten. Camilleri's character is flawed, and knows this about himself, but he's always motivated by the need to fix things and help people and make the world run right, even if it means breaking rules and going outside the system. I don't sense that this is a problem in other cop-centered series. I have wondered why that seems off-putting in this series.
I think it's because the Mafia is invoked so often, and that makes Americans very tense. It's very much a part of our national conversation even yet, and has entered English as a term of opprobrium for any group or team that's opposed to your own. (I treasure a mention of the Bush Mafia made in Austin's newspaper, later retracted and apologized for. THAT was a good day!)
It's all I can figure, anyway. I am so NOT in love with the current fashion for Scandinavian crime writers that I think I may have reacted histaminically by heading for Sicily. Something more exciting, please, no reserved and tortured souls trying to make amends for their misdeeds, thank you. And as these books don't have revolting, violent depictions of things I don't want to think about (yes, that's Lisbeth in my crosshairs), perhaps the ghoul crowd isn't tempted in. Taste being inarguable, granted, I still wonder at the reason for uninterest or dislike that I've seen mention far more than once.
Guess that's why there'll always be chocolate and vanilla.
Andrea Camilleri said he got the idea to write his sixth Commissario Montalbano mystery series novel from a news article about financial fraud. So, it鈥檚 a Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, eh, my least favorite crime so far in the series. Oh, yes, there鈥檚 terrific food, beautiful women, and goofy colleagues. The tension with lover Livia, continues, check. There鈥檚 a touching moment where Montalbano reunites briefly with Francois, the orphan he and Livia might (have?) adopt(ed?), but there鈥檚 (again) no real movement on that front yet.
I like it that Montalbano breaks rules, has a bad temper, and has an almost erotic relationship to Sicilian food. I like that he can also be tender and empathetic. I like it that he makes lots of references to his favorite literary works. I do like him a lot, and I like the series a lot. And this volume is good, but for me not special. Okay, what makes this book a little special, the highlight, is the connection Montalbano makes in the resolution of the case to the William Faulkner short story, 鈥淎 Rose for Emily;鈥� and the surprising glimpse we get at the end into madness. The ending is strong and well done. I recommend the series, for sure.
Ein Montalbano-Krimi mit allem was das Herz begehrt (und von Montalbano erwartet): ein m眉rrischer Kommissar, der damit hadert 盲lter zu werden, eine Fernbeziehung zu Livia, die ihm immer wieder Gewissensbisse verursacht, aber ohne die er nicht leben kann, der Reiz einer jungen, attraktiven Zeugin ("Sie k枚nnten meine Tochter sein" - "Ja, Papa") und nat眉rlich die unvergleichliche sizilianische K眉che mit Gerichten, deren Namen allein schon die Geschmacksnerven anregen. Dass sich vor diesem Setting ein Kriminalfall abspielt, den Montalbano letztendlich mit einem geh枚rig Ma脽 an Intuition l枚st, r眉ckt dabei beinahe in den Hintergrund.
If something about this series does get lost in the translation into tv series (which I love), it's the books' intertextuality and Montalbano's own love and knowledge of literature. Each of these books (and the short stories as well) contains myriad references about some work of literature that he loves, rereads, stumbles into during the investigation, or uses as a key to unlock the mystery he is working on. I love that. It's unfortunate though that those who know only the tv series don't know this side of our beloved commissario.
N-am mai avut r膬bdare 葯i-am citit-o 葯i pe-asta, a葯a c膬 iar am r膬mas f膬r膬 Montalbano. Asta e, nu m-am putut ab葲ine, pentru c膬 deja a devenit ca un drog. Din p膬cate, 卯ns膬, Emanuel Botezatu nu poate traduce toate romanele cu Montalbano 卯ntr-un singur an, Nemira nu le poate scoate pe toate 卯ntr-un an, iar cu dialectul sicilian nu am nimic 卯n comun. A葯a c膬 va trebui s膬 a葯tept cuminte p芒n膬 la anul, c芒nd sper c膬 vor ie葯i m膬car dou膬 noi romane cu detectivul meu preferat. O anchet膬 tenebroas膬, miliarde de lire italiene disp膬rute 卯n neant, un escroc de talie mondial膬 葯i mult umor, iat膬 re葲eta unui nou roman de succes. Ce p膬cat c膬 autorul deja a 卯mplinit frumoasa v芒rst膬 de nou膬zeci de ani 葯i c膬 nu va mai putea scrie m膬car vreo dou膬zeci de volume 卯n aceast膬 serie. Asta e, esen葲ele tari se 葲in 卯n sticlu葲e mici. Mai multe, pe Blogul FanSF: .
