The Past Is A Foreign Country [Hardcover]

Gianrico Carofiglio (Author), Howard Curtis (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 3, 2007

A stunner . . . an unforgettable novel' SUNDAY TIMES 'A crisp and chilling account of temptation and transgression that fans of Patricia Highsmith will adore’ INDEPENDENT 'A fascinating, succinct and stylish thriller from Italy’ GUARDIAN ‘Raises the standard for crime fiction. Carofiglio's insights into human nature, good and bad, are breathtaking’ JEFFERY DEAVER One hot summer, as world-weary bloodhound Lieutenant Chiti spends sleepless nights hunting for the serial sex attacker terrorising his city, trainee lawyer Giorgio is befriended by dangerously charismatic Francesco. Slowly the innocent Giorgio is lured into a corrupt world of beautiful women, card sharps and casual violence, in dingy poker dens and luxury villas. Then one terrifying night Giorgio is forced to realise just how far he has left his past behind...The Past is a Foreign Country is a stunning psychological thrillerfrom an acknowledged master at the height of his powers.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Old Street Publishing Limited (September 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905847270
• ISBN-13: 978-1905847273
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #597,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Past is a Foreign Country - Il passato è una terra straniera. - By Author Gianrico Carofiglio., October 5, 2007

By 

Andrea Bowhill (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Past Is A Foreign Country (Hardcover)

Set in 1989, Bari, southern Italy. Giorgio is a 22 year old law student whose life begins to change after he steps in to sort out a fight to help another intended victim, the slightly older charismatic Francesco, the two thereafter become friends. Francesco not the ideal student shows him how to cheat at cards and together they learn to exploit card-sharp for money. Giorgio becomes more and more fascinated by the way Francesco can manipulate any given situation. Partners in deceit they start to take their gambling to new heights from luxurious villas where the gullible rich play to the dark and dangerous dives with compulsive gamblers. Soon their new found lifestyles gives them access to luxury and sexual adventure. Giorgio enters a world where his own image of himself starts to fragment, revealing someone he no longer recognizes: someone who scares but attracts him.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Chitii of the Carabinieri is investigating a series of brutal rapes in Bari. Chitii is hoping that the women who have been assaulted will provide information and a description of the attacker. Two strands of the story begin to entwine themselves in a shocking and unexpected way.

The author Gianrico Carofiglio uses lines throughout this book for detail and exploration, cleverly leaving us readers to do some thought-provking work, this is something that I thoroughly enjoyed. A quotation was used and intelligently placed earlier on in this Novel, the author's aim I believe was signifying that change was beginning in Giorgio's life, like it had some meaning to himself, but he wasn't sure what it was yet: The Past is a Foreign Country; they do things differently there; taken from the classic novel The Go-Between by English author L.P.Hartley, (for any who have read that book the only real similarities would be the deep psychology, the wonderful intertwined between the lines and two friends spending summer time together and that's where it ends) this storyline in this book is quiet different. The author wants to show the past and present of his main character a young man from a good solid background, whose life gets drawn into crime and violence and begins to lose everything that he once knew and had.

This is a wonderful, stylish, well paced and intense psychological thriller with a very poetic read weaved into it. Carofiglio writing is intelligent and he also displays a realism to human behaviour drawing out all characters from their complex minds unraveling their thoughts, you even start to feel their descent into a life of crime. Francesco in particular, full of influence, charm, just captivating as the anti-hero, teacher of manipulation and deceit. Carofiglio also writes with a lot of clarity in this novel, In fact when reading through you begin to wonder how much of the book seems autobiographical. Gianrico Carofiglio is a former anti-Mafia Judge in Bari, Southern Italy; who has been involved with trails concerning corruption, organized crime and the traffic in human beings this all simply adds authority to this fictional account.

This novel Won the Premio Bancarella prize 2005, whose first winner was Ernest Hemingway in 1953. My congratulation to the author, reading this book was enough to make me backtrack to other books written. A special mention to Howard Curtis for the clear translation, Thank you.

If your looking for an intense psychological thriller with a completely satisfying end this is highly recommended.

Andrea Bowhill

4.0 out of 5 stars Great author, November 25, 2011

By 

C. Cole "story lover" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Past is a Foreign Country (Kindle Edition)

I am a new reader to the books of Gianrico Carafiglio and he is a great story teller. I have also read his others that have been translated into English and eagerly await the next.

4.0 out of 5 stars The Past is a Foreign Country Short Review: Potente, compatto Hemingway-come scrivere, August 21, 2010

By 

SalmonChase (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Past Is A Foreign Country (Hardcover)

Potente, compatto Hemingway-come scrivere (Powerful, compact Hemingway-like writing)

I see that the Italian Foreign Office has subsidized Gianrico Carofiglio's books in translation. Thank you, Italy! Yet another wonderful export.

Someone compared Carofiglio's writing unfavorably to Stieg Larsson's "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" thriller series. Yet I think the reviewer missed the point. This is not a thriller in the classic sense. Whereas Larsson's works flow beautifully capturing yet another European landscape and society with all of the national characteristics, I find them somewhat contrived. For instance, all this deus ex machina of technology. A key character is a professional hacker and she just (Salander) happens to be able to penetrate any computer or system at the drop of a leather jacket. Rather like Donna Leon's Senorina Elettra whom I think is far more believable as a Venetian characteristic of "getting things done" yet believable and is a great creation who works through a network of Italian cronies. Salander and Blomkvist,the protagonist, though also working through their contacts, have things fall in their laps at a convenient moment. How much more interesting if they were perplexed and nuanced beyond what's in "Dragon".

Back to Carofiglio's "The Past is a Foreign Country" which is taken from L. P. Hartley's "The Go Between" and the opening "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there" relates the story of Leo and his youthful role in a tragic romance. What a wonderful title for a book.

If you have not read Carofiglio, and there is a complete opus about the detective Guido Guerrieri, then shut off your phone, take your dog for a walk first and then give him a bone, and set in for an astonishing experience as a gifted writer weaves "The Past" as two different plot lines that converge on a not unexpected wrap-up. You seem to know where it will end, but that doesn't seem to detract that much from the enjoyment.

There are two main characters. I sometimes wonder if the good and evil characters, though separate young men, are simply two sides to the same coin. Though we know that good and evil do exist in life, current thinking and religion have relegated evil to a small shelf in the back of the pantry that we hardly visit any more because of psychological definitions of mental illnesses. What's the line from "The Usual Suspects? "Satan's greatest achievement was to convince us that he doesn't exist any more." It's not fashionable to say that someone is truly evil even if they are. In "The Past" evil is present but in such an attractive wrapper, that one is seduced, like the protagonist, into believing that cheating, card-sharking or stealing and drug-running are really okay, when he knows, of course, that they are not.

Carofiglio tackles this by creating many shades of grey. Like Balzac he pulls us along with his young heroes and heroines who rise and decline and rise or find redemption or rehabilitation.

Grazie, Gianrico.