"Via delle Oche": Carlo Lucarelli's historical noir reviewed in Words Without Borders
My review of Via delle Oche, third volume in Carlo Lucarelli's stripped-down, tensed-up De Luca trilogy, appears in Words Without Borders: The Online Magazine for International Literature.
A heads-up: I liked the book a lot.
© Peter Rozovsky 2008
Technorati tags:
Carlo Lucarelli
Italian crime fiction
historical mysteries
© Peter Rozovsky 2008
Technorati tags:
Carlo Lucarelli
Italian crime fiction
historical mysteries
Labels: Carlo Lucarelli, De Luca, historical crime fiction, historical mysteries, newspaper reviews, off-site reviews
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 12:07 AM
8 Comments:
Well written review---but alas, its not my favorite historical period--or geograpic setting. It would appear you were very immpressed with the author's capturing the mood and details of the time---and from your review I can see some of that myself. I think however, I personally will not read the book or the trilogy, as I would find it perhaps to real, too gritty---and as such, not intertaining , which is MY problem, and not meant as an aspersion to the Author .
Thanks for looking in on the review and thanks for the comment. I have no special interest in the period, or at least I did not before I read Lucarelli's novels. Nor was I especially a fan of historical crime fiction, but the books were good enough that they got me interested. I am always especially pleased when I find something I like in a genre or period I had neglected or not been previously fond of.
The books are short, not much more than 100 pages each, so if you do decide to give them a try, you won't waste much time, at least.
Yes, it's a good review - that, combined with the beautiful cover - have made me add the title to my list of 'Wants'.
It will be interesting to read, as while I've read many crime novels set in the 1940s, they have almost all been very traditional British mysteries. This will be a much needed change for me, so thank you!
Here are the covers of Carte Blanche and The Damned Season. If you like one, you ought to like all.
The series gives a sense of its time as no other historical novels I know of do. Perhaps this is because its time is so close to ours. I remember thinking that one might understand a little better after reading one of the first two books why Italy has changed governments so often since World War II. And, yes, the three books are different both from traditional British mysteries set in the 1940s and also from American hard-boiled stories of the time. I hope you like them.
This is precisely the last to finish the trilogy. The first two I liked a lot. I also liked the choice of the past Comisssrio de Luca, comes out of the ordinary.
Have you read the third book yet? Carlo Lucarelli started writing the De Luca books when he was doing research for a thesis in history. I suspect that is why he can create such a strong sense of the historical period he writes about.
No, I have not read, but I have already prepared.
The choice of environment created by Lucarelli I feel great
I will look for Carlo Lucarelli's other books, especially Kind of Blue. And I will say again that if I were a history teacher, I would use the De Luca books in class. They would be a good way to keep the students interested in history.
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