L. A. García-RozaRecensioni
Autore di Il silenzio della pioggia
Recensioni
(Inspector Espinosa 01) El Silencio de la lluvia di L. A. García-Roza
The book generally goes on in a normalish meandering tone, but then every now and again devolves into this weird prose that I don't really get, I don't understand the content nor how it fits in with the overall writing.
Here is an example:
"Espinosa couldn't say what it was about Flor that made him so uncomfortable and so intrigued, in the same proportion and intensity; he couldn't even claim that though she was a hooker she had an infantile ingenuousness, or that she was smart enough to transform her sexual sophistication into innocent artlessness. She wasn't extraordinarily beautiful, but her beauty did turn the heads of men and women, perhaps because it wasn't created only from the usual elements of beauty. In her beauty there was something demonic. The result was more alchemical than aesthetic, and its effect was uncommon. Flor disquieted and attracted him, not only sexually, though sex was the way her fascinating alchemy expressed itself. But Flor presented herself not as an answer to his desires but as a question posed to him, inviting him somewhere he could never really identify, modest but shameless, like a girl in a dirty magazine."
James Joyce got away with writing a lot of gibberish, but I don't think it works with Inspector Espinosa.
After several days I had to look back at the cover to see that this was an Inspector Espinosa story because I honestly couldn't remember. Not a lot of the story was making a whole lot of sense, just a bunch of random actions.
Otherwise, it is written in the vein of the killer or killers getting away because of the stupidity of the people who know who the killer or killers are. You know, like they're talking to the detective or journalist or whomever sleuth on the phone and start to say... "the killer is... wait, there is someone at the door, hold on a minute... BANG! they're dead"... and now the story can go on for hundreds more pages because the person or persons who always have all the information couldn't speak for another 5 milliseconds and solve the case / mystery / whatever. This book was a lot like that, but then, somehow, Espinosa miraculously fits it all together. Except at the end nothing is really resolved. In theory the person who started the series of random, seemingly unrelated events is found out and punished, and in theory the person who was hired to perpetuate the series of random, seemingly unrelated events is found and punished, but the why behind all that is cloudy at best. The ending is even more of a mystery.
There is nothing to really recommend this book. Set in Rio de Janeiro I thought this book had a lot more potential, might be a lot more interesting, but the story, characters, and backdrop didn't grab me at all.
And Espinosa, is he likable or do you just want to punch him in the face? One of the last descriptors is this sentence: "Though he knew that people thought of him as a cold rationalist, he recognized that in fact he was more a semidelirious fantasist."
Huh?
What I found interesting was the shifting perspectives at the beginning of the book. The book shifted form several different characters in the 3rd person. Then shifting to Inspector Espinosa in 1st person in later chapters. We always had more information than Espinosa did. At the very beginning we learn that Ricardo Carvalho has committed suicide, but that fact has been hidden from Espinosa and the police. It is assumed that he has been murdered. We see the insights and motivations of several characters which Inspector Espinosa never sees. He has to come up with his own theories on circumstances which we know the details about.
Inspector Espinosa is not your typical super sleuth. In fact as a detective he seems rather average. At least in this book he did not put all the pieces together. He did not always guess the facts that we knew. When suspects lied to him he might feel that they were, but it was always gut instinct. He is, however, honest and diligent, and this serves him well.
He also has curious habits. He eats frozen food, orders pizza, and eats at McDonalds. The only thing interesting his eats are pork sandwiches with an old police buddy of his. He lives in a old apartment filled with books and spends much of his weekends attempting to get his books under control. Since he has no bookshelves this proves to be a sisyphean task. Still he continues to add to his stacks of books. Maybe it's this habit which endears him to me.
Rio was a main character in the book, but other than listing places I did not get a feel for it. That seems like a missed opportunity. I would have liked more local color. I did get a feeling for the level of police corruption and poverty, but little else.
There is, however, a growing mystery that we are not aware of. Suspects and witnesses are dying. This time it is murder. While the real mystery was not revealed until the end, it was rather easy to guess who was the culprit. It also seems like Espinosa should have had suspicions, but he did not.
