June 2021 Group Read - The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri

[Bill]

This is the group read thread for The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri. Chris will be your moderator. A separate thread is also set up for Spoilerish comments.

Enjoy your reading and discussions.

[CBRetriever]

So far so good

[Richard]

Even better the 2nd time around!

[Chris]

Hi everyone, I will be reading this for the first time as I hope many of you will be also. I nominated this book as I have been wanting to read this series set in Sicily. I spent 3 wonderful years in Sicily from late 1998-Aug 2001.

Andrea Camilleri didn't start writing crime fiction until he was almost 70 and died in Jul 2019 at the age of 93. His MC Commissario Montalbano was named in homage to a favorite author of his- the Spaniard Manuel Vazquez Montalban. His has imbued the character with a couple of Camilleri's own traits- a love of literature, food and cigarettes. He has said that "Eating is one of the greatest pleasures the dead surrender."

Camilleri is known as an author who "smuggles into a detective novel a critical commentary on the times." So this will be an interesting look into the culture and politics of Italy & Sicily as well as enjoying a good crime novel.

[Chris]

I can tell from the early descriptions that the setting is on the south coast of Sicily near Agrigento. Although Camilleri uses a fictional town it is reminiscent of the town of Porto Empedocle, where Camilleri was born. This town has a ferry to take people to the southern most Italian island of Lampedusa, renowned for its beautiful beaches. It's actually closer to the African coast than to Sicily and since the 2000's has been the European port of entry for many refugees from Africa and has been a site much in the news in Italy.

Although I wasn't aware of a place similar to The Pasture, you could pass by "umbrella ladies" on the side of the road all over Sicily during the day. In the states, most of the hookers stroll at night, but there I guess due to afternoon riposo it could be a lucrative time.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished it and enjoyed it quite a bit. No spoilers here of course, but I did very much enjoy the Sicilian setting and the politics, which both play a big role in the story (and in the series overall, I'm guessing).

[Chris]

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "I finished it and enjoyed it quite a bit. No spoilers here of course, but I did very much enjoy the Sicilian setting and the politics, which both play a big role in the story (and in the series ove..."

Yes, you are right R.J., Camilleri's novels are said to have a strong undercurrent of the politics of the times and the pressure of the Italian state from 3 outside sources: The Catholic church, the Mafia & the U.S.

[Chris]

So who else is reading this and what do you think so far?

[Shannon M (Canada)]

The only good thing about this book is that it provides a good picture of Sicily, a part of Italy that seems more like North Africa, with its acceptance of ongoing corruption.

What I hated about this book is that the protagonist, Inspector Salvo Montalbano, is a male chauvinist. All those beautiful women who want to sleep with him. A male fantasy.

The only strong female figure is Signora Luparello and we got only a few glances of her. Ingrid, supposedly Swedish, is another male fantasy, especially for Italians. A promiscuous female who is also so weak that she lets herself be regularly raped. Montalbano, chauvinist that he is, doesn’t even suggest that she remove herself from a household where she is being raped.

Finally, Montalbano solves the mystery but only in his head. There is no proof and thus no true resolution. He is the epitome of male conceitedness, so sure of himself. A true Sicilian male, I guess.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I've just reread this novel and enjoyed it all over again. I like how he slips in some of the social ills as well (health care costs, etc.); that's something he does throughout the series. Camilleri's writing here (in terms of examining politics, corruption and the social workings) reminds me so much of Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall's Beck series. They hadn't planned at all to do fiction, but their own work wasn't selling so they figured that if they wrapped up their concerns in the guise of crime fiction, they'd get the readership they needed to make their points. It worked.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Shannon M wrote: "The only good thing about this book is that it provides a good picture of Sicily, a part of Italy that seems more like North Africa, with its acceptance of ongoing corruption.

What I hated about t..."

my response noted in the spoiler thread.

[jennsquared]

I've finished this and is now on book 3. I agree that some of the dialogue seems out there, but I enjoyed the writing, the inspector's thought process and description of the political climate and environment.

[CBRetriever]

I'm reading the second book and it's pretty good too

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

They're all good really; it isn't until very late in the series that it becomes pretty obvious that Camilleri is starting to wind down, as the stories give you the feeling that he's getting tired. I can't really explain that logically, it's just an impression, and you would have to have read the entire series to that point to understand.

[Chris]

Nancy wrote: They're all good really; it isn't until very late in the series that it becomes pretty obvious that Camilleri is starting to wind down, as the stories give you the feeling that he's getting tired. I can't really explain that logically, it's just an impression, and you would have to have read the entire series to that point to understand.

I read that he wrote his planned last novel to be published after his death. Perhaps any loose strings, relationships etc are resolved?

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

My favorite is August Heat, which I think is #10.

[Richard]

I reviewed the darn thing! Kept me up too late, but how I enjoyed it.

It's here, spoilerless: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So glad I got to revisit it.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Richard wrote: "I reviewed the darn thing! Kept me up too late, but how I enjoyed it.

It's here, spoilerless: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So glad I got to revisit it."

Have you read any of the other Montalbano novels? For me after a while, picking up the next book to read in the series felt like revisiting old friends. The characters really grow on you after a while.

[Bill]

Nancy wrote: "Richard wrote: "I reviewed the darn thing! Kept me up too late, but how I enjoyed it.

It's here, spoilerless: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So glad I got to revisit it."

Have y..."

I'm looking forward to continuing the series. There are others that give the same feel to me, the Commissario Brunetti series, the Bruno series. It'll be nice to get into another series like that.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Bill wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Richard wrote: "I reviewed the darn thing! Kept me up too late, but how I enjoyed it.

It's here, spoilerless: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So glad I got to revisi..."

They're so much fun. I think you'll enjoy them.

[fleurette]

This book really surprised me. I expected a rather light and funny story, meanwhile, the author created a dark story about dirty politics and people caught up in hopeless situations. I think I will read more books in this series.


Here is my spoiler-free review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...