23 January 2009

Andrea Camilleri appreciation at Picador

The Picador blog has been running a short series about the novels of Andrea Camilleri this month, to celebrate the recent paperback publication in the UK of The Paper Moon, the ninth in the author's Inspector Montalbano series.

In the first post, Size does matter, Sue Magee asks why she so often reaches for a Camilleri novel when she wants to read for pleasure - what does Montalbano have that other fictional detectives lack?

Second up is the world-renowned Italian crime-fiction and historical expert, Norman Price, on Appreciating Camilleri. Erudition, a sense of place, cookery, plot, characterisation - Norman believes that "it is the charm and wit of Salvo Montalbano, the liccu cannartu, that are the enduring reasons for reading these books."

Today it is my turn, with a review of The Paper Moon, which among other remarks, I call "a satisfying detective story in the Sherlock Holmes tradition, with the complex interplay of the Italian political culture and Sicilian organized crime providing an edgy, sharp focus."

But the tour de force will be on Monday, when the translator of these novels, the poet Stephen Sartarelli, will write a post about his work. The expert translations, with their fascinating glossaries, contribute enormously to the brilliance of these novels. I can't wait, and I urge you to check out the Picador blog on Monday to read the inside story of the delights and challenges of translating the books.

A bibliography and links to reviews of Camilleri's other books, including Michelle Peckham's very good take on The Paper Moon, can be found at Euro Crime.

23 Jan 2009 19:30:59 | Books

2 Comments

Elaine

I was very slow to appreciate the Camilleri books but now I am totally hooked and simply love them. Along with Guido brunetti in the Donne Leon crime novels, I am in heaven when I read them and over the last month have read 3 or 4 by each author and as soon as I finish one I have to grab another.
I am, as usual, going to run out pretty soon...

Posted by: Elaine | 29 January 2009 at 20:06

Maxine

Thanks for popping by, Elaine - and nice "icon"!
I think when you have finished you might like Gianrico Carofiglio - see http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/books/books_by_gianrico_carofiglio.html.

Posted by: Maxine | 29 January 2009 at 20:53

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