Blood from a Stone by Donna Leon: A review

Corruption is rampant in Donna Leon's Venice. Venetians might have invented quid pro quo. It seems impossible to get anything done there without one hand washing the other, so to speak.

That holds true for the police as well. That is the milieu in which Commissario Guido Brunetti must operate. It's what he must deal with to extract information, investigate crimes, and achieve justice for the victims. In fact, in these dark stories, there is very little justice achieved.

Leon always manages to bring a bit of current-day politics into her tales which contributes to their feeling of verisimilitude. In this case, her reference is to refugees and immigrants from Africa that are coming into Italy, some legally and some illegally. Some of the men work as street vendors. They buy knock-off handbags and then resell them to customers on the streets after shops are closed for the day. The community is tolerant toward them. They seem harmless and don't cause any trouble.

Then one of the men is assassinated while standing next to his wares and in the company of his fellow vendors. The time is just before Christmas and the streets are crowded but no one seems to have seen clearly what happened. Two American tourists were standing nearby and saw two men who, in retrospect, were clearly the assassins, but they are not able to give good descriptions.

Brunetti and his sidekick Vianelli investigate and, as usual, are aided by the computer-savvy Signorina Elettra. (Computers are still a mystery to Brunetti in this book first published in 2005. At some point, he's going to have to get a clue!) But soon Brunetti is warned off the case by his boss. No reason is given but Brunetti understands the exigencies of Venetian politics and how they affect the police. Especially his very politically sensitive boss.

Of course, he continues his investigation on the down-low and when he and Vianelli go to the man's apartment to search it, in a container of salt they find a hundred or more diamonds. Brunetti calls on outside experts to try to determine where the diamonds are from and learns that they are likely "blood diamonds". What to do with them?

Leon attempts to address a number of social issues in this one, including treatment of refugees and immigrants, incipient racism in Italian society, the disruptions to society as a result of a flood of immigrants from Africa, as well as the everyday tension between the honest cops and the corruption in government which they have to navigate. It's a lot to try to cover. Maybe too much. Sadly, I felt that the problems she was describing were very familiar because they have their counterparts in current American society.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

The Nature of Things

Search This Blog