Customer Reviews

Moro Affair

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The NYRB deserves credit for retrieving several wonderful works by the Sicilian writer-politician Leonardo Sciascia: "Day of the Owl" surely; "Equal Danger" and "To Each His Own," probably. "Italian Hours" is a lesser work, but still good fun.

By contrast, "The Moro Affair" is (or ought to be) an embarrassment, to Sciascia and to the publisher as well. At the most forgiving, we can call it a nonce work, interesting as an exemplar of the kind of bitchiness and personalism that passes for journalism in Italy. But for the ordinary reader today, if it is to succeed at all, it needs a comprehensive introduction. But Peter Robb (who has written well about Sicily elsewhere) apparently wasn't willing to put in the time or the effort.

Some will say that the likely reader already knows about the Moro episode. Probably in outline, yes, but if he knows it in the kind of detail necessary to appreciate this work, he has probably read Sciascia's account long ago--and, chances are, in Italian.

On the other hand, if you really do want a decent overview of the Moro affair, there is a good one available, ironically, through the New York Review of Books. It's a review, by Adrian Lyttelton available (albeit as paid content) in the archives at the NYRB website. If you really need to master Sciascia on Morrow, Lyttelton is probably a ticket. But unless you are a fairly serious specialist, you can probably give it a bye.

This book includes a shorter piece, "The Mystery of Majorana", which is a gem. It gives an explanation for the disappearance of the enigmatic and brilliant physicist Ettore Majorana. The story may or may not be the best researched explanation for what happened to Majorana, but the perspective brought to the life of a genius scientist by the author is compelling.

I have not read, "The Moro Affair" yet, but I assume it will rate at least zero stars, which makes this a five star book.