{"id":9561,"date":"2018-01-09T17:09:49","date_gmt":"2018-01-09T22:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=9561"},"modified":"2021-06-04T13:13:46","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T17:13:46","slug":"the-pyramid-of-mud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9561","title":{"rendered":"The Pyramid of Mud"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pyramid of Mud<\/a><\/em> (2014\/2018) Andrea Camilleri<\/a> translated by Stephen Sartarelli<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Book 22 of the Inspector Montalbano series.<\/p>\n

At the end of a Beam of Light<\/em>, Montalbano receives a shock that causes him pain and apparently put Livia into a great depression. Because of the strange publishing of the Montalbano books, this was two novels ago. So I had almost forgotten why Livia was in such a dark place. Apparently I need to find the *Italian* publication order, which I already knew was not the same as the American publication order.<\/p>\n

It has been raining seemingly forever, and everything is mud.<\/p>\n

The previous evening the inspector had heard a scientist on television say that all of Italy was in danger of suffering a gigantic geological disaster, because it had never had a government willing to undertake any serious maintenance of the land. In short, it was as if a homeowner had never taken the trouble to repair a leaky roof or some damaged foundations, and then was surprised and complained when his house collapsed one day on top of him. <\/p>\n

Maybe this is exactly what we deserve<\/em>, Montalbano thought bitterly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This story has what one expects from a Montalbano mystery: murder, confused telephone conversations, complicated conversations with Catarella. But it also has something new: Montalbano’s concerns and worries for Livia.<\/p>\n

She seemed to have lost all interest, forgot things, neglected her appearance, was no longer present even to herself. <\/p>\n

Now, just hearing how different her voice sounded, Montalbano felt his heart give a tug. The world around him turned gray and a wave of melancholy swept over him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I very much appreciated this, because in past books I have been unable to understand their relationship. It seemed as if all they did is fight–and Montalbano was not always faithful to her. I didn’t understand why they were together.<\/p>\n

Although this doesn’t excuse his philandering, it does show a side to their relationship we hadn’t seen before, and for once you can see why they have remained together, despite everything.<\/p>\n

The highlight of this book, for me, was Catarella. He is always amusing, but I love how his character has evolved over the course of the series. Especially the patience Montalbano takes with Catarella that he never takes with anyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I made a mistake?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYou made a mistake.\u201d <\/p>\n

Catarella turned first as red as a turkey cock and then as pale as a corpse. \u201cOhhh, no! A\u2019ss terrible, terrible, jess terrible! Unfergivable! I took the chief the wrong ways!\u201d <\/p>\n

Forlorn and on the verge of tears, he buried his face in his hands. The inspector, to keep things from getting any worse, patted him amicably on the back. <\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, Cat, don\u2019t take it so hard. A minute more, a minute less, doesn\u2019t make any difference. Chin up. And now take the cell phone and have Fazio explain to you which way we should go.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then there is this bit, which I loved.<\/p>\n

Walking past Catarella\u2019s closet, he noticed the receptionist was busy trying to solve a crossword puzzle. His brow was furrowed and he was chewing the end of his pencil. <\/p>\n

\u201cNeed any help?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, Chief. I can\u2019t tink of a woid.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the definition?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018 Together with the carabinieri, they pursue killers and thieves and maintain law and order.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHow many letters?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cSix.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cPolice.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAre ya sure? I tought o\u2019 that, but then I arased it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen have us police ever woiked t\u2019getter with the carabinieri?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ve read enough books set in Italy to recognize the humor in that–and to appreciate Catarella’s thought process as well.<\/p>\n

I’ll be honest, I found the mystery here somewhat confusing at times, possibly since part of the mystery turned on Italian construction companies, and their names. The names were explained in footnotes in the back, but since there aren’t links to the footnotes within the story, I had trouble parsing all the companies and names and why things were they way they were.<\/p>\n

Not that the footnotes are not entertaining.<\/p>\n

(I)n common Italian parlance, bunga bunga has come to refer to the dubious nature of the former prime minister\u2019s tastes in personal entertainment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yet, I still enjoyed the story, mostly because I enjoy reading about Montalbano and Fazio and Catarella.<\/p>\n

If you have not read a Montalbano story, this is not the place to start. But the series is enjoyable, and I do recommend it.
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Publisher: Penguin Books<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pyramid of Mud (2014\/2018) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Book 22 of the Inspector Montalbano series. At the end of a Beam of Light, Montalbano receives a shock that causes him pain and apparently put Livia into a great depression. Because of the strange publishing of the Montalbano books, this was two novels […]<\/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":false,"_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":[8,42,38],"tags":[94,95,54,435],"class_list":["post-9561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mystery","category-police","category-translated","tag-andrea-camilleri","tag-inspector-montalbano","tag-italy","tag-stephen-sartarelli"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2ud","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":851,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/851","url_meta":{"origin":9561,"position":0},"title":"The Snack Thief","author":"Michelle","date":"December 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Snack Thief (1996) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The third book in Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series finds Montalbano investigating a man found murdered in an elevator, while Augello investigates a shooting on a fishing boat that left a Tunisian dead--shot ostensibly by a Tunisian police boat claiming\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\/2008\/12\/Snack-Thief.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10845,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10845","url_meta":{"origin":9561,"position":1},"title":"Voice of the Violin, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"May 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Voice of the Violin, Audible Version (1997\/2003\/2008) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli narrated by Grover Gardner This book begins the slow and slight redemption of Catarella. \u201cOh, Chief, I got another streamly impoitant ting to tell ya. Somebody from Montelusa Central called to talk to me in poisson, Inspector\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\/2008\/12\/Voice-Violin-e1511038008168.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5410,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5410","url_meta":{"origin":9561,"position":2},"title":"A Beam of Light","author":"Michelle","date":"September 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A Beam of Light (2012\/2015) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The problem with the \"surprise\" in this book is that it refers to events that happened early in the series, and since that character hadn't been referred to in years, having him brought up again (when he hadn't been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"A-Beam-of-Light","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/A-Beam-of-Light.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4361,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4361","url_meta":{"origin":9561,"position":3},"title":"August Heat","author":"Michelle","date":"January 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"August Heat (2006\/2009) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This is not my favorite Montalbano story. This is the book where the relationship between Montalbano and Livia starts to fall apart. (It continues to fall apart for the rest of the series so far.) We also see Montalbano behaving in\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\/2009\/02\/August-Heat.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10479,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10479","url_meta":{"origin":9561,"position":4},"title":"The Snack Thief, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"April 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Snack Thief, Audible Version (1996\/2003\/2007) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli narrated by Grover Gardner The third Inspector Montalbano book. Montalbano's relationship with Augello is quite antagonistic. Catarella is still an idiot, and although he argues with Livia, their relationships isn't quite as hostile as it has gotten in\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":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/Snack-Thief-e1511015484202.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13700,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13700","url_meta":{"origin":9561,"position":5},"title":"The Sicilian Method","author":"Michelle","date":"December 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Sicilian Method (2017\/2020) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli There are only a few Montalbano books left. This one was quite disappointing, considering how few books there are left. We did have the typical banter between Montalbano and his men. As soon as he reached the landing, Augello and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "eBook"","block_context":{"text":"eBook","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/ebook"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Sicilian Method","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The-Sicilian-Method.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\/9561","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=9561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}