I have lived in an English speaking country for the last 10 years, so sometimes I find myself missing my own language, in need every now and then to pick up a book in Italian by an Italian author.
Andrea Camilleri and the Montalbano series had been on my radar for quite sometimes, but I always felt overwhelmed by the number of novels out there. Being the obsessive/compulsive I am, I could not stand just picking one up, I had to start from the “beginning”, which I finally found on my last trip to Italy with La prima indagine di Mondalbano (The first case of Montalbano).
I got totally hooked despite the peculiarity of the language used, a mix of Italian and the Sicilian dialect, which bothered me at first, but soon won me over, so much that I wish I could use some of those expressions in my everyday life!
And the plots are wonderful, pure investigative stories set in a small town on the Sicilian Southwest coast, elaborate enough to keep you reading, but completely realistic. Camilleri is really our own modern Agatha Christie if you want.
As I said, I’m hooked: I just bought (from Amazon.it mind you) Storie di Montalbano (Stories of Montalbano), which collects the first six novels Camilleri wrote and a number of shorter stories.
I just started it, and at the first sign of Montalbano’s signature grumpy/pissed off mood I was already smiling. I just love Montalbano!
Most of the novels have been translated in English (you can find a list on Wikipedia) and I am really curious to know how the mixed language was translated, so, if you are short of ideas for a good book, pick one up (you really don’t need to start from the beginning) and let me know!
My subway reading choice (Storie di Montalbano is just too heavy to carry around) is Over-dressed, by Elizabeth L. Cline, a book I am also really liking.
B. picked this one up for me, and considering that the subtitle reads “The shockingly high cost of cheap fashion”, I wasn’t sure whether he was trying to send me a subtle message and what that message was - yes he does think I overdress a lot of the time, but does he think I like cheap fashion? Does he think I should buy more expensive stuff?
It turns out he just thought I might be interested in reading it. Go figure!
In a nutshell, the book tackles how consumers’ perceptions of good quality/fair priced clothing has changed over the last few decades, and what that has done to our economy and environment.
It does not say go buy a Chanel bag instead (although I almost wish it did), but rather also questions the reasons of the incredibly high tags on luxury goods. I don’t know the answers yet as I just got there, but I have an idea or two. In any case, I can’t wait to find out more.
Fascinating and really informative, it’s a good read even if you are not in/from the USA.
Let me know if you decide to go for any of these books - would love to know how you liked them.
xx
C
