{"id":5449,"date":"2015-10-11T15:37:04","date_gmt":"2015-10-11T19:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=5449"},"modified":"2018-04-26T09:36:38","modified_gmt":"2018-04-26T13:36:38","slug":"acqua-alta-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5449","title":{"rendered":"Acqua Alta"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acqua Alta<\/a><\/em> (1996) Donna Leon<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The fifth book in the Commisario Brunetti series finds the city of Venice a major character, as the Acqua Alta threatens the city with flooding.<\/p>\n

We also return to Flavia Petrelli and Brett, the women from the first book. Brett has returned to the city to speak to the Dottor Semenzato, who arranged the exhibition of Chinese items at the Venice museum (which was how Flavia and Brett met). But when two thugs attempt to convince Brett not to attend that meeting, Brunetti becomes involved.<\/p>\n

I noticed something interesting when reading this book, which is that we really are not given much of a physical description of Brunetti in this series.<\/p>\n

Just inside the door stood a man, tallish and heavily built, who looked vaguely familiar but whom she couldn\u2019t place.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which is perfectly fine with me, but strikes me as somewhat unusual. <\/p>\n

We also get a glimpse into opera, which amuses me.<\/p>\n

\u2018Then you are going to sing it?\u2019 he asked. The press had been buzzing with this for weeks, even though the opening night was almost a full year away. The soprano whose name had been \u2018hinted at\u2019 as the one \u2018rumoured to be\u2019 the \u2018possible choice\u2019 \u2013 this was the way things were expressed at La Scala \u2013 had said she was interested in the possibility and would consider it, which clearly meant she wasn\u2019t, and wouldn\u2019t. Flavia Petrelli, who had never sung the role, was named as the next possibility, and she had issued, just two weeks ago, a statement to the press saying she refused absolutely even to consider the idea, as close to a formal acceptance as a soprano could be expected to come.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And as always there is the Italian way of doing things.<\/p>\n

\u2018Occam\u2019s Razor,\u2019 she finally said in English, voice resigned.
\nBrunetti waited for Flavia to speak, thinking this might make some sense to her, but Flavia said nothing. So he asked, \u2018Whose razor?\u2019
\n\u2018William of Occam,\u2019 Brett repeated, though she kept her eyes on her glass. \u2018He was a medieval philosopher. English, I think. He had a theory that said the correct explanation to any problem was usually the one that made the simplest use of the available information.\u2019
\nSignor William, Brunetti caught himself thinking, was clearly not an Italian.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although there is murder here, this is a far less depressing book that the previous two. Not that there aren’t injustices, it’s more than the resolution is far less grim.<\/p>\n

Plus, I find acqua Alta itself fascinating.
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Grove\/Atlantic, Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acqua Alta (1996) Donna Leon The fifth book in the Commisario Brunetti series finds the city of Venice a major character, as the Acqua Alta threatens the city with flooding. We also return to Flavia Petrelli and Brett, the women from the first book. Brett has returned to the city to speak to the Dottor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,8,42,41],"tags":[97,96],"class_list":["post-5449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-mystery","category-police","category-reread","tag-commissario-guido-brunetti","tag-donna-leon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1pT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3995,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3995","url_meta":{"origin":5449,"position":0},"title":"Acqua Alta","author":"Michelle","date":"August 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Acqua Alta (1996) Donna Leon This story returns to Brett and Flavia, who we met in the first book, Death at La Fenice. Brett has returned from China, only it appears that someone is not happy for her to have returned. It is the time of acqua alta, or high\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Acqua-Alta.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":584,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/584","url_meta":{"origin":5449,"position":1},"title":"Acqua Alta","author":"Michelle","date":"May 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Acqua Alta (1996) Donna Leon In Acqua Alta we return to two of the characters that Guido met in the first mystery, Death at La Fenice. Brett Lynch is beaten in the doorway of her own apartment. When Guido discovers what has happened he goes to her hospital where he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Acqua-Alta.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2024,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2024","url_meta":{"origin":5449,"position":2},"title":"A Question of Belief","author":"Michelle","date":"October 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"A Question of Belief (2010) Donna Leon It's summer in Venice, and Brunetti wishes that all criminals would take a vacation with the rest of the country, to allow them to escape the oppressive heat. But even if the criminals were to take a break, two different problems that may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Question-of-Belief.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5539,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5539","url_meta":{"origin":5449,"position":3},"title":"Falling in Love","author":"Michelle","date":"November 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Falling in Love (2015) Donna Leon And now, I have read and re-read all the published Donna Leon, Commisario Brunetti books. We return once again to the Opera and Flavia Petrelli. La Fenice is putting on Tosca, and Flavia has the lead role. Brunetti and Paola meet her after the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Falling-in-Love-by-Donna-Leon.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2016,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2016","url_meta":{"origin":5449,"position":4},"title":"About Face","author":"Michelle","date":"October 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"About Face (2009) Donna Leon Brunetti and Paola are invited to a formal dinner at her parent's house. During the dinner, Brunetti is seated across from an arresting woman--her facial features are frozen--rumor says through too much plastic surgery. Brunetti is unsure how to take this woman, but when she\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/About-Face-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":687,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/687","url_meta":{"origin":5449,"position":5},"title":"Doctored Evidence","author":"Michelle","date":"October 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Doctored Evidence (2004) Donna Leon A querulous old woman is killed in her apartment, and suspicion automatically falls upon the maid. Scarpa closes the case, but when Brunetti comes back into town, new evidence--that Scarpa wants to dismiss unheard--comes to light. This book is not just about discovering who killed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Doctored-Evidence-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5449\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}