It is an often expressed opinion that overtly political novels become dated very quickly; in fact I read just that the other day in relation to Midnight in the Century by Victor Serge. Things change, is, I think, the general idea. Yet, while there may be some aspects of political fiction that, if you were not around at the time, or you’re not an expert on the subject, will be confusing or seem alien to your experience of the world, I do not accept that this means that it is unable to resonate with you. Yes, things do change, but one thing that doesn’t change is humanity. As far as I am concerned, behind all political systems, ideologies, and conflicts are pretty basic, universal, human motivations, such as greed and a desire for power. So, for me, political novels, or the good ones anyway, which would include the work of Leonardo Sciascia, are as much a study of humanity as anything else.Sciascia’s Il giorno della civetta, or in English The Day of the Owl, is a short literary crime novel that deals with multiple murders in Sicily, Italy. It starts, quite literally, with a bang, as Salvatore Colasberna, the owner of a small construction company, is gunned down while running for a bus. The first hint that things are not going to be easy for those charged with investigating the crime is when the passengers on the bus flee before the Carabinieri [Italy’s national military police] arrive, and the conductor and driver play dumb when questioned. Something has them spooked. That something becomes clear [if it isn’t already] when the weapon used in the murder turns out to be a lupara, or sawed-off shotgun, the kind traditionally used by Mafia hitmen.What is strange about Sciascia’s novel is that the point at which all the tension goes out of the work is when it becomes most compelling. What I mean by this is that you know, especially if you have read any of his other novels, that as soon as the Mafia are fingered [or at least suspected] as the perpetrators of the crime that they will not be punished for it, that people will be paid off or things will be covered up. In an ordinary crime thriller the mystery, the clues, the pursuit, and expectation of the eventual reward of seeing the bad guys getting their comeuppance, are the things that pull you along; the reader is essentially manipulated in order to create excitement. However, The Day of the Owl pretty much dispenses with all that; as a mystery, as a thriller, it is a total anti-climax. The Mafia will not be brought to justice, because, well, it’s the Mafia, and they are more powerful than the Carabinieri.In the absence of traditional crime-thriller dynamics, what The Day of the Owl becomes is a book about futility. Bellodi, the investigating captain, is either naïve or an idealist. He thinks that the people responsible for a crime ought to be punished for it; and he isn’t afraid to arrest and interrogate members of the Mafia. The flaw in this admirable approach is that most people refuse to acknowledge that the organisation even exists. Indeed, throughout the novel it is described as the so-called Mafia; the native Sicilians, either due to a fear of reprisals or because of wanting to protect their own financial interests, consider the Mafia to be akin to the loch ness monster; it is a myth, a legend, and even a borderline racist slur. I found all this stuff fascinating. How can you challenge something that does not exist? That is Bellodi’s biggest dilemma.In this way, The Day of the Owl, like 1984 and many great Russian novels, explores the nature of reality and truth; it shows how one’s understanding, one’s experience, of those two things – reality and truth – are not as concrete as many people believe. If you have read my other reviews you will know that this is something that plays on my mind quite a lot. As far as I am concerned there is no reality, or no concrete, unchangeable, unchallengeable reality, merely perception and interpretation; what you are told, what you are allowed to see, that is your reality. Furthermore, not only are many of the characters in Sciascia’s novel keen to disparage the idea that there is such a thing as the Mafia, they are equally keen, in an act of misdirection, to blame the murders, and in fact nearly all murders, on affairs of the heart. Indeed, Bellodi is criticised, at the end of the novel, for ignoring this possibility and instead going in search of a mythical bogey-man. The key point is, of course, that the murders are not affairs of the heart; but if the police, politicians, and the media push that interpretation then that is, in a sense, what they become. It may not be exactly the same thing, but this put me in mind of recent articles about manipulation of statistics in this country, about how a crime is only a crime, or only a certain kind of crime, if the police actually decide that it is.In terms of Sciascia’s style, it is mostly tough and straightforward, but does also have lyrical moments. It is not, however, in any way similar to the classic hardboiled noir of Chandler or Hammett, or even Simenon, but that, for me, makes a refreshing change. Also unlike the work of those more famous authors, there is no charismatic central character; in fact, there really isn’t any great character depth or development at all, to the point that I was sometimes confused as to who was speaking, as everyone is essentially interchangeable. This is, of course, more of a problem, but not every writer is Tolstoy, and, besides, I think the Italian would have himself admitted that character wasn’t really his concern. He wanted to highlight what he saw as the problems facing Sicily, and Italy as a whole, with corruption and violence and avarice, things that, as I pointed out in my introduction, are by no means particular to a certain time or place. In this way, Sciascia’s small, potent anti-thrillers are the cold showers that are sometimes needed in order to wake you up not only to what has happened in the past, but what is still happening right now.
