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The Day of the Owl and Equal Danger
This short novel about the mafia is also a mesmerizing demonstration of how that organization sustains itself. It is both a beautifully written story and a brave act of denunciation. A dark-suited man is shot as he runs for a bus in the piazza of a small town. The investigating officer is a man who believes in the values of a democratic and modern society, and soon finds himself up against a wall of silence and vested interests. The narrative moves on two levels: that of the investigator, who reveals a chain of nasty crimes; and that of the bystanders and watchers, of those complicit with secret power, whose gossipy furtive conversations have only one end: to stop the truth coming out.
241 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 29, 2019
I first learned of this author from my Italian Culture and Society class. The stunning opening pages from "The Day of the Owl" were included in the criminal organizations section of my textbook and I was left wanting to read more. Indeed, I had fully intended to complete this book before my vacation in Sicily last month, but, alas, it was not to be. It has been almost 4-weeks since my return from that beautiful island, which feasted both my eyes and my stomach!
On to the book. This is no cosy mystery. In fact, it is quite sophisticated and takes some effort to follow with some necessary reading between the lines and perhaps some research into the history of Sicily and the Mafia. It is both literary and political and engages the brain cells, while also providing some wit and humor. Kudos to the translator, as I read this in English and not the original Italian and it is really very good. An excerpt: "Captain Bellodi had reached that point of exhaustion and sleeplessness which produces a series of incandescent fantasies: hunger does the same; at a certain intensity it fades into a kind of lucid starvation which rejects any idea of food."
On to the book. This is no cosy mystery. In fact, it is quite sophisticated and takes some effort to follow with some necessary reading between the lines and perhaps some research into the history of Sicily and the Mafia. It is both literary and political and engages the brain cells, while also providing some wit and humor. Kudos to the translator, as I read this in English and not the original Italian and it is really very good. An excerpt: "Captain Bellodi had reached that point of exhaustion and sleeplessness which produces a series of incandescent fantasies: hunger does the same; at a certain intensity it fades into a kind of lucid starvation which rejects any idea of food."
July 18, 2017
Sicily is a unique place, historically, geographically, and socially. Those three aspects have intertwined to give the world some of the most horrible (mafia) and wonderful (cuisine) things. It has also given us some very good writers over the years, Leonardo Sciascia being one of them.
What he writes about in these two novellas is a state of mind, a culture, that is Sicilian. Nothing is as it seems, and the honest man is at a disadvantage not necessarily because he is honest or principled, but because no-one else can believe that he can be honest and principled.
In both these novellas, the main protagonist is a detective who is investigating multiple murders, and in both stories the detective is the only person involved who is disinterestedly searching for the truth of the matter.
What Sciascia lays bare in both books is the workings of the mafia system, which pervades all layers of society, including the pillars of the law. Both the mafia and the judicial system have their own mores, and those that don't fit in are excluded, via exile or the dreaded lupara. Bellodi, the police captain investigating the murder of a businessman in The day of the owl, causes much consternation because he doesn't follow the "script" - the police want the easy way out and a quick conviction, regardless of the facts, and those politicians in Rome that help the mafia become more and more concerned as Bellodi's investigation begins to get too close to home. As the story unfolds we see that Bellodi has cleverly got to the truth, but, being a "mainlander" and not well-versed in the ways of Sicily, we see his work fall apart through the machinations of those higher than him, and the story ends with him back in Parma as his case dies, yet he is determined to return to the island "Even if it's the end of me.".
In Equal danger Inspector Rogas has a very illuminating discussion with the President of the Supreme Court, where the President espouses the view that judges can by definition never be wrong: like priests delivering communion no matter how flawed, the fact that justice has been dispensed makes it right. This, well into a story where state powers are doing everything to move the investigation of the murders of several lawyers and judges in the direction that they want it to take to fulfill their pre-arranged narrative.
"But Rogas had principles, in a country where almost no one did." Those principles lead Rogas to investigate these crimes based on the facts, rather than pre-suppositions. What the reader sees in Equal danger is how power can subsume those with principles, and eventually drive them mad.
So these are "detective novels" with a difference. The social comment is severe, yet ironic and elusive, two factors heightened by the cryptic author's notes at the end of each work. It is the language - even in translation - that is the highlight of Sciascia's writing: his desriptions of the sere, bare landscape and people, the allusive language of hint, metaphor and suggestion, all add to the sense of foreboding and inevitable failure that hangs over the protagonists of these stories.
