Thursday, April 7, 2011

Books: THE SHAPE OF WATER by Andrea Camilleri


Title: The shape of water
Author: Andrea Camilleri
Published: 1994 (English Translation: 2002)
Genre: Fiction

The shape of water is one in a series of Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano Mystery books. This was a book club read that I would not have ordinarily chosen. It's a quick, simple read that is humorous throughout - some parts of which I attribute to a loss in translation of initial intended meanings. I also found some parts of the writing somewhat stilted. I most definitely did not enjoy any of the jokes, which I found quite juvenile, even in what is the realm of detective stories - which in their own right are meant to be entertaining.

Inspector Salvo Montalbano is a no-nonsense, efficient (in both speech and action) police inspector who is all business when it comes to dealings both professional and personal. Faced with a probe into the death of a prominent figure in Vigata - which he updates from accidental to homicide, The Shape of Water has a somewhat convoluted plot around the detective's attempt at solving the mystery - which in true detective-style mystery genre concludes with a neat ending.

A light caper, curiously entertaining but I do not seeing myself reading any more of the books from the series. One which comes highly recommended is the Terra-Cotta dog. The Shape of Water did make me curious about some of the artists mentioned -  Renato Guttuso (1911 - 1987); Roberto Melli (1885 - 1958); Antonio Donghi (1897 - 1963); Fausto Pirandello (1889 - 1975); Ugo Attardi (1923 - 2006).

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