Dawn in a city square, a man in a dark suit is just about to jump on the running-board of a bus when two earsplitting shots ring out. The man slumps down, shot dead. So begins this masterfully crafted tale of murder and the world of mafia crime in 1950s Sicily by Italian novelist, Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989). The author was born and raised in Sicily and loved Sicily. After publishing several works on the history and politics of Sicily, Sciascia entered the world of crime – as a writer of crime fiction, that is. ‘The Day of the Owl’ features an outsider from the North, one Captain Bellodi, member of the carabinieri, Italy’s national military police responsible for both civilians and military. Perhaps to be expected, our detective-hero Captain has an uphill battle both in solving the case and making the charges stick, since, after all, he is in the homeland of the Sicilian mafia. Anyway, as the entire population appears to live by the code of conduct outlined in Machiavelli’s 'The Prince', I will cite quotes from this classic text to highlight events in Sciascia's novel. “For, in truth, there is no sure way of holding other than by destroying.”Back at the station, in conversation with Giuseppe Colasberna and others Colasberna brothers of the now shot dead Salvatore Colasberna, Captain Bellodi outlines the possibility that if nine out of ten contractors are willing to pay for protection and the inside track on winning the best jobs, doesn’t that make the one contractor unwilling to pay for such protection something of a black sheep, a challenge and a bad example that must be brought into the fold or wiped out? All the Colasberna brothers firmly deny knowing anything about what he is talking about. Thus, the good Captain is given a taste of the mafia’s power in Sicily – even if your very own brother is shot, you will keep your mouth shut. “Men will not look at things as they really are, but as they wish them to be—and are ruined.”The Captain asks the passengers who were on the bus what they saw that morning when a man was shot. They all say the windows were so steamy they looked like frosted glass. The driver tells him all his attention was focused straight ahead as he was driving. The conductor was looking down, taking tickets. The Captain asks the fritter-seller who was no more than ten yards away from the shooting. His reply, “Has there been a shooting?”“Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves.”The sly, slick, slippery, ever dangerous, ever threatening ex-convict Calogero Dibella is a collector for the mafia and an informer for the police, a man who must use his wits on the razor's edge to survive day to day. He keeps telling people who owe him money (in a joking way, of course) that he left his jacket at prison and if he has to kill someone he could finally go back to prison and fetch it. “There is nothing more important than appearing to be religious.”Here is a quote from a high-ranking politician, Honorable Member Livigni, who is continually seen meeting with members of the mafia: "I am accused of being associated with members of the mafia and so with the mafia itself. But I assure you that I have never yet been able to find out what the mafia is or even if it exists. I give you my word with the clear conscious of a good Catholic and a citizen, that I have never met one member of the mafia."“Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.”Ah, deception! Turnabout is fair play. One of the high points in the novel is when the crafty Calogero Dibella slips and lets drop a name that turns out to be just what our detective-Captain needs. He and two other carabinieri devise a masterful plan to trap the criminals into confessing. I reread this section several times; it's that juicy. “He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command”Toward the end of the novel, Captain Bellodi interviews mafia chief Don Mariano. Words are exchanged; mutual respect is acknowledged. Machiavelli’s quote fits each man like a finely made Italian glove. I wouldn’t want to say anything more specific to spoil such a well-crafted detective novel, so I will end by noting how the title, ‘The Day of the Owl’ is taken from Henry IV, Part 3, as in how an owl is placid by day but a most effective hunter and predator by night. Will night ever come to Sicily for Captain Bellodi, this owl of the day? Again, Machiavelli: “It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things.”This NYRB classic is only 120 pages of large font and can be read in a day or two. And what a read – highly recommended.
Do You like book The Day Of The Owl (2003)?
Sono passati 52 anni, niente è cambiato, compreso il fatto che qualcuno, agli alti livelli della politica, cerchi di dire che la mafia non esiste.Ci sono stati morti, umili ed eccelletnti, c'è stata una commissione parlamentare, ci sono condanne definitive che non hanno tolto i politici condannati dal loro posto, ma l'intreccio tra affari e mafia si è sempre più rinsaldato, e i corretti metodi di indagine sono ancora quelli suggeriti da Sciascia, e ancora non messi in opera, sebbene ce ne si riempia la bocca.E intanto i quaraquaquà proliferano.Libro importantissimo per capire la nostra nazione, e opera letteraria di alto livello.
—Maria Grazia
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.
—Cphe
Un grande Sciascia, oserei dire "come al solito". Il suo stile mozzafiato senza (o con scarse) pause ci fionda in una storia di ordinaria mafia, Sicilia e della lotta di stiletto e finezze tra un "uomo" vero, rispettato persino dal capo mafioso che cerca di incastrare, e quest'ultimo, anzi contro l'intero "sistema" di omertà e connivenze. Il breve monologo sui 5 tipi di uomini (uomini, mezzi uomini, ominicchi, ruffiani e quaquaraqua; cosi' come ripreso nel celebre film con Franco Nero https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eLsT...) è un capolavoro di sintesi di una visione del mondo di un capo superbo e pieno del suo potere oscuro. Uno spaccato di società e vita in una regione difficile, dove lo stato sopravvive grazie al coraggio di pochi "uomini" veri che guadagnano il rispetto a prezzo spesso della loro vita. Un libro che non puo' mancare nelle vostre letture e che vi lascerà molta rabbia per come vanno le cose. Ed è bene, perché da questa rabbia deve nascere la reazione contro il sistema.
—Fabio