So I was joking to a friend the other week about how I was going to try and get into Italian crime fiction. After all, I said, this fashion for gruesome stuff from Scandinavia can鈥檛 go on for other, other countries/regions will have to have their turn and as such I could try to get to the front of the queue on the next trend. Then, a few days later, I saw that BBC4 were broadcasting a documentary about the new wave of Italian crime writers and I realised this was yet another bus I鈥檇 missed.
Anyway I watched the documentary and this brings me to: 鈥楾he Scent of the Night鈥� by Andrea Camilleri.
Sometimes when you review novels translated from other languages, you wonder whether you鈥檙e reviewing the work itself or the translation. For example, some of the prose is pretty pedestrian in this, but is that the fault of Camilleri, or is it some scribe who has not made the effort to properly render some colourful Italian descriptions? Similarly, the menial characters in this book seem to speak in a very cod 鈥榠tsa lika this鈥� style Italian. That鈥檚 a bit distracting as everyone else鈥檚 dialogue is in normal English, and then someone arrives who seems to be doing a Joe Dolce impression. But again, who should I blame for that?
The plot is diverting enough and the style is very gossipy (certainly more so than all that stuff pumped out of Sweden), while Montalbano 鈥� our hero detective 鈥� is an intriguing and interesting character. But in the end this is a moderately diverting read, rather than a gripping one.
Another day another Montalbano story and I have got quite a few to read in my personal library, I seem to have bought quite a few instalments of this series in hardcover. What happened is found this series on Netflix and found these TV movies very enjoyable and made me laugh quite a lot, and enjoyed the gorgeous ladies that made Montalbano's life so much fun, even if he is in a long steady relationship with Livia. And I do get upset when he is not fully involved with her but another dame fatale. But in the TV show those ladies are really breath-taking beautiful women who play their own game opposed to the commissioner's.
Montalbano gets involved in a case originally investigated with his aide Mimi, when an old pensioner tries to take a woman hostage who is as much a victim of deceitful swindler who has taken off with a lot of savings of ordinary folks who believed they could get richer quick. He saves the innocent lady in distress and everything about the disappearance of this money swindler does look off to Montalbano and that never sits well with him. We get some culinary escapades, Livia based discussions about love and relationships, the hard lives of Sicilians who prove to be just a susceptible to a golden pot at the end of a rainbow. And of course something from Montalbano's past comes to haunt him due to some anonymous letter delivered to his chef.
And excellent tale from the early days of the series that is quite good and fun to read, Montalbano is quite wicked but a policeman that believes in justice.
Libro sexto de la serie protagonizada por el comisario m谩s irascible, insoportable y carism谩tico que pueda haber, Salvo Montalbano.
En este caso Montalbano investiga la desaparici贸n de un estafador que trae de cabeza a media Vig脿ta, mientras soporta los primeros fr铆os y le entra la crisis de los cuarenta.
El libro est谩 bien, pero no s茅 si es porque hac铆a poco que hab铆a visto este caso en la serie TV que tan bien refleja los libros, o porque Montalbano est谩 m谩s llorica que nunca, el caso es que le doy un aprobado alto, pero no sobresaliente como en anteriores ocasiones.
The case in this book starts not with murder but with a disappearance and a fraud! Montalbano is not the lead investigator this time, but he gets interested in solving the puzzle since the detective who investigates is dead set on blaming the mafia! A narrative that doesn't sit well with Montalbano!
As in every other book in the series, there are gastronomic elements, references to movies and books, and, of course, the humorous exchanges between Montalbano and his coworkers!
Camilleri鈥檚 writing is effortless and enjoyable. I have thoroughly enjoyed the Montalbano series so far and this is no exception. What struck me most, was the deeply empathetic and human side of the Inspector that was shown in this novel. I admit that the plot line surrounding a financial adviser isn鈥檛 my favourite of the series. But the endings is one I will certainly remember most!
芦Non ho ralogio, di giorno mi regolo col sole; quand鈥櫭� scuro, con l鈥檕dore della notte: ho una specie di segnatempo naturale, inserito dintra al mio corpo禄. 芦Ha detto l鈥檕dore della notte?禄. 芦S矛. A seconda dell鈥檕ra, la notte cangia odore禄.
Il commissario creato da Camilleri 猫 imperfetto, ma 猫 sempre motivato dalla necessit脿 di sistemare le cose, aiutare le persone e far funzionare il mondo nel modo giusto, anche se ci貌 significa infrangere le regole e uscire dagli schemi. A me piace che Montalbano infranga le regole, abbia un brutto carattere e abbia un rapporto quasi erotico con il cibo siciliano. Mi piace che sappia anche essere empatico. Mi piace che faccia molti riferimenti alle sue opere letterarie preferite e le sue avventure finora non mi hanno delusa come in questo caso. Si parte da un'indagine di una truffa finanziaria perpetrata ai danni di molti cittadini di Vigata, per sfociare in un finale inatteso e ad effetto, che ci d脿 uno scorcio sulla follia umana.
