The Dance of the Seagull (An Inspector Montalbano Mystery)

The Dance of the Seagull is one of my favorites of the Montalbano movies. Mainly because of the Fazio abduction part of the plot and the wonderful scene where Salvo saves Fazio (oh dear. Is this a spoiler?). In the movie you know that they can't get rid of Fazio, so you just know he'll survive, but it is still tense and such a great release when they do rescue him. It is a fabulous scene and incidentally, shot in an incredibly beautiful location. The movie is one of the best of the series. At any rate, I tell you this because I come pre-disposed to liking this book. Granted, I have written a few harsh reviews lately because of how the Montalbano character is becoming less interesting and attractive to me. In the case of this book, although he's still pretty much a jerk, he is thankfully not whining too much about getting old. There's still some of that going on, and my tolerance for it hasn't changed, but it seems fairly under control. The goofy "Montalbano One" and "Two" have only minor appearances thank goodness. The plot is a good one (there's much more going on than the abduction) and it is complicated enough that my attention doesn't wander. There's one sort of odd bit near the end where Camilleri writes himself in (we've already learned that Montalbano the character in the book has become famous, and there's a fictionalized TV show about him (he's played by a bald actor - hahah)... so we get a fiction within a fiction), and so it all gets a little bizarre.I keep wondering (have I written this before?) if Salvo is Camilleri's Mary Sue. Those of you who follow fan fiction will know what I mean. I suspect as the books have progressed that this is the case. Maybe it always has been. I saw an interview with Camilleri and found him rather annoying -- just like Montalbano.What else? Well, Mimi gets to be a little clever despite constant belittling and haranguing by Salvo (poor Mimi does not fare as well in the books as he does in the movies). Livia doesn't really make any appearance whatsoever (which is okay by me as I think Camilleri has no idea what to do with her -- or possibly any female characters). Fazio spends most of his time in the hospital. So this book is pretty much all Salvo, all the time -- but a Salvo that isn't too pathetic and is in fact quite brilliant. And like I said, it could be worse. I give it four stars because I didn't hate it and enjoyed reading it.

Montalbano is at his most emotional in this novel. He watches a seagull die on his beach front, and he can't get the image of this death dance out of his mind. One of his most trusted detectives goes missing, and Montalbano reaches a state of collapse searching for him in a creepy Sicilian landscape. He visits the scene of a sadistic murder and feels the hair stand up on his arms. One scene after another finds him "metaphysically disconcerted," upset by the sad state of humanity, Italy and the world. He even has a possibly paranormal experience. Maybe he's going through andropause!And yet he's never been sharper. His policeman's instincts are at a high pitch of perfection in this book.There is nothing more pleasurable than living inside Inspector Montalbano's world for a few hundred pages. He does all the things we've come to expect of the irascible chief. He has crazy convoluted arguments with his girlfriend Livia. He tells outrageous lies, sometimes for a good cause, sometimes just for fun. He indulges in gourmet gluttony, whether at home or eating out. He experiences lustful thoughts at awkward moments, and the object of his desire is decades too young for him.In other words, Montalbano is non-stop funny, even when he gets metaphysical. His lovable assistant Catarella is delightfully disruptive to police work, as always. And the enmity between Montalbano's housekeeper and his girlfriend is dependably amusing.Camilleri is a literary phenomenon. He can't help being deep, even at his funniest. And the translator must be a bit of a genius too, to convey the exquisite charm of Camilleri's prose, and to capture the cadence of Catarella's hilarious patter.The Dance of the Seagull is a wonderful book. Camilleri just keeps getting better.

"The Dance of the Seagull" by Andrea Camilleri is quite good. Often funny, often not, and the translation by Stephen Sartarelli is truly excellent. Cat, the receptionist at the police station, is at his finest, and Sartarelli's translation of Cat's mangled, heavily accented Sicilian Italian, reads perfectly, just like a New Jersey transplant from the "old country." Cat has never been better. He alone is worth reading the book.The story is pretty good, but there are too many characters whose names are difficult to remember and keep straight. The "romance" between Montalbano and nurse Angela is not only ridiculous but most likely unnecessary for the story's coehesion.This is the 15th installment of the Inspector Montalbano series by Camilleri, the tales which have made Camilleri rich and famous (and I've read most of them). Born in 1925, Camilleri at 88 years, is getting on in years, and I suspect he has a ghost-writer who is assisting him. Why? Well, there are parts of this "Seagull" story that just don't sound like the Camilleri of old (say, the mid-to-late 1990s), when the first 6 - 10 of the series were written."Seagull" is a bit too convoluted with a tad too many twists and turns. But on the other hand it is still classic Camilleri. Montalbano's strange behavior of "getting-lost-in-all-hospitals" is hilarious. Some scenes, on the other hand, are macabre, verging on disgusting. There is a lot of eating and discussion of menus, as usual, and the 57 year-old Inspector Montalbano is himself aging (and sometimes losing it mentally) along with Camilleri. Is Montalbano Camilleri's gastronomic alter-ego?Poor Livia (Montalbano's much neglected woman-friend who lives in the north of Italy) is fully absent from this tale (except at the very beginning), much to the disappointment of a reader. The other, usual police force characters and Montalbano's housekeeper/cook are their usual bizarre selves, entertainingly so for the most part. Officer Mimi has a rare episode of standing up to Inspector Montalbano and getting his way. The whole story exists as a result of Officer Fazio's sudden disappearance. The ending is kind of a let-down, and Fazio is left dangling a bit.Thus, to me, "The Dance of the Seagull" is a 4.

