Customer Reviews

The Wine-Dark Sea

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Wine-Dark Sea" is a collection of thirteen stories written by Leonardo Sciascia between 1959 and 1972. While less well know in the United States than some of his Italian contemporaries-I think here of Italo Calvino, Primo Levi, Umberto Eco-Sciascia enjoys a well deserved reputation in Italy as a writer of novels, stories and political commentary.

Sciascia was a Sicilian. This fact, more than any other, colors all of the stories in this collection. Each of these stories reflects, in some way, the particularities of Sicilian culture and society. There is, of course, the uneasy and often conflicting relationship that Sicily has had with the rest of Italy, particularly the northern part of that country. There is also the pervasive influence of the Mafia on Sicilian life, particularly the strong notions of honor and "omerta," the Mafia code of silence. And there is, finally, the interplay of the tightly knit Sicilian family, the Roman Catholic Church and the Italian state.

The best of the stories in this collection are marked by subdued irony, subtle wit and steely-clear insight into the idiosyncrasies that mark Sicilian life within the larger context of Italy.

In "A Matter of Conscience," a Sicilian lawyer traveling back home from Rome picks up a women's magazine on the train. He reads an anonymous letter to a priest, written by a woman from his hometown, asking for advice. The woman had an affair with a relative for six months, is tormented by her adultery and wants to know whether she should tell her husband. She relates that, "as a very devout person, I have confessed my fault on several different occasions." She then goes on-drawing the distinction between her Sicilian mores and those of the rest of Italy-as follows: "Every priest except one (but he was a northerner) has told me that if my repentance is sincere, and my love for my husband unchanged, then I must remain silent." From here, the story turns into a witty, ironic exploration of life in the lawyer's town as each of his colleagues becomes obsessed with the thought that he is the cuckold.

In "Mafia Western," a big town "on the border between the provinces of Palermo and Trapani" is embroiled in a bloody battle between two feuding mafia cells. It is at the time of World War I and, "the death-toll from assassination [is] comparable to the death-toll of its citizens falling at the front." In dry, matter-of-fact style, Sciascia relates this fictional tale, the interstices of his story relating the society within the society-the society of the mafiosi, the capo and the code of silence. Thus, a mother's son is killed and she knows his assassin. But she remains silent, picking up her son's body and bringing it back home. "The next morning she let it be know that her son died of a wound there upon his bed, but she knew neither where nor by whom he had been wounded. No word did she utter to the carabinieri about the man who might have killed him. But her friends understood-they knew-and they now set about very careful preparations."

In "Philology," two men that are to be called before the Commission of Enquiry investigating the activities of the mafia in Sicily engage in an ironic, witty discourse on the origin and meaning of the word "mafia". They are doing this in preparation for their interrogation, their dialogue a bit of dry, absurd humor that conflates the high intellectual pretension of philological discourse with the pragmatic, cold-blooded realities that underlie their preparations. As one of them says, "the fact is that everyone tries to establish the current meaning of the word before establishing its origin." After exploring possible Arabic and French origins of the word, and the deficiencies in education of the general public, who misunderstand the importance of etymology and meaning, he ultimately presents an ironically pragmatic, if high-sounding, statement of the meaning of the word "mafia": "Mafia implies a consciousness of self, an exaggerated concept of the power of the individual as sole arbiter of every conflict of interests or ideas; from this derives the inability to bear with the superiority, and even more, the authority of others. The mafioso expects respect and nearly always offers it. When crossed, he does not appeal to the law, public justice, but takes matters into his own hands and, should the remedy be beyond his own power, he will call on the assistance of like-minded friends."

"The Wine-Dark Sea," the longest of the stories in this collection, wonderfully depicts the cultural separation between Sicilians and other Italians. In this story, Bianchi, an engineer traveling to Sicily for the first time, shares a compartment with a Sicilian family and "a girl of about twenty-three" who is attached to the family "by ties of family, friendship or casual acquaintance." Over the course of their long train ride, Bianchi, if only briefly, manages to penetrate the seemingly deep cultural divide between him and the family, along the way also sharing a fleeting romantic connection with the young girl.

These are only some of the stories in this collection. There are others that are equally good. In particular, I think of "Demotion" (which provides a fascinating contrapuntal theme of Catholicism and Communism, Saint Filomena and Joseph Stalin) and "The Ransom" (which retells a popular Sicilian folk tale of familial duty, love and betrayal). With the exception of "Apocryphal Correspondence re Crowley," which, at best, is of nothing more than historical interest and utterly unremarkable, "The Wine-Dark Sea" is an exceptionally good collection of stories and a wonderful introduction to an Italian writer that, thus far, has been little read in the United States.

"The Wine-Dark Sea" is a collection of thirteen stories written by Leonardo Sciascia between 1959 and 1972. While less well know in the United States than some of his Italian contemporaries-I think here of Italo Calvino, Primo Levi, Umberto Eco-Sciascia enjoys a well deserved reputation in Italy as a writer of novels, stories and political commentary.

Sciascia was a Sicilian. This fact, more than any other, colors all of the stories in this collection. Each of these stories reflects, in some way, the particularities of Sicilian culture and society. There is, of course, the uneasy and often conflicting relationship that Sicily has had with the rest of Italy, particularly the northern part of that country. There is also the pervasive influence of the Mafia on Sicilian life, particularly the strong notions of honor and "omerta," the Mafia code of silence. And there is, finally, the interplay of the tightly knit Sicilian family, the Roman Catholic Church and the Italian state.

The best of the stories in this collection are marked by subdued irony, subtle wit and steely-clear insight into the idiosyncrasies that mark Sicilian life within the larger context of Italy.

In "A Matter of Conscience," a Sicilian lawyer traveling back home from Rome picks up a women's magazine on the train. He reads an anonymous letter to a priest, written by a woman from his hometown, asking for advice. The woman had an affair with a relative for six months, is tormented by her adultery and wants to know whether she should tell her husband. She relates that, "as a very devout person, I have confessed my fault on several different occasions." She then goes on-drawing the distinction between her Sicilian mores and those of the rest of Italy-as follows: "Every priest except one (but he was a northerner) has told me that if my repentance is sincere, and my love for my husband unchanged, then I must remain silent." From here, the story turns into a witty, ironic exploration of life in the lawyer's town as each of his colleagues becomes obsessed with the thought that he is the cuckold.

In "Mafia Western," a big town "on the border between the provinces of Palermo and Trapani" is embroiled in a bloody battle between two feuding mafia cells. It is at the time of World War I and, "the death-toll from assassination [is] comparable to the death-toll of its citizens falling at the front." In dry, matter-of-fact style, Sciascia relates this fictional tale, the interstices of his story relating the society within the society-the society of the mafiosi, the capo and the code of silence. Thus, a mother's son is killed and she knows his assassin. But she remains silent, picking up her son's body and bringing it back home. "The next morning she let it be know that her son died of a wound there upon his bed, but she knew neither where nor by whom he had been wounded. No word did she utter to the carabinieri about the man who might have killed him. But her friends understood-they knew-and they now set about very careful preparations."

In "Philology," two men that are to be called before the Commission of Enquiry investigating the activities of the mafia in Sicily engage in an ironic, witty discourse on the origin and meaning of the word "mafia". They are doing this in preparation for their interrogation, their dialogue a bit of dry, absurd humor that conflates the high intellectual pretension of philological discourse with the pragmatic, cold-blooded realities that underlie their preparations. As one of them says, "the fact is that everyone tries to establish the current meaning of the word before establishing its origin." After exploring possible Arabic and French origins of the word, and the deficiencies in education of the general public, who misunderstand the importance of etymology and meaning, he ultimately presents an ironically pragmatic, if high-sounding, statement of the meaning of the word "mafia": "Mafia implies a consciousness of self, an exaggerated concept of the power of the individual as sole arbiter of every conflict of interests or ideas; from this derives the inability to bear with the superiority, and even more, the authority of others. The mafioso expects respect and nearly always offers it. When crossed, he does not appeal to the law, public justice, but takes matters into his own hands and, should the remedy be beyond his own power, he will call on the assistance of like-minded friends."

"The Wine-Dark Sea," the longest of the stories in this collection, wonderfully depicts the cultural separation between Sicilians and other Italians. In this story, Bianchi, an engineer traveling to Sicily for the first time, shares a compartment with a Sicilian family and "a girl of about twenty-three" who is attached to the family "by ties of family, friendship or casual acquaintance." Over the course of their long train ride, Bianchi, if only briefly, manages to penetrate the seemingly deep cultural divide between him and the family, along the way also sharing a fleeting romantic connection with the young girl.

These are only some of the stories in this collection. There are others that are equally good. In particular, I think of "Demotion" (which provides a fascinating contrapuntal theme of Catholicism and Communism, Saint Filomena and Joseph Stalin) and "The Ransom" (which retells a popular Sicilian folk tale of familial duty, love and betrayal). With the exception of "Apocryphal Correspondence re Crowley," which, at best, is of nothing more than historical interest and utterly unremarkable, "The Wine-Dark Sea" is an exceptionally good collection of stories and a wonderful introduction to an Italian writer that, thus far, has been little read in the United States.

