Saturday 23 September 2017

Montalbano's Moment Of Realization

Two strands of reading converge:

I said here that I was reading Montalbano as well as Poul Anderson;

I frequently post about moments of realization in Anderson's works -

- typically, our hero is speaking, stops in mid-sentence, goes rigid, has just realized the solution to a practical problem but will not reveal the solution to the reader until he has solved the problem at the end of the story.

Now Montalbano goes through precisely the same routine:

"Their night-time search of Borsellino's house and office had been for naught and...
"He froze.
"He had the distinct impression that the entire digestive apparatus in his belly had come to a sudden stop.
"He poured himself half a glass of whisky and downed it in a single gulp. Sweat began pouring out of him. How could he have forgotten so completely about it?"
Andrea Camilleri, A Voice In The Night (London, 2016), TEN, p. 143.

How indeed?

The reference to the detective's digestive apparatus is significant because Salvo Montalbano, like SM Stirling's characters, enjoys good food although I am not about to start adding his Italian menus to our food thread.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I agree, a very Andersonian like moment of realization on Montalbano's part. And Nicholas van Rijn would have been an appropriate gourmand to have mentioned!

And the most recent book I purchased was BEREN AND LUTHIEN, pieced together by Christopher Tolkien from JRR Tolkien's prose and verse texts.

Sean