{"id":5481,"date":"2015-11-07T11:19:44","date_gmt":"2015-11-07T16:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=5481"},"modified":"2018-04-26T09:36:06","modified_gmt":"2018-04-26T13:36:06","slug":"uniform-justice-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5481","title":{"rendered":"Uniform Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Uniform Justice<\/a><\/em> (2003) Donna Leon<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This is a somewhat distressing story, since it starts with the death of a teenager–just so you’ve been warned.<\/p>\n

Since he had learned of the boy\u2019s death, Brunetti had been assailed by the desire to know if the man had other children, but couldn\u2019t bring himself to ask. He had some sort of theoretical belief that their existence would serve as consolation, however limited. He tried to put himself in Moro\u2019s place and understand what solace he would find in the survival of one of his own children, but his imagination shied away from that horror. At the very thought, some force stronger than taboo seized him, numbing his mind.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Paola asked, \u2018What\u2019s she like?\u2019
\nHe thought about the woman, remembered her voice, the eyes that took little interest in seeing him, the paper-thin skin of her neck. \u2018Reduced,\u2019 he finally said. \u2018She\u2019s not a whole person any more.\u2019 He thought Paola would ask about this, but she didn\u2019t. \u2018All I saw was a photo of her, taken some years ago, with the boy. And her husband. She still looks like the same person; I mean, you could recognize her from the photo, but there\u2019s less of her.\u2019
\n\u2018That makes sense,\u2019 Paola said, \u2018there is less of her.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No matter how often his kids had gone to stay with their grandparents or other relatives, signs of their recent habitation had always lingered behind them. Suddenly he had a vision of what it must have been for the Moros to attempt to remove evidence of Ernesto\u2019s presence from their homes, and he thought of the danger that would remain behind: a single, lonely sock found at the back of a closet could break a mother\u2019s heart anew; a Spice Girls disc carelessly shoved into the plastic case meant to hold Vivaldi\u2019s flute sonatas could shatter any calm. Months, perhaps years, would pass before the house would stop being a minefield, every cabinet or drawer to be opened with silent dread.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s almost frightening how clearly these losses as seen and–not explained, because there can never be an explanation, but it seems to give a glimpse of the horror of losing a child.<\/p>\n

Almost.<\/p>\n

Of course, we do have Signoria Elettra, which always helps.<\/p>\n

So habituated had Brunetti become to her useful criminality that it did not for an instant trouble him that a person with greater sympathy for legal precision would translate her phrase, \u2018had a look at\u2019 as \u2018broke into\u2019.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This story deals in good part with the corruption of the Italian government, which never fails to astound me. I may find many problems with the American government, but we’ve got nothing on Italy.<\/p>\n

It was Fernando Moro\u2019s report that pointed out the inconvenient fact that those three hospitals, however grandiose their plans, however extensive their staffs, and however varied the services they were meant to provide, had never actually been built.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And of course there is his family, especially Paola.<\/p>\n

\u2018Paola,\u2019 he began. She peered at him over the top of her book, eyes vague and inattentive. \u2018What would you do if I asked you for a separation?\u2019
\nHer eyes had drifted back to the page before he spoke, but they shot back to his face now, and Anne Elliot was left to her own romantic problems. \u2018If you what?\u2019
\n\u2018Asked for a separation.\u2019
\nVoice level, she inquired, \u2018Before I go into the kitchen to get the bread knife, could you tell me if this is a theoretical question?\u2019
\n\u2018Absolutely,\u2019 he said, embarrassed by how happy her threat of violence had made him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This story is in many ways a contemplation of many horrible things: the death of a child, and the depths to which political corruption can sink.<\/p>\n

Don’t look here for a clean and happy ending. However, that doesn’t mean this story isn’t worth reading.
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Uniform Justice (2003) Donna Leon This is a somewhat distressing story, since it starts with the death of a teenager–just so you’ve been warned. Since he had learned of the boy\u2019s death, Brunetti had been assailed by the desire to know if the man had other children, but couldn\u2019t bring himself to ask. He had […]<\/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":[8,42,41],"tags":[97,96],"class_list":["post-5481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","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-1qp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":683,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/683","url_meta":{"origin":5481,"position":0},"title":"Uniform Justice","author":"Michelle","date":"October 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Uniform Justice (2003) Donna Leon I really like Commissario Guido Brunetti. I like his sense of justice and fairness. I like his intelligence and wit. And I like his wife. In fact I think I wish I was Paola. A boy is found dead in the local military school, and\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\/Uniform-Justice-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":717,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/717","url_meta":{"origin":5481,"position":1},"title":"Blood from a Stone","author":"Michelle","date":"October 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Blood from a Stone (2005) Donna Leon In Donna Leon's fourteenth Commissario Guido Brunetti book, a vu cumpra is shot down on the street by hired assassins. Brunetti is (eventually) called to the scene, and attempts to unravel why a man selling fake handbags was shot in cold blood on\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\/Blood-from-a-Stone-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13525,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13525","url_meta":{"origin":5481,"position":2},"title":"Death at La Fenice","author":"Michelle","date":"October 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Death at La Fenice (1992) Donna Leon (Commissario Brunetti) A famous conductor is found dead during the intermission of the opera he was conducting. The police are called, and so we are first introduced to Guido Brunetti, Comissario of the Venice police. What surprises me every time I re-read this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Death at la Fenice","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Death-at-La-Fenice-e1511015320566.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":735,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/735","url_meta":{"origin":5481,"position":3},"title":"Friends in High Places","author":"Michelle","date":"October 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Friends in High Places (2000) Donna Leon Apparently, Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti books are not being published in the US following European copyright dates. Friends in High Places has a European copyright of 2000, but was published in the US only recently. Not that this particularly matters in the grand\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\/Friends-in-High-Places.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3954,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3954","url_meta":{"origin":5481,"position":4},"title":"Death and Judgment","author":"Michelle","date":"August 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Death and Judgment (1995) Donna Leon This is a very dark story. In fact, considering my mood, I probably should have chosen something completely different to re-read. Attorney Carlo Trevisan was shot on the train, his body discovered right before the train reached the next station. There seem to be\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\/Death-and-Judgment-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":588,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/588","url_meta":{"origin":5481,"position":5},"title":"Quietly in Their Sleep","author":"Michelle","date":"June 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Quietly in Their Sleep (1997) Donna Leon This was a rather strange story in comparison to the previous books. Brunetti is given only a vague idea that there might be something untoward happening in a nursing home--a home that is run by the same man as the home in which\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\/Quietly-in-Their-Sleep.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\/5481","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=5481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5481\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}