Like Sicily itself, the short stories in The Wine Dark Sea connect the classical past with the quirky present of an island that was visited and changed by successive waves of conquerors and visitors. The stories evoke the uneasy relationship that Sicily has with the rest of Italy, the edginess of its residents' relationship with strngers. The stories are of uneven length and quality, and some are much more accomplished than others. They are tall on incident rather than on plot, and one wonders a bit whether something is lost in translation, as Sciascia is acclaimed in Sicily to a degree that seems disproportionate to some of these stories. He is no William Maxwell. But this is a good read for those wanting a sense of the tone of the place before a visit or the memory of it after one.

J.Nesheim
Ethnic Lit.
11/08/11
Syrnyk

The Wine-Dark Sea written by Leonardo Sciascia is a book composed of short stories. Each one of Sciascia's stories has a meaning to it or a life lesson as some would call it. In the first story entitled The Ransom is a story about being unselfish and giving up something in order to gain a reward. The second story entitled The Wine-Dark Sea is a story about deception. A man perceives to trick innocent immigrants from Sicily out of money that they do not have in return for a pretend trip to America. Each story in The Wine-Dark Sea is collected of substance, telling of various life lessons in effective methods. Leonardo Sciascia writes his stories in very compelling ways; he uses descriptive words that are unique. Many immigrants seem to believe that America is the land of the "free" and the "great" when actually it's not as wonderful as the childish fairytales and songs make it seem. I believe the point of The Wine-Dark Sea novel is to provide an educational book with a twist. Leonardo Sciascia is from Sicily and is able to write accurate memories about life in Sicily during his lifetime and he is able to teach to his audience through intriguing literature. He educates his listeners with his memories from the land that he calls home; he provides the thoughts, feelings, and traditions of the Sicilians.

The collection of Stories in The Wine-Dark Sea by Leonardo Sciascia portrays the ethnic identity of life in Sicily. His stories are a result of the experiences one has being Sicilian and Italian. He takes stories for all aspects of his life growing up in Sicily. For example, "The Ransom" is from a church story. It was a way to see how the different aspects of their ethnicity are connected, in religion, family, marriage, and the manipulation in the government. The Stories relate how Religion, Justice, violence, and gender roles play into Sicilian life and Italy as a whole, the past to the present, and the mafia.

In "The Ransom" the hierarchy of the rich and poor peasants of Sicilian society is portrayed. This is a love story about two towns that remained different by religion and mafia families. The families grew closer through intermarrying. The gap finally closed when a wealthy mans daughter married a Don of the other town. However, he is made a fugitive when he kicked a peasant killing him unintentionally. It is resolved when wife's sister agrees to marry an old man that can clear her sister's husband's name. The story explains the dogma of Religion, family, Marriage, and vicarious payment in Sicilian life.

The Sicilians and Italians have a cutler and ethnicity that is best understood through stories. The happenings in the stories give greater understandings of the hard ships and traditions. The readings have one ask better questions about what their ethnicity meant and how it is related to the different facets of their

"The Wine Dark Sea" by Leonardo Sciascia is a novel composed of short stories that unravel the truth about the Sicilian culture. This novel is a book of underlying meanings intertwined with soulful interpretations. This novel is different compared to most novels. It doesn't just study one part of the Sicilian culture, but this novel attacks viewpoints of the Sicilian culture from different standpoints because of its multiple stories as opposed to something one would read in the novel, "The Godfather." This has changed my view of the Sicilian culture because all I knew of this culture was their iniquitous ways and evil that the mafia was capable of. In this novel, I read about innocent Sicilians being betrayed by their own culture and how a Sicilian mafia member will fight for love. This book surprises you by tearing away your pre-notions about the Sicilian culture, proving Sicilians only being mafia members is just a common misconception. My favorite story out of this book was The Long Crossing because I had never seen a Sicilian as a victim before. I, along with others who were previously uninformed about this topic, assumed that this culture was all tainted. Yet, I feel this is one of the most important stories in this novel because this is the story that showcases the Sicilian culture as victims. This novel sheds light on a culture most may say undeserving of a light to be shed on. However, reading this novel changed my point of view, and I assure you it will change yours too.

Leonardo Sciascia's The Wine-Dark Sea is a collection of amusing and unfortunate anecdotal tales told within the context of Sicilian culture and its relation to Italy and the outside world. Most seem like random tales that the reader is dropped into without the aid of any intriguing development or loaned intuition regarding Sicily's cultural idiosyncrasies. As a result, it is often only in the end of each tale that we are able to tell whether or not it was enjoyable to read-and most are. In all of the stories, it is easy to decipher a common plight of often-humorous desperation and the struggle to gain ground in a place where a few maintain the clear upper hand.

