If you have not been introduced to the greatest ever Sicilian crime writer, let me do the honors.
Andrea Camilleri was born in the southern Sicilian coastal town of Porto Empedocle. When he died six months ago at age 93, he was still writing. During his life, he was a screenwriter, stage and film director, and professor film direction. His first novels, published when he was 43 and 45, received little notice.
Then, twelve years later, he wrote a best-seller called La Stagione della Caccia (The Hunting Season), which he followed up with the first of his Commissario Salvo Montalbano mysteries.
After that, according to Camilleri, Montalbano would not leave him alone.
He had to write a Montalbano story every once in a while or Montalbano would hound him until he did. I fully understand this. I don't like to be away from Montalbano for very long myself.
Fortunately for those addicted like me, RAI - the national television company of Italy, has produced a series based on Camilleri's stories, where the Commissario of the fictional town of Vigàta is played by Luca Zinagaretti.
Zingaretti has the acting chops needed to portray the complex Montalbano, giving him both the sense of humor and the relentlessness of Camilleri's creation. I love even the opening credits of the shows - a helicopter ride over my beautiful ancestral part of Sicily.
On TV, the fictional setting, based on Camilleri's native town, is played - largely - by the South Eastern Sicilian city of Ragusa, which I visited on this trip. One of the characters in my WIP goes there, and after writing those scenes from memory, I wanted go back to check out the details. I found myself in the both the historic setting of my story and in Montalbanoland. What fun!.
With the Commissario in the picture:
My shots:
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A wonderful location and a wonderful character! I also greatly enjoy Camilleri's books. Sad that he's gone.
ReplyDeleteWe are in total agreement about that, Michael. The thing I also admire about Camilleri’s books is what I also love about yours, and that is that they deal with the ills of society in a deep and instructive way, by the use of great story telling.
ReplyDeleteThe TV episodes respect that too. Last night I watched my favorite of the series, The Terra-cotta Dog. And loved it.
So sorry to learn that talented writer is gone. He's provided hours of entertainment at our house. A lovely introduction and tribute!
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge Camilleri fan , too! Didn't he write the last Montalbano and keep it in a safe to come out when he passed? Great photos!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jackie. His books blot out everything and take me into Mantalbano’s world. To me tht’s the best thing a book can do.
ReplyDeleteCara, Yes. There is posthumous book. I confess that I have not read it yet. It’s been nice for me to see, here and on Facebook, how many fans Camilleri had had wrong my friends.
ReplyDeleteAnother fan of Montalbano's here, sad about Camilleri's passing. He lived a good and successful life as a writer, had a loving family and health until the age of 93. And he left his readers a treasure trove of adventures about the curmudgeonly detective Montalbano. What better legacy could he have left us?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kathy. His legacy, his example are an inspiration. When I grow up, I want to be like him! You don’t suppose I should take up smoking, do you?.....Just kidding, I did that for a while. I couldn’t go back.
ReplyDeleteOne of the greatest honors of my writing life--aside from knowing you, Sis (of course)--was when one of my novels shared a Marilyn Stasio column with the maestro's "The Age of Doubt." Next time I see you I'll show you the spot where I still pinch myself to remind me it really happened.
ReplyDeleteBro, I am impressed. I was once on a panel with Stasio and my friend Julia Pomeroy. While we were waiting for the audience to file in, the three of us discovered that we all speak Italian, which we proceeded to do to the amazement of the moderator. I wonder if La Stasio reads Camilleri in Italian. I cannot. The cop slang and the use of Sicilian words flummox me.
DeleteHard to imagine you flummoxed in any language!
DeleteI've been wanting to watch the TV show but my Italian is uh nonexistent!I was really sad when Camilleri passed, Montalbano is funny without being a cozy series.
ReplyDeleteThanks for you comment, Gwen. If you get the series in the US or UK, it will come with English subtitles. I must admit, that though my Italian is pretty good, I need them because they sometimes use words from Sicilian dialect (which sadly I never learned), and like all TV detective series, they throw in a lot of cop slang.
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