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The Terra-Cotta Dog (Inspector Montalbano Mysteries) | 
 enlarge | Author: Andrea Camilleri
Creator: Stephen Sartarelli
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $13.00
Buy New: $7.00
You Save: $6.00 (46%)
New (32) Used (14) from $4.73
Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 43422
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0142004723
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780142004722
ASIN: 0142004723
Publication Date: May 31, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano has garnered millions of fans worldwide with his sardonic take on Sicilian life. Montalbano's latest case begins with a mysterious tete a tete with a Mafioso, some inexplicably abandoned loot from a supermarket heist, and dying words that lead him to an illegal arms cache in a mountain cave. There, the inspector finds two young lovers, dead for fifty years and still embracing, watched over by a life-sized terra-cotta dog. Montalbano's passion to solve this old crime takes him on a journey through Sicily's past and into one family's darkest secrets. With sly wit and a keen understanding of human nature, Montalbano is a detective whose earthiness, compassion, and imagination make him totally irresistable.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
The Best May 8, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Andrea Camilleri is one of the few brilliant writers in the genre of detective fiction. His work has it all: superb writing, sensuality, food, funny and moving characters, a great detective, and a setting that allows for all kinds of innuendo and inference - Sicily. The translations are amazingly good, and the only caveat I have is BEWARE: these books are highly addictive.
II CANE DI TERRACOTTA - THE TERRACOTTA DOG - ANDREA CAMILLERI February 10, 2007
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
Inspector Salvo Montalbano of Vigata gets an urgent call from his best friend Greg the pimp they need to meet on the quick, Montalbano is informed that Greg was told to relay a message from Tano the Greek (the number two Mafioso) he wants a secret tete-a-tete. Tano the Greek had been in hiding for quite sometime and on every wanted policeman list possible, Tano had made his conditions very clear that Montalbano should come alone and tell no one. Sudden trembles and panic enter Montalbono head, then suspicion why out of the blue would a member of the Mafioso want to meet with him? Curiosity more than anything gets the better of him and he complies to go without calling it in.
Meanwhile in another part of Vigata a supermarket heist is taking place, Montalbano soon finds out everything did not go according to plan. Why would anyone bother to set up a heist then not only abandoned the goods but also leave a whole bagful of cash?
Inspector Montalbano is then on the move again this time his called to Palermo Hospital urgently to listen to a dying man's words, which in due course leads Montalbano to a secret cave, two more bodies are discovered embracing each other, even more shocking these bodies had been there for at least fifty years what sort of twisted dark past was this, who were these people and why were they being watched over by a Terracotta dog? Montalbano needs to understand what happened here, he takes time rediscovering the horrors of a WWII past. It's the only way forward.
Andrea Camilleri has written a wonderful Montalbano mystery series, what I love firstly about this whole series would be the charactizations and language the usage of dialogue in conversation it's all been kept real it's got sharp wit and comic moments the sly comments on Italian life and culture keeps things interesting and really amusing. Montalbano is a fantastic leading character his middle-aged, melancholy vein, recites certain favorite authors' lines in moments of doubt and his clearly well read. His passion for great flavored food is endless and mouthwatering, his also a thinker and manages to untangle a spun web of lies and sort out the logic of his cases to get to the truth. Montalbano is not afraid to explore all areas even into obsession. His got a huge female following of all ages because he has that attractiveness about him, one would be his "get to the point attitude" and can say it in many different ways. In spite of much temptation from women he remains faithful to his long time girlfriend Livia who in turn is happy to adjust her life and will calm and comfort in his time of need, Livia understands what his trying to achieve in his world that is corrupted and knows how to handle his darker moods. Montalbano loyal team continues to support him no matter what his faults and tactics may be.
The Fictional town of Vigata is so vividly portrayed by Camilleri that it feels like a real place in Sicily; Camilleri himself in an interview said he based this town on his birthplace in Sicily Porto Empedocle, people of his home town have now recently changed the name to Vigata to match the book in his honour. The whole series seems to have a timeless feel about them; I took a whole batch of this series on a recent vacation plotted up and read one to the next, it was addictive reading and I was not disappointed by any. Although you can start anywhere in the series, it clearly deserves to be read from the beginning. This is the second book in the series the first being (La form dell'acqua) The shape of Water.
A special mention to poet Stephen Sartarelli, for the clear translation of each book and for the informative notes given at the back on wording. Thank you.
This book was an intriguing wonderful read, the one that will hook and reel you in.
A.Bowhill
The life of Sicily January 3, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I have become enamoured with the Italian mystery genre in the last 2-3 years. It has been an education to explore Venice with Commissario Brunetti and Florence with Marshall Guarnaccia or Sicily with Inspector Montealbano. All three authors (Donna Leon, Magdalen Nabb, and Andrea Camilleri) know their locale and focus on the daily lives of the citizens, while moving along a rip-roaring story. But there are significant differences - Leon and Nabb write in English (Nabb uses British terms that remind me of Christie that break the spell) while Camilleri writes in Italian. He is Italian - he understands the importance of the land and the wine and especially the food that fuels Sicily. (The translation is superb.) Leon and Nabb certainly know their areas and their craft and they are very, very good, but Camilleri works the magic.
Camilleri captures the angst and the pain and the loneliness of Inspector Montalbano. But he also captures in mouthwatering detail the need to eat with a focus on the quality and variety of food that stops the Inspector's world, even when he has to go long distances to find the right place to eat.
I like to read a series from the beginning. I like to meet and greet the protagonist and then watch him/her grow with fond memories brought about by references to prior books. The Terra Cotta Dog is the first of the series that has been translated into English. Apparently the entire collection is large and the selection for translation has been severe, but the stories and especially the translations have been excellent. This is the place to start.
I highly recommend all three Italian protagonists with Inspector Montalbano and Commissario Brunetti right at the top of my list of "must buy" when a new book hit the market. They take me to places I have never visited, though I now seem to know, and allow me to interact with people I would like to know better.
My colleague and his wife visited his ancestor's Sicily last spring for the first time. I got them 5 of the books and suggested they read them in the order they were written if they had the time. The results were astounding. Apparently there was a fight for the books amongst the 4 that went and Mr. Camilleri's introduction to Sicily through the eyes of Inspector Montalbano made the trip even more memorable than expected. They "lived" Sicily by reading the books - not the big things from the guide books, but the small rituals of life and especially the food. Yes, for the Inspector, it all comes down to food and this is what made the trip so memorable.
Enjoy your tour of Venice or Florence or Sicily!
more than meets the English speaking eye December 12, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having read all the Andrea Camilleri books in Italian, I want to emphasize that the opening of Cane di Terracotta gives a perfect intro to Montalbano's character and ambience, and is an example of his best writing.
All Camilleri's Montalbano books read as if set for TV or movie, with quick moving short scenes, easily engaging the contemporary reader.
Can you imagine reading an Italian translation of Faulkner's works and being able to claim that you understood the depth of his writing? The same is true of Camilleri's Sicilian dialect being translated into English. Aside from his wonderful focus on the pleasures and travails of everyday life, and on the foibles of humanity, the true joy of his writing lies in its dialectical inventiveness, something that cannot be translated.
In fact, Camilleri has elevated his dialect to an art form, validating the usage of dialect in a world which is becoming ever more homogenized. Wasn't there a fellow named Dante that did a similar good turn?
I would encourage inquisitive readers to brush up their Italian so they can read other Andrea Camilleri books, especially those which are not Montalbano thrillers. My favorites are La Scomparsa di Pato, and La Concessione del Telefono. If your Italian is ok, you can learn the dialect from context as you read the books,
but if you want a little help, get Un Filo di Fumo, which has as its appendix a brief dictionary.
True Italian Flavor March 23, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This was the first Camilleri novel I read. I started it and finished it in a day. The plot is quick; it drives you along with Inspector Montalbano who is a real "character" in every sense of the word.
Montalbano uses fowl language, LOVES food; he's direct, smug, unpredictable, truly Italian and a great detective. These mysteries have a definite Italian feel to them which only adds to their charm. They may not be for everyone, but if you want a gritty story that keeps you turning pages (and don't mind a few fowl words and so on...) these stories will intrigue you.
In this novel two mysteries are solved. One mystery is from about 50 years ago and the other occurs in present day. Montalbano and his fellow officers unravel both in the way only they can - not always by the book and with a few surprises. You also learn more about Montalbano's ambiguous personal life, which as always includes food, women and a swim in the ocean.
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