The Dance of the Seagull is the fifteenth book in the Montalbano series, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone novel. For me this is a story about relationships and the pursuit of justice. As with other books in the series we follow the Sicilian detective Montalbano as he investigates a series of crimes; in this case kidnapping, blackmail and murder.I enjoy crime stories that are strong on character, plot and settings, and this story has all three. Two aspects of Montalbano's character shine through in this story, his relationships (with his girlfriend of many years Livia and with his colleagues in the police force, be they senior or junior) and his on-going battle with aging (he increasingly talks to himself, he continues to overindulge in good dining in spite of knowing he will suffer a range of after-effects and he continues to be taken in by women who are now more than half his age).The settings for this story are very atmospheric, be it the town docks, the hillsides or the sinister wells used by certain criminals to dispose of their enemies.Finally, I found the plot of this story to be darker and more sinister than others I have read to date in the series. However, while there are some short gruesome passages, we at least have plenty of humorous scenes that act as a counter balance.One other aspect that I particularly like about these novels is the 'notes' at the end of the book which contain information about some of the dishes that are consumed, or some of sayings that are used or some of the historical figures or events that are mentioned in the story.However, there are two aspects of this story that I was less keen about (although they did not affect my overall enjoyment of the novel); The first is the references to the TV series Montalbano being filmed in a nearby town; while funny, it seemed a little overindulgent. The second is Catarella's 'Sicilian' dialogue which I found more difficult to understand in this novel compared with the others I have read in the series.So, overall, if you like atmospheric police procedural crime stories that focus on character, plot and setting, then I think you will enjoy The Dance of The Seagull.

I love this series of books and this one, no less than the rest is eminently readable, but one cannot gloss over the feeling that the plotline stretches one's credulity. All of the things one associates with this series of books including characters, humour, the iracibility of our detective hero, etc. are present, but the storyline is not quite as strong as one has come to expect. Livia, the long-distance and occasional love of Montalbano's life makes an entrance and disappears just as quick with a young nurse to act as the person to get the pulse racing, on orders of the mafia, who drops him like a 57 year old stone when the danger is past, just to remind Montalbano that he is no longer the young lothario he once was. The plot hinges on the disappearance of Fazio, the byzantine intrigues of the local mafiosi and the equally close fisted machinations of Montalbano himself. Don't get me wrong, this is a very readable story and it will keep you interested from start to end, but ultimately, it just feels a little bit contrived and just less than completely believable. My feeling is that the book is too short; the ending feels rushed and, with some surreal references to the TV series and the differences between the TV character and the written one, it seems a tad light on convincing ideas and a series that has run out of steam. I hate to say this, but it is not one of the best, which is not to say that it is no good and for fans of the writing, not a complete disappointment, but neither is it completely satisfying. Ah well, cosi e la vita!

I’m reading the books in the Inspector Montalbano series randomly, not in sequence. Although the books mix comedy and tragedy, the book tends towards the latter. Montalbano is now in his late 50’s and intimations of his mortality recur throughout the book. The death of a seagull on the beach near his house sets the tone for what follows. The story is quite morbid but, as ever, it’s leavened with occasional comedy. As usual, it’s very well written - superb translation - and each book can be read on its own, and not just as part of a series. Overall, the book has a great momentum but a somber tone.

Camilleri is back on top form with this latest Montalbano story, translated by Stephen Sartarelli. I was disappointed with the previous one in the series, "The Age of Doubt", and I feared that Camilleri was going to slip downhill. But with this offering he's bounced back to his more usual high standard.In "The Age of Doubt" we got bogged down too much with Montalbano's mid- or late-life crisis; the story was at times depressing; and Montalbano's usually endearing quirkiness went over the top. For example, Montalbano's invention of the death of his non-existent child as an excuse for not doing some paperwork was painfully unfunny.This time Montalbano is back in character, coming up with a genuinely funny excuse for not going to see his boss, the "c'mishner". (I won't spoil it by saying what it is.) As well as the usual humour relating to Montalbano's character, we have episodes such as a brief but realistic and amusing stand-up row between our hero and his girlfriend Livia, and we have Officer Catarella doing his usual job of getting names wrong when he brings people "poissonally in poisson" into Montalbano's office or takes phone calls on the "swishboard".In addition to the humorous side, the story is also quite tense at times, and makes for a good old-fashioned crime story. (Though for me the tension was lessened because I had already seen the TV version, which is also excellent.)We also get the usual glimpses of social criticism and Camilleri's left-leaning politics. There are sideswipes at Berlusconi (not actually named, but referred to as "the richest, most powerful man in the country..."), at corruption, and at the shallowness of the press.Finally, I'm glad that this book does not contain the sort of inexplicable paranormal episode that the normally down-to-earth Camilleri unaccountably and unfortunately slips into a couple of books in the series. (See my Amazon review of "The Track of Sand.") There is in this book a strange scene involving the gull of the title, but thankfully it can be explained as a trick of Montalbano's mind.Of the fifteen Montalbano books so far translated into English, I would rate ten of them as five star material, and this is one of those ten.Phil Webster.

Montalbano showing his more complicated side, with his overriding concern for the fate of his staff. The people he frequently berates but are really his closest friends. Fazio goes off on a 'private' investigation and disappears, Montalbano goes into overdrive in solving the disappearance, and in doing so discovering even more criminality.