E allora sent矛 che la notte aveva cangiato odore: era un odore leggero, fresco, era odore d鈥檈rba giovane, di citronella, di mentuccia.
P.S. Ho alternato la lettura con l'audiolibro che 猫 stato una piacevole scoperta. Il racconto si alterna con i dialoghi della serie televisiva, con tanto di Catarella che balbetta.
Ed eccomi giunto alla sesta indagine di Montalbano, L'odore della notte. Ritroviamo un Montalbano cupo, che fa incubi, con ferite aperte e rapporti burrascosi con Livia. Gli capita fra le mani un caso forse troppo banale: un tizio che ha truffato dei vecchietti si 猫 portato via i loro soldi ed 猫 sparito. Ma indagando scoprir脿 una realt脿 pi霉 complessa, fino al tragico epilogo.
Ripeto Camilleri scrive bene, 猫 piacevole, e le indagini di Montalbano sono ambientate a casa mia potrei dire, visto che abito in un piccolo borgo di mare siciliano. La storia non mi 猫 dispiaciuta, ma manca quel qualcosa in pi霉 rispetto alle altre indagini. P.S. povero maglione!
Octavo libro del comisario Montalbano. El pueblo est谩 alborotado, un inversor que hace un a帽o lleg贸 al pueblo desapareci贸 misteriosamente junto al dinero que le hab铆a dado la mitad del pueblo para invertir. Unos lo buscan para matarlo, otros para encontrar el dinero y otros s贸lo quieren saber que pas贸. Salvo Montalbano decide inmiscuirse en la investigaci贸n por simple curiosidad y para molestar al jefe de polic铆a (un ser de pocas luces y muy malicioso) y al encargado de la investigaci贸n (un comisario de estafas que fue estafado hace un a帽o...). Entre medio Salvo debe luchar con la verdad inexorable de que esta envejeciendo, los 50 le pegan fuerte. Se encuentra solo, con una novia que vive en la otra punta de Italia y cada vez recordando m谩s a sus padres muertos. Los libros de Camillieri siempre dan lo que prometen, una ambientaci贸n de Sicilia espectacular, mucho humor, un buen toque de drama y personajes super s贸lidos y entretenidos. Uno lee sus libros y se siente viviendo en esos pueblitos italianos, siente que a la vuelta de la esquina se encuentra con el comisario de mal humor, o el recepcionista de la comisar铆a iletrado que se conduce como una tromba o con el subcomisario que es un mujeriego y en que todos los libros se est谩 por casar con una mujer distinta para decidir no hacerlo. Son personajes humanos que m谩s all谩 del estereotipo tienen muchas emociones que pujan por salir, y que muchas veces la represi贸n de las mismas hacen que exploten. Es de esos libros que seguro una buena parte te la pasas riendo, ya solo por eso vale la pena leerlo.
One of my favorite mystery series. A con artist runs a financial scheme that might have gotten him killed by the Mafia...leaving his loyal secretary behind to deal with an entire island's worth of angry retirees. Inspector Montalbano inestigates...even though it's not his case.
鈥淎dmiraci贸n. No, mucho m谩s que eso: respeto. Por la serena valent铆a, por la tranquila determinaci贸n de aquel hombre. Una vez hab铆a le铆do un verso que dec铆a m谩s o menos que lo que ayuda a vivir es el pensamiento de la muerte. Ya, el pensamiento puede que s铆, pero la certeza de la muerte, su cotidiana presencia, su diaria manifestaci贸n, su atroz tictac (鈥�), todo eso 驴no habr铆a tal vez provocado en 茅l, Montalbano, un indecible e insoportable terror? 驴De qu茅 estaba hecho el hombre que ten铆a delante? 鈥�
A golpe de martes os traigo las rese帽as de los libros de bolsillo de Montalbano 8 y 9, una novela y una antolog铆a de relatos que siguen siendo toda una delicia para los seguidores del comisario:
馃寴El olor de la noche. Un financiero (estafador, conocedor de todas las triqui帽uelas del mundo) ha desaparecido despu茅s de desvalijar a medio pueblo, por lo que est谩 el ambiente caldeado. 驴Se habr铆a trasladado a una isla de la Polinesia burl谩ndose de los que hab铆an confiado en 茅l? 驴O se hab铆a aprovechado del dinero de un mafioso y est谩 sirviendo de alimento a los peces del mar? Este libro tiene uno de los comienzos m谩s graciosos que he le铆do en esta serie: Augello va a cambiar de vida, Montalbano necesita esconder un su茅ter y hay un loro que canta La Internacional (y cantaba tan bien que tuvo que felicitar al maestro). En contraposici贸n con esto, en El olor de la noche tambi茅n vemos al comisario con una crisis bien fuerte, por lo que adem谩s de darle vueltas al caso lo acompa帽aremos en sus reflexiones sobre el paso del tiempo, con uno de los finales m谩s po茅ticos que recuerdo.