Sciascia has an excellent reputation, and reading these it's easy to see why.
Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/
What he writes about in these two novellas is a state of mind, a culture, that is Sicilian. Nothing is as it seems, and the honest man is at a disadvantage not necessarily because he is honest or principled, but because no-one else can believe that he can be honest and principled.
In both these novellas, the main protagonist is a detective who is investigating multiple murders, and in both stories the detective is the only person involved who is disinterestedly searching for the truth of the matter.
What Sciascia lays bare in both books is the workings of the mafia system, which pervades all layers of society, including the pillars of the law. Both the mafia and the judicial system have their own mores, and those that don't fit in are excluded, via exile or the dreaded lupara. Bellodi, the police captain investigating the murder of a businessman in The day of the owl, causes much consternation because he doesn't follow the "script" - the police want the easy way out and a quick conviction, regardless of the facts, and those politicians in Rome that help the mafia become more and more concerned as Bellodi's investigation begins to get too close to home. As the story unfolds we see that Bellodi has cleverly got to the truth, but, being a "mainlander" and not well-versed in the ways of Sicily, we see his work fall apart through the machinations of those higher than him, and the story ends with him back in Parma as his case dies, yet he is determined to return to the island "Even if it's the end of me.".
In Equal danger Inspector Rogas has a very illuminating discussion with the President of the Supreme Court, where the President espouses the view that judges can by definition never be wrong: like priests delivering communion no matter how flawed, the fact that justice has been dispensed makes it right. This, well into a story where state powers are doing everything to move the investigation of the murders of several lawyers and judges in the direction that they want it to take to fulfill their pre-arranged narrative.
"But Rogas had principles, in a country where almost no one did." Those principles lead Rogas to investigate these crimes based on the facts, rather than pre-suppositions. What the reader sees in Equal danger is how power can subsume those with principles, and eventually drive them mad.
So these are "detective novels" with a difference. The social comment is severe, yet ironic and elusive, two factors heightened by the cryptic author's notes at the end of each work. It is the language - even in translation - that is the highlight of Sciascia's writing: his desriptions of the sere, bare landscape and people, the allusive language of hint, metaphor and suggestion, all add to the sense of foreboding and inevitable failure that hangs over the protagonists of these stories.
Sciascia has an excellent reputation, and reading these it's easy to see why.
Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/
October 23, 2023
for my mafia class. didn’t really make much sense because it was translated from italian to english so the flow of the writing was also tough. the historical context was there, but barely. we’re the longest 70 pages of my life.
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January 3, 2025Made my way to Leonardo Sciascia through various writers; he's considered one of the great Sicilian novelists. In this novella, he explores the risks of taking on the Mafia. A policeman from Rome (?) comes to Sicily to investigate a murder that leads to the Mafia and to corrupt politicians in Rome. Instead of giving up, he decides to continue investigating the case, regardless of the danger he faces.
Something of a precursor to the courageous Palermo judges Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone who did take on the Mafia, successfully, in the Maxi Trials--and paid with their lives.
Something of a precursor to the courageous Palermo judges Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone who did take on the Mafia, successfully, in the Maxi Trials--and paid with their lives.
February 26, 2024
I just couldn’t get into the plot—the story begins with a murder—clearly the Mafia hired a hitman for the job because the victim had refused to pay the Mafia to “protect” his business. The following chapters are about the machinations of the carabinieri to convict the killer. Although it’s accepted who the murderer is, politics ( the murderer had been photographed with a high-ranking government official) and Mafia influence will de-rail the conviction.
February 16, 2026
Two novellas, written ten years apart.
The Day of the Owl
Stylised (partly because of the translation?) and amusing detective story set in Sicily with a great protagonist. Starts fairly conventionally and gets stranger and darker. No owls are involved (the title refers to a line from Henry VI Part III).
Equal Danger
An investigation of multiple, possibly related crimes that starts with the usual clues then turns political and philosophical. Another interesting central character.
The Day of the Owl
Stylised (partly because of the translation?) and amusing detective story set in Sicily with a great protagonist. Starts fairly conventionally and gets stranger and darker. No owls are involved (the title refers to a line from Henry VI Part III).
Equal Danger
An investigation of multiple, possibly related crimes that starts with the usual clues then turns political and philosophical. Another interesting central character.
December 23, 2024
good book good mystery but im too much of a brainlet to get it
March 27, 2025
Brilliant as usual (and short, btw !)
March 6, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews