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The Day of the Owl New York Review Books Classics Leonardo Sciascia Archibald Colquhoun Anthony Oliver George Scialabba 9781590170618 Books

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The Day of the Owl New York Review Books Classics Leonardo Sciascia Archibald Colquhoun Anthony Oliver George Scialabba 9781590170618 Books

Arguably the first mafia novel "The Day of the Owl" examines silence, complicity and the impossible task of freeing people who won't speak out.
The story starts with a murder, a man is gunned down in front of a bus full of passengers in the town square with dozens of witnesses....and no-one saw a thing. Then follows the investigation where a northern police officer attempts to break through the silence with mixed results.
The author was a Sicilian himself and his insights into the mentality of the local people are what make this book a classic. He talks about the local peasants who remember the fascist era with fondness because Mussolini was the only man to break the mafia at least for a while. He portrays a fascinating conversation between elderly mafia gentlemen who philosophise that "the whole world are cuckolds" and consider themselves superior to their peasant neighbours. These little snapshots really made this book for me.
This novel works both as a crime thriller, as anthropology and as high literature.
Highly recommended.


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The Day of the Owl New York Review Books Classics Leonardo Sciascia Archibald Colquhoun Anthony Oliver George Scialabba 9781590170618 Books Reviews

Sciascia, born in Sicily, was trained as a teacher, became a deputy in the national assembly and, later, a member of the European Parliament. In later life he turned to writing, his chosen form being the detective story with a definite noir flavor.

This is the second of Sciascia's books that I've read. The other was "To Each His Own"; comments in this review apply to both. Though I'm not sorry I read the books, I didn't really enjoy them all that much. The recurring theme in all of Sciascia's work is the corrosive influence of the Mafia in Sicilian life, leading to a corruption that infects all of Italian politics, and making a mockery of justice. There are at least six murders between "The Day of the Owl" and "To Each His Own" and they all go unpunished (well, technically I suppose one might have to classify retaliatory murder as a kind of punishment, so that's not strictly true).

The dark view of the world that pervades the books didn't bother me all that much - I suspect it may be a justified reaction to the situation in Sicily at the time (late 1950's, early 1960's). But Sciascia's focus is a little one-note; he lacks the complexity of, say, Patricia Highsmith, whose books inhabit a similarly morally compromised universe, but are considerably more interesting.

I also found the style of "The Day of the Owl" problematic due to a combination of
# clumsy translation ('arid-feeling eyeballs'!)
# Sciascia's habit of abbreviating placenames by initials (people are constantly driving from A. to C., with occasional detours to visit S.),
# untranslated Sicilian vocabulary words scattered throughout the text ( lupara, cosca, parrinieddu, ingiuria, zicchinetta, briscola, bargello, chiarchiaro, barrugieddu each of these can be translated into English, so why weren't they?)
# the author's predilection for overly long paragraphs

Even though the book is only 125 pages long, it took me forever to finish. Sadly, part of the book's opacity may have resulted from Sciascia's fear of reprisal; in a coda to the book, explaining why he had pruned initial drafts severely, he writes
"pruning was ... self-defence against possible reaction by any who might consider themselves more or less directly attacked... One thing is certain, however I was unable to write it with that complete freedom to which every writer is entitled."

An interesting book, but I can't give it a strong recommendation.
It appeals to the tourist to Sicily, with it's pleasing references to prickly pears and Palermo. So it doesn't seem dated because Sicily itself is enticingly dated. It feeds in well to stereotypes of Sicily, which a tourist doesn't see but because of these very stereotypes one almost hopes that there is this undercurrent going on.
One wonders, are these languishing unfinished buildings and highways to nowhere something to do with corruption?
This novel is really a novella, and although the author gives an amusing explanation of it's brevity ( that he spent a year shortening it), I felt that I was short changed. Reading it as an e book meant that I had not foreseen it's skimpiness.
The ending was well done and managed to be satisfyingly unsatisfactory.
Loved the premise of this novel. A man is gunned down on the streets of a small town in Sicily and inexplicably all of the witnesses fall silent. It is up to the newly appointed Bellodi to delve into the murder but he finds himself up against the shadowy and sinister Mafia.

I found this to be a clunky read in parts but that may have been due to the translation. Being a shorter length novel there wasn't a lot of room for characterisation and I also had difficulty at times distinguishing which character was speaking.

On a positive note the ending surprised me. I was sure the novel would end a certain way and appreciated that another was offered.
Leonardo Sciascia allocates immaculate language to lay out a crowning anecdote to interpret and characterize the bizarrely tainted island of Sicily. After thousands of years of invaders the people and creatures there have maintained an everlasting culture. A civilization that is captivating, stunning, mysterious, and horrific - truthfully. Yet a life that most who walk the earth will only imagine. My feelings may concur with Leonardo's Captain Bellodi's after he served the region. After shouting to fellow northerners, "To hell with Sicily! To Hell with it all!" Even if I too run into an honorable man such as Don Mariano, cross a scoundrel like Diego Marchica, or get made a fool of by those who have always been in Sicily; I may return... Even if it is the end of me. Because I lucidly and obscurely love the island of Turiddu, Mimmu, and Ciccio. Many of you would know these three as Salvatore, Dominic, and Francesco, and the island in the sun as part of Italy. However, you too should read, "The Day of the Owl," and see if you can resist going to Sicania and meeting "Jasper."
-Jimmy
Arguably the first mafia novel "The Day of the Owl" examines silence, complicity and the impossible task of freeing people who won't speak out.
The story starts with a murder, a man is gunned down in front of a bus full of passengers in the town square with dozens of witnesses....and no-one saw a thing. Then follows the investigation where a northern police officer attempts to break through the silence with mixed results.
The author was a Sicilian himself and his insights into the mentality of the local people are what make this book a classic. He talks about the local peasants who remember the fascist era with fondness because Mussolini was the only man to break the mafia at least for a while. He portrays a fascinating conversation between elderly mafia gentlemen who philosophise that "the whole world are cuckolds" and consider themselves superior to their peasant neighbours. These little snapshots really made this book for me.
This novel works both as a crime thriller, as anthropology and as high literature.
Highly recommended.