The ultimate ending is a complete left turn. It's funny, strange, and somewhat unbelievable which left me wondering if I was satisfied with he ending or not. I'm still not sure. However, I liked the journey to get there.
I'll likely read more books in the series.
A prostitute winds up dead. An ex-policeman was last seen with her and can't remember much of the night before. Investigating is Inspector Espinosa, who doesn't choose to accept the obvious solution. He knew the ex-cop and can't connect him with this kind of violence.
When other bodies show up, notably that of a homeless boy, Espinosa starts to make some connections, and seeks out another homeless boy, who may have the answer.
An excellent procedural mystery with plenty to wonder about and much to enjoy in the evocation of the various scenes.
Character development is subtle and substantial all at once. The character of Camilla Bruno was intriguing. Was she seducing patients or not? I wish I had more Garcia-Rozas on my Challenge list. I would have liked to see how Espinoza's personality evolves. His love of books, for example.
One of the best part's of Garcia-Roza's writing is his elegant descriptions of the Rio de Janeiro neighborhoods (Copacabana and Ipanema specifically). I found myself playing around with Google Earth just to see how close he came to matching the true landscapes.
Worth reading just to chew over another way to write a mystery.
The main detective is probably the best thing about the novel. He is a good character, but as a detective he leaves a lot to be desired. He was more interested in his books and a doomed crush on one of the witnesses than solving the crime. The book also continually gave away plot points, so the reader was ahead of the detective all the way and hence there was no tension or suspense in the story.
Action scenes are also clearly not the author's strong point: the attempted drive by shooting of the detective seemed to barely interrupt his walk home.
And the less said about the ending the better - it is a spectacularly ill-considered dénouement that fails on all levels.
But, obviously, other people like it. I'd just suggest the potential reader should be aware that it's not a mainstream crime novel.
During part 2 of the story Espinosa and his team carry out a constant investigation of his preferred suspect, turning up at his place of work to check minor details of his story, or talking to his wife. We see most of the story through the eyes of this suspect, raising the question of how reliable a witness he really is. He claims to his wife that there are large parts of the evening that he doesn't remember. Espinosa ramps up the psychological pressure.
In places the author's style reminds me of Simenon and that is probably why I liked it so much.
Some readers will find the story's climax a bit too open-ended and inconclusive.
In terms of crime fiction as the English-writing/speaking world knows it, this book would barely register on the genre’s scale, owing far more to the Latin American literary, often poetic narrative style though there are only fleeting glimpses (thankfully for me) of the magical realism that has been prevalent in other Latin American books I’ve read. It doesn’t seem to feel the need to finish all the threads very neatly and much more of the ending is left up to the reader to imagine than would be the case with a more traditional procedural.
The characters are depicted in an observational style but there is depth to them too. When we’re introduced to Gabriel’s widowed mother, who he lives with, she is sitting in her ground floor apartment’s window watching for her son to come down the street as she does every single day and she almost hyperventilates when he is 40 minutes late. She is making herself a cushion to aid in her window-watching and has fashioned herself a ladder to help her climb up to her perch which shows, in words other authors would take two chapters to describe while Garcia-Roza takes about a page, how obsessed she is with her son and how pivotal her relationship with him is to her daily life. Espinoza is almost her exact opposite being fairly cynical, having no close family living in the country and not being remotely interested in domestic pursuits. He is however very funny and does have some nice relationships including one with his 13-year old neighbour who he allows to convince him to acquire a puppy. With all the characters Garcia-Roza kept me wondering whether they are who they appear to be on first acquaintance and I loved that. In fact the least successful person in the book was the central character of Gabriel who was a little more predictable from my point of view than the others.
Southwesterly wind really is quite a simple story but it captivated me so completely I managed to read the last half of it while at the hairdresser’s (one of the few places I normally don’t bother to try and read due to the cacophony created by the blaring radio, shouted conversations and duelling hairdryers). I really had no idea what would come next but I had a rather desperate need to find out and the writing style lent itself to the book being quickly devoured. It is one of those crime fiction novels that I can imagine recommending to all sorts of readers, not just fellow mystery lovers, as it is first and foremost an intriguing yarn about intriguing people. It just happens to have a crime at its core, or the possibility of one at any rate.
Inspector Espinosa is called to a childhood haunt when a beggar turns up shot. But why would someone murder a man who has nothing, and what does one of the key witnesses - a neurotic interior designer - have to do with it?
Blackout's central mystery is at times predictable, illogical, and unguessable. The novel is more of a police procedural, but Espinosa's peregrinations lack much procedure. This gives the novel a kind of loping, episodic, almost pre-destined feel. This is not helped by the somewhat irrational and/or thin characters.
This is not to say the characters aren't enjoyable. They are all stereotypically (perplexingly!), sexy. Everyone seems to be good-looking, sleeping with someone with one eye on someone else. There's an undercurrent running through Blackout, a kind of unceasing murmur like a batucada - "It's so hot, the day is so beautiful, why worry? Let's make love!" It's certainly a change from the average police procedural, and it is winsome, in its own way.
But it's also kind of frustrating as the novel collapses wholly into silliness in the home stretch. You can't hate it too much for this; it's so light and trivial that a grudge seems needlessly stern, but at the same time there's not really a compelling reason to read any more.
Inspector Espinosa is an interesting character, in his mid forties, a failed marriage behind him, a bit old fashioned, a book collector and reader of English classics, and to my mind at least, a touch of Inspector Clueso about him.
I'm not spilling any beans if I tell you that right from the start the reader knows what has happened in this death. But of course Inspector Espinosa does not have the advantage that we have - we were witnesses at the death scene, for a few moments at least. And so we watch Espinsosa test all sorts of hypotheses and follow false trails. We can only hope, in the words of Sir Thomas More, that when his head has finished turning, it is facing in the right direction, and that he comes to the right conclusion. It is a pity he can't feel us willing him on.
THE SILENCE OF THE RAIN has an interesting structure. In PART I we see Espinosa in the third person. In fact we enter many people's heads in the same way. In PART II Espinosa is in the first person, we actually hear how he thinks. And then in PART III, we see him "from the outside" again.
If you've read this book, how did that strike you?
My rating: 4.5
THE SILENCE OF THE RAIN is the first in Garcia-Roza's Inspector Espinosa series.
I'm certainly interested in reading more, now that I've discovered him.Many thanks to Rob at The View from the Blue House who pointed the way to him in our mutual quest: the 2010 Global Reading Challenge.
It is also interesting to find out that the author was 60 years old when he wrote this first novel. Check an interview with him here. Thanks to Jose Ignacio Escribano of The Game's Afoot for pointing to this article.
In the list below, from Fantastic Fiction, the dates (I think) indicate dates published in English.
1. The Silence of the Rain (2002)
2. December Heat (2003)
3. Southwesterly Wind (2004)
4. A Window in Copacabana (2005)
5. Pursuit (2006)
6. Blackout (2008)
7. Alone in the Crowd (2009)
Opinião do Leitor:
Priscila / Data: 31/12/2009
Conceito do leitor: | (opine)
Sempre uma boa leitura
Eu sou suspeita para opininar, pois adoro o Garcia Roza e o Espinosa.
Eu diria que não é o melhor dos livros da serie, mas, como sempre, é uma leitura gostosa e divertida, um livro policial animado, que prende muito nossa atenção e interesse!
Recomendo!!
Sobre o autor:
GARCIA-ROZA, LUIZ ALFREDO
Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza nasceu no Rio de Janeiro, em 1936, cidade onde vive até hoje. Formado em filosofia e em psicologia, é professor-titular da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Escreveu diversos livros sobre psicanálise e filosofia. Em 1997, seu romance de estréia 'O silêncio da chuva' recebeu os prêmios Nestlé e Jabuti.
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