The Day of the Owl (1961)

The Day of the Owl is an interesting look on the culture surrounding the presence (or non-presence depending on who's looking) of the mafia. It's also interesting to read about the divide between Italy-Sicily relations. It's worth checking out if you're into novels set in Italy or novels written by Italian authors.

You could read the rest of my review over at my blog: http://www.rulethewaves.net/blog/?p=6439 ( )

In a small town in Sicily,Salvatore Colasberna is shot as he is boarding a bus at 6 in the morning. Like the fritter-seller in the square, the bus passengers all melt into the background, so nobody saw anything when the police arrive to investigate. " 'Why,' asked the fritter-seller, astonished and inquisitive, has there been a shooting?' "

Captain Bellodi, a northerner from Parma assigned to Sicily, a man more thoughtful, educated, and sensitive than his Sicilian colleagues, takes charge of the investigation, which soon includes two more murders, and soon concludes that these murders are not only related but also mafia-related. Of course, nobody else believes there is a mafia; surely they must somehow be crimes of passion. As the novella proceeds, the course of the investigation is interrupted by conversations between unnamed people -- His Excellency, the Minister, and so on. The reader sees the web of complicity, even without knowing who these people are or how they are connected.

Captain Bellodi himself is a fascinating character, a police officer who unnerves the people he is questioning by being courteous with them, a man who ponders the nature of the Sicilian character, a dedicated officer of the law who is pleased when the mafia chief he is questioning (or really having a discussion with) calls him a "man" (his highest form of praise) and responds in kind. He is eventually sent back home to Parma to participate in a trial there; while he is away, the case he has carefully developed falls apart. Nonetheless, after first feeling more at home in Parma, Bellodi realizes he loves Sicily and will return "Even if it's the end of me."

This is the third Sciascia crime novel I've read and, as with the others, it is much more than that. It is a portrait of Sicily in the early 1960s, it has deft, insightful characterizations, and Sciascia's wonderfully oblique, understated, yet perceptive writing.

A small town in Sicily. In plain view of many witnesses one early morning, a man is gunned down as he was boarding a bus. Nobody claims to have seen it. The bus conductor merely says, "They've killed him." Who are "they"? Surely somebody knows something? But nobody is talking. Captain Bellodi, an antifascist partisan, cultivated, dedicated professional, is new to the place. He comes from the wealthier regions in the northern part of the country, and as an outsider, was thought by the higher authorities, to be good in bringing some movement to disturb the inertia of this backward region. Early in his investigations, two more deaths occur, one after the other. Everyone knew it was no coincidence. People are called in to the precinct, including the brothers and business partners of Salvatore Calasberna, the first deceased. He learns that Calasberna had been assiduously courted by the mob, but never succumbed to their demands, mistakenly believing he needed no protection. The captain amazes the people around him with his courtesy, quick mind, and impartial handling of "interested persons", his clear, direct language, all of which personified a system of justice and authority totally unfamiliar to them, and unknown in this place. But the wall of silence, ignorance, and fear is very strong. Here, nothing is either black or white, and different rules govern. It does not take him long to learn this. But he is willing to persevere.

The owl of the title refers to a Sicilian saying about the owl symbolizing death. Sciascia's brilliant portrayal of the Mafia is unique in that he does not write directly about the Mafia. What we see instead is a delicate unpeeling of layers -- perceptions, suppositions, hesitations -- forming a subtle but nonetheless sharp characterization of what is hidden but strongly felt. There is no blood and gore, but danger is an ever-present element, and Sciascia does not make us forget that. This is a short but intense novel, a rich portrayal of the psychology of fear, a marvelous read. ( )

Adaltavoce, legge Toni Servillo. E' un racconto bello, ben scritto ... ma è anche uno straordinario tratato sulla mafia. "la linea della palma" che allora si stava spostando verso nord mi ha dato i brividi. Adesso il nord è ricco di palme. ( )

Une petite ville de Sicile, au matin. Une rue calme et qui n'a l'air de rien. Et brusquement, tirés on ne sait d'où, deux coups de feu. Un homme tombe. Aussitôt les témoins, cependant nombreux, s'éparpillent. Per-sonne n'a rien vu. C'est le silence... Le capitaine Bellodi, officier de carabiniers, origi-naire du nord de l'Italie, va s'efforcer de faire éclater ce silence. C'est un homme qui croit aux valeurs d'une société démocratique moderne à l'encontre de l'immo-bilité de tout un monde de vieux intérêts fortement établis. Patiemment, minutieusement, il brise les réti-cences, cherche à se faire livrer des noms ; il ruse pour disloquer, si peu que ce soit, le réseau serré des complicités, pour découvrir enfin, derrière quel-ques comparses, les chefs de la Mafia. La Mafia? Mais est-ce que cela existe ? Les témoins, les suspects, ouvrent à ce nom de grands yeux étonnés. Pourtant, en même temps que le capitaine mène son enquête, on voit, sur un autre plan, naître et grandir toutes sortes d'influences, plus ou moins secrètes, plus ou moins puissantes, qui, patiemment reconstituent la toile endommagée par Bellodi et sapent peu à peu les résul-tats de son enquête.