Customer Reviews

Back to Bologna

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I guess the previous reviewers are looking for blood and sensation when they decide to read an "Italian Mystery". Most likely, they just don't understand the real Italian soul. Dibdin does, and his latest novel is an excellent illustration of this. The plot reads as an Italian opera, the characters are as Italian as an espresso coffee, and the absence of real action reminds me of my time spend in Italy (both as a tourist and for work). I have to admit that Dibdin counts on some intellectual snobbism amidst his readers, but it is so obvious that it makes you smile. This book, as most other Dibdins, is not written for the lovers of crime and death, but for the connoisseurs of live. Absolutely recommended for readers that know the difference between the kitsch of a Beaujolais nouveau and the joy of a Barolo

Talk about maintaining a few things. Your health. Your relationships. Your job. Aurelio Zen fails to maintain all of them properly, or maybe he doesn't want to. Maybe that's the key. He does not know what he wants, maybe.
This sequel in the Aurelio Zen saga will please Aurelio followers, but may be a bad idea if Dibdin wants to enlarge his own followers community.
It relies too much on the readers knowing what happened earlier.
The title of volume 10 relates to cop Bruno, whom Zen helped getting a transfer back to Bologna out of the wilderness of Southern Tyrole, when Bruno helped Zen in Medusa. But there are other meanings, spelled out later in the story.
Aurelio has managed to become a hypochondriach and upsets lovely but hard-nosed Gemma from two volumes back, who knows most things better. Tough move for Aurelio.
The case itself is of rather minor importance here compared to the antics of our hero as far as his life is concerned. There is a cameo appearance of Umberto Eco, disguised as Edgardo Ugo, known as The Ego, including a satire on semiotics as "science".
There is a minor Berlusconi-like football magnate called Lorenzo Curti, who doubles up as Parmalat scandalist. There is a singing TV cook called Romano Rinaldo, or Lo Chef, who is explicitly compared to Pavarotti, appearance wise.
I.o.w., the novel is overloaded with Italiana, as it should be, and great fun for us Zenistas. Still, I think, MD should try to write his Zen stories a bit more on a stand alone basis.
By the way, there is also one "foreign" element in here, Flava from Ruritania. I had to google that. Very funny.

As an avid reader of crime series set in Italy, I eagerly await the next work by the pillars of the genre--Donna Leon, Magdalen Nabb, and Michael Dibdin. Both Leon with BLOOD FROM A STONE and Nabb with THE INNOCENT have delivered top-notch novels in their continuing series this year. Unfortunately, Dibdin fell short with BACK TO BOLOGNA. As is often the case with Dibdin, we have to deal more with Zen's continuing personal and relationship problems than with the crime and its solution. Zen's really a mess this time around. His Lucca-based girlfriend, Gemma Santini, from book #8 is fed up with him and wants to dump him.

Dibdin's new novel is not a mystery or a thriller. However, it is a very cleverly written spoof of the genre and quite comedic. I found it disappointing and not up to par with many of his other Aurelio Zen works.

He starts the book with the introduction of a massive cast of characters on an eventual collision course with each other. His leading characters are a flashy singing TV chef named Romano Rinaldi and a University of Bologna semiotics professor named Edgardo Ugo (as in Umberto Eco). To further the spoof, he names Zen's contact officer at the Bologna questura Salvatore Brunetti. (For you affectionatos--Salvatore is the first name of Nabb's Marshal and Brunetti is the last name of Leon's beloved Venetian Commissario.) Then further on in the book, he introduces a Carabinieri major named Guido Guarnaccia. (Again, for you affectionatos--Guido is the first name of Leon's Commissario and Guarnaccia is the last name of Nabb's Marshal.) Just how far is Dibdin willing to go to get a laugh?

I found the ending predictable with no suspense at all. Dibdin also missed the opportunity to give us a keen insight into the fantastic city of Bologna. He failed miserably in this regard. His descriptions were nothing compared to John Grisham's wonderful portrayal of Bologna in THE BROKER.

If you like comedy relief, this book is for you. It's cleverly written and very funny--but not serious enough for my taste.

Thank you Dibden. This book had many of the twists and turns I have enjoyed throughout the series. I just keep wishing there were more books. This wasn't my favorite, nor was it the most entertaining, but it was well worth the read. I thought it took a little longer to get into it, but by the halfway point, I couldn't put it down. What is with this guy, Zen? He lacks all the attributes of a super hero and lord knows his values and morals are questionable at best, but he sure is fascinating. When will the movies start coming out? If you have enjoyed the others, then I suspect you will enjoy this book. I did.