馃彅锔廍l miedo de Montalbano. Est谩 compuesto por 6 relatos (3 m谩s largos) donde somos part铆cipes de su manera de entender la vida: Salvo sale de Sicilia y tiene que ir a Roma -Salvo odia salir de Sicilia, odia ir a Roma- , aparece un personaje nuevo por el que acaba teniendo total admiraci贸n, y una de las mejores cosas鈥� 隆Catar茅 tiene m谩s protagonismo en esta antolog铆a! Son historias bastante simples donde se disfruta tanto del contexto como de la resoluci贸n de los casos.
Este livrinho escrito por Andrea Camilleri em 2001 vive na minha estante desde que foi editado pelo jornal P煤blico na sua cole莽茫o mil folhas, em 2003. 脡 um livro muito engra莽ado! O detetive Montalbano investiga o desaparecimento do burl茫o Emanuel Gargano, que levou com ele uma grande quantidade de dinheiro pertencente aos seus clientes. De uma forma bem disposta e descontra铆da acaba por deslindar o mist茅rio que acaba por ter um final bem inesperado!
Montalbano pursues a case which is not really his, although Aguello in his team has played a supporting role - a financier and one of his staff are both missing after a major scam is uncovered. Montalbano's unique style of well-fed investigation gets him to discover a startling and personally emotional ending. I really enjoy these books set in a fictional Sicilian town.
continuing to deliver the inspector montalbano brand essence which is: - constant, horny thoughts about seafood - answering the question "what if Elmore Leonard was weirder and italian and slightly more literary"
this one gets wild when montalbano's beloved, possibly clairvoyant olive tree gets chopped down by a guy building a condo ("new construction" is a glorious b-plot antagonist emerging in the last few of these). (also montalbano commits legit and hilarious property crimes to secure vengeance for his tree) anyway the condo builder turns out to tie into this emerging plot about a bernie madoff type swindler, and then you can pretty much run the tape of the shtick from there. some unfortunate and backwards-looking ideas about women get thrown around but it's not like camelleri paints the male characters as less flawed and captive to bad ideas. this was written by like an 80 year old guy 20 some years ago. there is also curveball where the denouement involves montalbano hallucinating that he is living inside the william faulkner short story "a rose for emily"
all of these get 4 stars because they are wonderful and brainy but also dumb when needed and blessedly short
A threat to an employee of an "investment" company gets Montalbano and his crew involved. From there, they start to make progress on the disappearance of the head of the company when the Commissioner's new pecking order comes into play, and they have to pass the case on to another department. It's a mistake.
Montalbano does what he does....they investigate on the down low and then throw some hints to the official investigators.
Then he makes a connection, as he is wont to do, and his hunch pays off. Again, he gets the ball rolling before handing it off to the official guys, who never would have figured it out.
In the middle, there is back and forth with Livia, Montalbano's excellent meals, and a little drama within his team.
I know there are a finite number of these books, but I am savoring life in Vig谩ta, Montelusa and Marinello ~ I love a book that is so engaging and characters who make me laugh out loud.
Dopo aver letto qualche titolo pi霉 recente che non mi era piaciuto granch茅, ritorno con piacere ad uno dei primissimi romanzi della serie di Montalbano e la differenza si sente. I protagonisti sono sempre loro - Montalbano, Augello, Fazio, Catarella nei loro ruoli che ben conoscono gli appassionati della serie - ma questa volta il giallo 猫 ambientato nel mondo della finanza, con l'immancabile truffa destinata a finire male e l'ombra del delitto che aleggia dietro la duplice sparizione del truffatore e del suo braccio destro. Quel che sorprende, per貌, 猫 la particolarit脿 dell'epilogo, che onestamente non mi aspettavo.... Voto: 4 ****
Finished this afternoon. Enjoyable story of financial crime. Based in part on 's .
Plus, Maldonado goes off the deep end a couple of times. Maybe he was having mid-life crises. Not sure when it takes place but Camilleri makes it clear that he is my age.
Pues un poco de batiburrillo y confusi贸n, un poco de humor (no mucho, en este no aparece casi Catarella, que es el m谩s gracioso), y como no una muchacha jovencita y macizorra que por supuesto se le insin煤a a Montalbano, as铆 se puede resumir este libro, y me parece que toda la serie.
Started out slow and confusing, but turned around to be a really interesting mystery. I did not catch the reference to the prior work the author references, but when I heard it in the endnote I knew the reference.
No es la primera novela que leo de Andrea Camilleri, y probablemente no ser谩 la 煤ltima, lo que s铆 es seguro es que no es la mejor. No ha conseguido engancharme, y mira que es complicado no engancharme a m铆 con una novela policiaca. Eso s铆, su estilo caracter铆stico impecable.