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Leonardo Sciascia
"In this, the first critical study of Sciascia to appear in English since his death, Joseph Farrell examines the various aspects of his work as novelist, critic, essayist, journalist and acerbic political observer to show how the historical and cultural complexities of Sicily shaped his wider vision of life." "A tenacious opponent of the Mafia, Sciascia recreated the detective story both to give voice to his opposition and to continue his own quest for an order founded on the values the Mafia contradicts - justice, truth and reason. His output falls into two categories, works of historical and contemporary fiction, and 'essay-investigations' which delve into mysteries from his own time and from the past. Sciascia always confronted the central political and moral issues of the day, and with most of his work now available in translation, this is a timely study of an important and influential Italian writer."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Leonardo Sciascia. The Man and the Writer
Restlessness of imagination and intellect in a writer can damage his standing with critics, but Sciascia's insatiable curiosity, keen intellect, detestation of injustice wherever perpetrated have made him a writer who could not be restricted to any one genre. His reputation has been enhanced by his versatility, guaranteeing his place among the great writers of the twentieth century. He remains best known, especially outside Italy, as novelist and author of idiosyncratic detective stories which seek to discover not only 'whodunnit' but why the crime was committed, who profits by it, and what is the nature of collusion between low-level criminals and seemingly respectable figures in society. H...
To Each His Own
This is a short, powerful novel dealing with the complicities and accomodations of power within Italian politics.
A Simple Story
The author's final detective story. In a small Sicilian village, a young and inexperienced policeman receives a strange phone call from a retired diplomat. On investigating the matter, he finds the diplomat dead. What at first appears to be a simple case of suicide turns into an intricate tale of corruption that involves the Mafia, the head of police, and the entire Sicilian establishment. In Candido, inspired by Voltaire's Candide, a naive young man makes his way in the world.
Leonardo Sciascia's French Authors
Sciascia frequently alludes to French authors, and is often taken to have a close relationship with French literature in general. However, academic critics have never given this important relationship comprehensive and detailed examination. This book focuses on the most relevant French writers. For the majority, attention falls on two complementary areas: the opinions that Sciascia expresses about the writer in his essays; and intertextual allusions to the writer in Sciascia's fiction. These allusions often shift the meaning of the host text or markedly increase its impact. This book works on the assumption that, in order to analyse these effects fully, a careful reading of the relevant French texts is needed. This exploration leads to a reappraisal of Sciascia's relations both with particular French authors and also with French literature generally.
The Novel as Investigation
Detective fiction is a universally popular genre; stories about the investigation of a crime by a detective are published all over the world and in hundreds of languages. Detective fiction provides more than entertainment, however; it often has a great deal to say about crime and punishment, justice and injustice, testimony and judgment. The Novel as Investigation examines a group of detective novels by three important Italian writers - Leonardo Sciascia, Dacia Maraini, and Antonio Tabucchi - whose conviction about the ethical responsibility of the writer manifests itself in their investigative fiction. Jo-Ann Cannon explores each writer's denunciation of societal ills in two complementary t...
The Wine-Dark Sea
Here are some of Sciascia's greatest stories - brief and haunting, the realist tradition at its best. In one tale a couple of men talk, cynically yet earnestly, about the etymology of the word 'mafia' - who they are, and why their interest is so piqued by the word, becomes apparent with frightening clarity. In another story a group of peasants are taken on board ship and promised that they will be put ashore illegally at Trenton, New Jersey; after a long time at sea, their landfall is far from what they expected. And Mussolini himself takes an interest in the case of Aleister Crowley, whose presence in Sicily has become an embarrassment.
The Day Of The Owl
In the piazza, a man lies dead. No one will say if they witnessed his killing. This presents a challenge to the investigating officer, a man who earnestly believes in the values of a democratic and modern society. Indeed, his enquiries are soon blocked off by a wall of silence and vested interests; he must work against the community to save it and expose the truth.The narrative moves on two levels: that of the investigator, who reveals a chain of savage 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. This novel about the Mafia is also a mesmerizing demonstration of how that organization sustains itself. It is both a beautifully, tautly written story and a brave act of denunciation.
Sicilian Uncles
The expression 'Sicilian uncle' has the same sense in Italian as 'Dutch uncle' does in English, but with sinister overtones of betrayal and inconstancy. The four novellas in Sicilian Uncles, originally published in 1958, are political thrillers of a kind - the first fruits of Sciascia's maturity. In these stories, illusions about ideology and history are lost in mirth, suffering and abandoned innocence. Each novella has its historical moment: the Allied invasion of Sicily, the Spanish Civil War, the death of Stalin, the 'events' of 1848. These occasions and their consequences are registered in the lives of Sciascia's wonderfully drawn characters. Each has voice, wit and a private history which opens out onto the wider circumstances of his time.