Even if you actually read and (even less likely) loved "Name of the Rose," you'll still enjoy Dibdin's farcical sendup of Umberto Eco in the latest adventure of Vice Questore Aurelio Zen, whose love life is in the dumpster as usual. The operatic plot--the collision of a egotistical television cooking star, a soccer team, an academician of semiotics, a romantic young couple direct from "The Prisoner of Zenda," and a witless private investigator in love with the American PIs of the 40s, with the more than usually self-destructive Zen and his soon-to-be former girl friend--is breathtaking. No one captures the dark side of Italy with more gusto and humor than Michael Dibdin.

Mr. Dibdin's recent passing is a real sorrow to those who love his writing--I'm hoping that there might be a novel or two more yet to come.

This is a fun read, but hardly what I expected in a mystery. Perhaps Dibdin is trying hardest to make a philosophical statement, about life or life in Italy or whatever.
Why a farce? As in: light dramatic composition marked by broadly satirical comedy and improbable plot.
What about the characters? "Grotesque" comes to my mind: distorting the natural into absurdity, ugliness or caricature. The author conveys no empathy for his characters, so why should I, the reader, care?
So if you like satire, with a twist of nihilism, this can be a fun book - ironic twists, improbable coincidences, etc. I prefer real people, and will look for another Donna Leon mystery, also set in Italy.

I previously read RATKING, DEAD LAGOON, A LONG FINISH, and END GAMES by Dibdin, and can say I rate each at least 4 stars -- good reading. But it took me until half-way through BACK TO BOLOGNA and constant referral to previous chapters to figure out what seemed to be happening. I like a complex, imperfect character in a complex story. But I was sorely disappointed by BOLOGNA. Zen is absurdly hypochondriac in recovering from a prior injury, and, unlike the other books mentioned, his intelligence and insight have nothing to do with resolution of this smoking-gun mystery. He merely observes its accidental resolution. And, as interesting as the thought might appear in the abstract, the concept of seemingly un-related but ultimately intersecting stories unfortunately falls flat in this book. I recommended this book to my bookclub before reading it: big mistake!!

Many characters, many plots but not a single thread to the core Zen character -career, friends or couple- is in the book, suddenly just finishes and then bye- bye, you need to guess the rest. Disappointing really.

Dibdin's offbeat, addictive blend of black, madcap humor and brooding pathos fuels this latest adventure of the reluctant Italian detective Aurelio Zen. Sent to Bologna to investigate the murder of an obnoxious industrialist football-team owner, he intends to enjoy the food and the respite from his beloved Gemma who has lost patience with his perceived hypochondria (some of which will be better understood by readers of earlier books, particularly "Cabal").

This indulgence, of course, is not to be and he soon finds himself entangled in the escapades of a rich, spoiled soccer fan and a role-playing private detective. There's also a fraudulent singing chef's feud with an Umberto Eco-style semiotics professor, an impoverished student of romance and his illegal immigrant lover, and Zen's own appetites, preoccupations and melancholy.

Not the best Zen, but still a standout in the field.

I only have myself to blame for having spent the money, time and energy on this one because I haven't totally enjoyed an Aurelio Zen mystery novel since "Dead Lagoon." But while the succeeding installments in the series have been interesting and enjoyable in spots, "Back to Bologna" really left me feeling cheated and irritated. And I totally agree with the previous reviewer: don't bother taking this novel seriously, esp if you're a mystery buff. Perhaps graduate students in comparative literature or semiotics may find this book interesting (indeed, "Back to Bologna" reminded me of several things I really hated about the Comparative Literature programme -- what can I say: I'm hopelessly old fashioned and probably belong somewhere pre WWII); but mystery addicts are bound to find this book frustrating in the extreme.

When the owner of the Bologna football team (a man much despised by most Bolognese for having brought their beloved team so low) is found murdered, Aurelio Zen is recalled from sick leave to keep and eye on the investigation because of the delicate political implications. But Zen, who happens to be contemplating early retirement doesn't really feel up to keeping an eye on anything -- esp since his current romantic relationship seems to be heading for a big bust-up. Things are not made any easier given that the police officer in charge of the case in Bologna resents the fact that Zen has been sent to keep and eye on things. And then a world renowned professor of semiotics is shot with the same gun that killed the owner of the football team. Is the connection? If so, what? And Zen pull himself out of his stupor to take an interest in the case?

Spoiler alert: somewhere towards to end of the book, one of the characters talks about how he's always wanted to write a book heavy on atmosphere, where the police detective never detective really doesn't resolve much. That in the nutshell is what this book is all about. It showcases that Mr. Dibdin knows his theories and is very well read; that he can really render a scene so that you feel as if you're actually physically there; and that he's fairly conversant with the modern Italian culture and sensibility. But a good mystery novel this is not. And given that I had bought "Back to Bologna" for its mystery, I felt really cheated. If you're a new to this series, try one of the earlier installments; if you're a fan, then be really aware of what it is you're in for so as to avoid disappointment.