Il Giorno Della Civetta: Leonardo Sciascia OUT OF PRINT (Manchester New Italian Texts) [Paperback]

Leonardo Sciascia (Author), Gerard Slowey (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0719045509 | ISBN-13: 978-0719045509

Il giorno della civetta, set in the early 1960s, tells the story of a carabinieri captain investigating the mafia killing of a local building contractor in a small town in western Sicily. Captain Bellodi pursues his enquiries honestly and intelligently, without realizing that his intervention will stir up a hornets' nest. There are powerful figures who have a vested interest in making sure not only that Bellodi's inquiries will come to nothing, but that the very existence of the mafia itself can be denied. Leonardo Sciascia shows us not only the police operations but how shadowy, unidentified figures combine to frustrate Bellodi's investigation. Sciascia's intention in writing the book was to bring to as wide an audience as possible an awareness of the problem of the mafia and its hold, not only on Sicily, but on important areas of public life: the police, the judiciary, politics and even the Catholic Church. He succeeds brilliantly in this picture of his own beloved island.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gerard Slowey is Lecturer in Italian Studies at the University of Birmingham.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Manchester University Press (July 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0719045509
• ISBN-13: 978-0719045509
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,016,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book about the mafia, February 24, 2000

By 

Markus Muller (Frankfurt Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Il Giorno Della Civetta (Italian Texts) (Italian Edition) (Hardcover)

I had to work with this book in my studies in Italian language and it was a great pleasure for me to know this author. He describes brillantly the relations in the big family, where nobody owes to say a word about the big bosses and the crimes, which have happened. This silence, omertá, causes the power of the mafia. Regarding this system the officer gets frustrated, because there's no chance for him to arrest the big boss, which is evidently not innocent. My comment about this book is very positive and I could tell everybody to read it, too.