{"id":5530,"date":"2015-11-29T09:35:47","date_gmt":"2015-11-29T14:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=5530"},"modified":"2018-04-26T09:36:05","modified_gmt":"2018-04-26T13:36:05","slug":"beastly-things-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5530","title":{"rendered":"Beastly Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beastly Things<\/a><\/em> (2012) Donna Leon<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Although I had forgotten most of the mystery, the scenes of Brunetti and Vianello going into the slaughterhouse I remembered quite vividly–their horror and disgust at what they witnessed.<\/p>\n

Again, Rizzardi continues to be one of my favorite characters, even though we usually only see him once a book.<\/p>\n

\u2018Miracle?\u2019 Brunetti asked.
\n\u2018In a manner of speaking,\u2019 Rizzardi said. \u2018Something wonderful.\u2019 Rizzardi looked at his friend and must have seen something he liked, or trusted, for he went on, \u2018If you think about it, the most ordinary things we do \u2013 picking up a glass, tying our shoes, whistling . . . they\u2019re all tiny miracles.\u2019
\n\u2018Then why do you do what you do?\u2019 Brunetti asked, surprising himself with the question.
\n\u2018What?\u2019 Rizzardi asked. \u2018I don\u2019t understand.\u2019
\n\u2018Work with people after the miracles are over,\u2019 Brunetti said for want of a better way to say it.
\nThere was a long pause before Rizzardi answered. At last he said, \u2018I never thought of it that way.\u2019 He looked down at his own hands, turned them over and studied the palms for a moment. \u2018Maybe it\u2019s because what I do lets me see more clearly the way things work, the things that make the miracles possible.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I will note one negative–it seems that Donna Leon doesn’t carefully track her plots and characters. I’ve noticed this previously, but reading the books one after the other brought it out more clearly.<\/p>\n

For instance, this passage:<\/p>\n

The driver reminded him about the seat belt, and Brunetti, thinking it foolish to use it for what would prove such a short trip, put it on nevertheless.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s as if the car accident he was in that killed a colleague never happened. <\/p>\n

It’s just a small thing, but as I said, when reading the books one after the other, these inconsistencies stick out.<\/p>\n

There are, of course, the thoughts and comments on human nature:<\/p>\n

\u2018How stupid does he think we are?\u2019 Vianello burst out.
\n\u2018Probably very,\u2019 Brunetti said, almost without thinking. Being underestimated, he had learned \u2013 however unflattering it might be \u2013 always conveyed an advantage. If the person doing the underestimating wasn\u2019t very bright to begin with \u2013 and Brunetti had a sense that Meucci was not \u2013 that increased the advantage.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This isn’t one of my favorite stories, but I do believe this book has both my favorite funeral scene (I know that sounds weird, but it’s true) and my favorite ending. So many of the funerals Brunetti attends are sparsely attended, or the dead seemed as if they would be quickly forgotten. This scene, however, was lovely in a heart breaking way (it brings me to tears, remembering it).
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Atlantic Monthly Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beastly Things (2012) Donna Leon Although I had forgotten most of the mystery, the scenes of Brunetti and Vianello going into the slaughterhouse I remembered quite vividly–their horror and disgust at what they witnessed. Again, Rizzardi continues to be one of my favorite characters, even though we usually only see him once a book. \u2018Miracle?\u2019 […]<\/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-5530","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-1rc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3057,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3057","url_meta":{"origin":5530,"position":0},"title":"Beastly Things","author":"Michelle","date":"July 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Beastly Things (2012) Donna Leon I love this series. I love spending time in Venice with Commissario Brunetti and has family, I love all the characters he deals with, and I love the complexity of his family and co-workers. It's funny, but for the most part, the mysteries take a\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\/Beastly-Things.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5729,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5729","url_meta":{"origin":5530,"position":1},"title":"The Waters of Eternal Youth","author":"Michelle","date":"March 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Waters of Eternal Youth (2016) Donna Leon This is the 25th book in the Guido Brunetti series, which shouldn't surprise me, yet somehow does. Brunetti remains as astute as ever, with many sharp little comments on life. Contessa Lando-Continui had always been polite to him, at times even warm,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Waters-of-Eternal-Youth","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/The-Waters-of-Eternal-Youth.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5477,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5477","url_meta":{"origin":5530,"position":2},"title":"Willful Behavior","author":"Michelle","date":"November 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Willful Behavior (2002) Donna Leon The eleventh Commissario Brunetti book finds both Guido and Paola involved in the favors and requests that pervade Venice (and Italy). \u2018But you have to let me do something for you.\u2019 \u2018All right, you can,\u2019 Brunetti said immediately. \u2018Good. What? Anything.\u2019 \u2018The next time we\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\/Willful-Behavior.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5521,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5521","url_meta":{"origin":5530,"position":3},"title":"A Question of Belief","author":"Michelle","date":"November 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A Question of Belief (2010) Donna Leon The 19th Commisarrio Brunetti book finds Guido and his family ready for their vacation in the mountains--and an escape to the oppressive heat and humidity of Venice. Though the heat often drove people to violence, that was not the case this year. Perhaps\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\/Question-of-Belief.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":735,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/735","url_meta":{"origin":5530,"position":4},"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":2024,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2024","url_meta":{"origin":5530,"position":5},"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":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5530","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=5530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}