Stories like The Long Crossing and The Test, each offer a glimpse of hopeless and dejected figures putting everything into one last jab at living fair and happy lives, only to be chewed up and spit out once more, with a final assurance that it is indeed a cruel world. This dog-eat-dog sentiment, that inevitably begins intertwining with our vision of life in the old country, seems to play out in some form or another through the entire book. In Mafia Western, we discover yet another rogue underdog, fighting to avenge a spoiled love, but against the notorious mafia. Only here, we are treated to a rare and blatantly mocking portrayal of two rival crime families, fooled into a pursuit that is reminiscent of a dog chasing its tail. And again, in A Matter of Conscience, a community of bored and domesticated gossips provoke each other into unraveling in the pursuit of revealing a mystery adulterer. All in the name of flaunting their own self-righteousness, a lesson is learned by all, as we see yet another Italian tale of feeble faces rubbed in dirt.

The Wine-Dark Sea provides the reader with Sicilian born writer Leonardo Sciascia's thirteen best-of short stories. Sciascia sheds light on Sicilian life and history through these short stories bestowing clever wit, eloquent banter, and unfortunate inevitability as a means. Although, serious characters such as mafia dons and Sicilians pursuant of the American dream provide little foundation for comical writing, Sciascia tends to take these presumably real tales and add lightness to them without taking away from the reality of the situations. "The Long Crossing" tells the tale of said Sicilians pawning and loaning to scrape up enough funds for their illegal adventure to the land of opportunity. The descriptive nature of the storytelling leaves a vivid picture and builds up to perhaps a predictable twist yet still leaves the reader in awe. In the short story entitled "Philology" which is defined as the study of language, we are given just that. But the two characters doing the studying are atypical to the type of people studying language, or in this case the origin of a word. The two are presumed Mafioso and they are discussing just that, the meaning behind Mafioso. The smarter of the two is coaching a regular "goombah" on what to say when he goes in front of the Commission. Their way of thinking is thrown out in such a whimsical manner that this quickly became my favorite of the collection. I would definitely recommend this enjoyable read for its insightful while fun aspect. As a whole collection The Wine-Dark Sea has a wide range of topics, you'll be sure to find a story that sticks with you as well.

Leornardo Sciascia's book The Wine-Dark Seas offers insight into the history that drove many Sicilians to America, many of whom in turn founded America's Sicilian mafia. The Wine-Dark Sea moves through several different stories about Sicilian life, from "The Long Crossing" in which Sicilian emigrant hopefuls--some of whom cheat banks to get the money to leave--are cheated out of their money, to "Mafia Western" which catalogs the spree of a vigilante against the mafia, to "A Matter of Conscience" which follows the town-wide hunt to find an adulteress. The stories are not very long, but they are packed with subtleties that can teach us a lot about the origins of the Sicilian mafia. The kind of corruption and double-crossing that spawned mafia cells in the first place is touched on in stories like "The Long Crossing" but religion, women, and family are also covered. "Demotion" tells a story that shows the God-like position that money takes with some of these men, while also telling a story about the marginalized treatment of women and their own faith. "A Matter of Conscience" also discusses the relationships between men and women, ending somewhat tragically for both the husband and the wife involved. The stories vary between different people, classes, and issues, but seem also to interweave to form a greater picture of Sicilian life and what it means to be mafia. Though not perhaps my personal favorite writing style, it still has value if trying to look at mafia life from outside a textbook or memoir.

The Wine Dark Sea is a collection of Leonardo Sciasia's best short stories. Sciasia, a Sicilian author who lived from 1921 to 1989, has a writing style that is much more accessible than that of many of his contemporaries such as Umberto Eco or Dino Buzzati. The bulk of these stories were written in the 1960s, and each eloquently speaks to an aspect of the Sicilian way of life and history, such as distrust for outsiders, the Mafia culture, Catholicism, Communism, and the desperation of poverty. Some read as ye olde folk tales, others as cutting political commentary. In "Demotion," a Communist leader gets a back a little of his own after berating his wife for clinging to a decanonized saint. "Guifa" tells the tale of a village idiot who outsmarts a military captain in a rustic way that puts the reader in mind of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories or a fable by Aesop. The greed and treachery involved in the depressing tale "The Long Crossing" leaves the reader feeling as betrayed as the victims in the story; it illustrates the desperation the people must have felt and the risks they took to reach a better place with better opportunities. "Mafia Western" is about a blood feud between two Families taking such a death toll that an outsider's influence on the body count goes unnoticed until after a truce is negotiated. This man's vendetta struck fear in the hearts of the fearless Mafiosi, a tale that many Sicilians would likely appreciate. Sciascia's collection is riveting and enlightening, a perfect introduction to his other works such as The Day of the Owl.