Declare Based On Books That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana
| Title | : | That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana |
| Author | : | Carlo Emilio Gadda |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | NYRB Classics |
| Pages | : | Pages: 388 pages |
| Published | : | February 27th 2007 by NYRB Classics (first published June 1957) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Cultural. Italy. European Literature. Italian Literature. Classics. Mystery |
Carlo Emilio Gadda
Paperback | Pages: 388 pages Rating: 3.65 | 2143 Users | 192 Reviews
Ilustration During Books That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana
In a large apartment house in the center of Rome, two crimes are committed within a matter of days: a burglary, in which a good deal of money and precious jewels are taken, and a murder, as a young woman whose husband is out of town is found with her throat cut. Called in to investigate, melancholy Detective Ciccio, a secret admirer of the murdered woman and a friend of her husband’s, discovers that almost everyone in the apartment building is somehow involved in the case, and with each new development the mystery only deepens and broadens. Gadda’s sublimely different detective story presents a scathing picture of fascist Italy while tracking the elusiveness of the truth, the impossibility of proof, and the infinite complexity of the workings of fate, showing how they come into conflict with the demands of justice and love.Italo Calvino, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Alberto Moravia all considered That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana to be the great modern Italian novel. Unquestionably, it is a work of universal significance and protean genius: a rich social novel, a comic opera, an act of political resistance, a blazing feat of baroque wordplay, and a haunting story of life and death in the Eternal City.
Present Books In Favor Of That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana
| Original Title: | Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana |
| ISBN: | 1590172221 (ISBN13: 9781590172223) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Detective don Ciccio Ingravallo |
| Setting: | Rome(Italy) |
Rating Based On Books That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana
Ratings: 3.65 From 2143 Users | 192 ReviewsWeigh Up Based On Books That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana
I wanted so badly to like this book. Calvino was a huge fan, and the idea of a detective story that gets progressively more and more complex sounds fascinating. However the tile is apropos-- so much of the book is just an awful mess. An awful mess, albeit, with long passages of gorgeous description that would function well as stand-alone pieces, but completely shambling and incoherent as a novel. I'm going to give Gadda the benefit and guess that a lot of this was lost in translation, but this
2.5 rounded up.There is a central idea in That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana, stated at the beginning, that there is no single cause for every effect; that every action is the result of thousands of choices and conditions that came before it. So, when police detective Francesco Ingravallo is assigned the investigation of a burglary and a murder, Gadda uses this opportunity to investigate all of Italy, in the idea that you cannot separate the act from the myriad details surrounding if, even if
In theory, this book is fascinating, a murder mystery written without a conclusion because the conclusion is irrelevant. In practice, the story is a collection of distracted ramblings, difficult to follow and without driving tension or purpose. Gadda prides himself on his elevated language, elaborate metaphors, and obscure allusions, much of which disappears in this translated text. I can sense the underlying satire, but understanding the nuance is beyond me, requiring an in-depth comprehension
While investigating a robbery & murder (of a woman he had long admired) at an apartment building on Via Merulana, Detective Don Ciccio finds that nothing is clear-cut, and that the full story of what happened becomes more and more complicated the further he goes in.This book is like reading a more masterful version of Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep," but as a satirical Roman novel set during the fascist period. You're never totally sure what is going on with the murder mystery, characters
That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana demonstrates two distinguished peculiarities dark sarcasm of the author and the extremely extravagant language of narration. And in general the novel may be considered as an antithesis to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.This is a portrait of the investigator:And then he used to say, but this a bit wearily, you're sure to find skirts where you don't want to find them. A belated Italian revision of the trite cherchez la femme. And then he seemed to repent, as
We are introduced to Don Ciccio in the opening sentence. His real name is Officer Francesco Ingravallo, a homicide detective in 1927 Rome. So we know immediately that someone will be murdered anon and that Don Ciccio will be tasked with solving the crime. But this will not be classic noir and Don Ciccio would not be recognized by readers of P.D. James, nor by viewers of The Pink Panther. He is neither buffoon nor super-sleuth. Though young as detectives go, and envied, he mostly seems tired. He
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