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Back to Bologna (Hardcover)

by Michael Dibdin (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
RRP: £10.00
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 223 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber (4 Aug 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571227759
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571227754
  • Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.2 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 312,583 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #19 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > D > Dibdin, Michael

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Every so often--and his new novel Back to Bolognais a good example of this--Michael Dibdin stretches the form of the detective novel to involve his often glum detective Aurelio Zen in situations of wild, bloody farce. Dragged back to work in spite of ill health that may be hypochondria, and faced with the breakdown of his long-term relationship, Zen finds himself caught up in the murder of a football club owner, a cooking duel between a celebrity chef and a post-modern professor and the amorous adventures of a beautiful immigrant from Ruritania. Back to Bologna combines some sharp satirical comments with a dim view of unreasonable behaviour, whether by spoiled brat football hooligans or blundering private eyes. Dibdin combines sharply-phrased misanthropy with a capacity ultimately to forgive human weakness. Many of his books are classics of modern crime writing; Back to Bologna is perhaps less ambitious, but it is a technically accomplished delight. ---Roz Kaveney


Product Description

When the corpse of the shady industrialist who owns the local football team is found both shot and stabbed with a Parmesan knife, Italian police inspector Aurelio Zen is called to Bologna to oversee the investigation. Recovering slowly from surgery, and fleeing an equally painful crisis in his personal life, Zen is only too happy to take on what at first appears to be a routine and relatively undemanding assignment. But soon a world-famous university professor is shot with the same gun, immediately after publicly humiliating Italy's leading celebrity television chef, the case - intertwined with the fates of an earnest student of semiotics and a mysterious young immigrant who claims to be from Ruritania - spins out of control, and Zen is in no condition to rise to the challenge. There's also a wild card in the pack - Tony Speranza, Bologna's most flamboyant private detective. Back to Bologna is dazzlingly plotted, features a cast of vivid and idiosyncratic characters, and along the way delivers both comic and serious insights into the realities of today's Italy.
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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Back to Bologna, 21 Jan 2006
I have been a big fan of Michael Dibdin for most of his books, enjoying the development of the fascinating character of Aurelio Zen, the tight plots, and the most insightful Italian context.

The last 2 or 3 books, however, have made me cool off somewhat, and this last one - Back to Bologna - I found awful. The characters were mostly caricatures, with far too much extraneous guff spent on what might be thought of as their development; the hero and his partner had gone completely off the rails, and the plot was highly questionable.

And he even had one of his police inspectors called Brunetti; what's the matter with him? I can't believe that he's not aware of Donna Leon's splendid hero.

Sorry, Michael Dibdin, the Zen series is all washed up. Try something else or leave us alone.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, 8 Dec 2005
By Brian Harris "Brian Harris" (Northamptonshire) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
As a great admirer of the Zen novels it probably took me longer than some to realise that this was not a standard Aurelio Zen story, but a lighthearted parody. It involves a plot as convulated and reliant on unlikely coincidence as anything in Shakespeare's comedies (to which there is a sly reference in the text). It also involves another fictional detective in a walk-on part in which he makes little or no impression.
It is as if Conan Doyle had written the script for one of the post-modern film versions of Sherlock Holmes; and about as interesting.
I must add that I found the vulgar language of some characters jarring and unpleasantly out of place.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Coasting towards retirement - Zen, Dibdin or both...?, 22 Sep 2005
The latest Aurelio Zen novel takes Aurelio to Bologna - scene of infamous terrorist outrages in the "anni di piombi". The significant characters this time however are a TV chef, and a Professor Ugo who teaches Semiotics at Bologna University which appears to be a thinly veiled parody of Umberto Eco.
The narrative steps away from Zen for large chunks, and is perhaps at its best when it does - the picture of the Professor with his different rooms for different styles of writing is hilarious. (Incidentally - for really elegant writing about Italy and the world, Umberto Eco's columns in L'espresso - La Bustina di Minerva - are difficult to equal) When Zen is in the picture, Dibdin seems unsure what to do with him. The characterisation - like Zen himself - is grey and uncertain. An incompetent private eye, Tony Speranza is introduced, and the narrative drops quotes from Raymond Chandler's novel "The Big Sleep" and essay "the simple art of murder". The picture of Bologna is easy to recognise, in fact you would find it difficult not to see most of the sites referenced in 2 days there. This is a view of Bologna accessible to the tourist - compare this with the intensity of the feeling for Venice in "Dead Lagoon". An ending comes - not before time - which requires all the main characters to be in the same place at the right time and it is clumsy and inelegant.

This novel lacks the atmosphere of "Ratking" and "Dead Lagoon", the darkness of "And then you die" or the intense feel for the geography and people of "a long finish". "Cosi fan tutte" is a more sustained and better combination of humour, darkness, Italy and Zen - with its following the plot of Mozart and da Pontes Opera.

Is Dibdin bored? I hope not, he can write brilliantly about places I love, and at the edges of a genre which works well. This however feels lazier than his other books. Wait for the paperback - and till it is really cheap.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic by the King.
The late Michael Dibdin was simply a king amongst crime writers. Forget the formulaic approach of writers like Donna Leon, each book is unique. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Keith Andreetti

3.0 out of 5 stars Back to Bologna
OK if you already like Dibdin and are a Zen fan, but not one of his best
Published 9 months ago by Mr. P. F. Harrison

5.0 out of 5 stars A load of old bolognese
Judging from the other reviews you either "get" this book or you don't. I've read it four times and think it quite wonderful; it even made me laugh out loud in several places. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Slow Lorris

3.0 out of 5 stars Ripping holiday read
Well sat on a beach on the Adriatic Coast of Italy this book was a boon. Single sitting read - very clever and well put together. Read more
Published on 6 Jul 2007 by Karl Grocock

5.0 out of 5 stars An Irreplaceable Loss to Crime Writing
Dibdin is the finest writer of crime to come from Britain, able to combine suspense, excitement, characterisation and humour. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2007 by Felix Lane

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing Dibdin
I have followed the career of Inspector Zen closely for a number of years, but I think that he is clearly due for retirement. Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2006 by Karen Vincent-jones

2.0 out of 5 stars Distinct lack of Zen
A short review for a short book. This is the most disappointing and lacklustre Zen novel so far, although referring to it as a Zen novel is tenuous at best because the character... Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2006 by R. Bowra

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple, but still good
This is a short book with a plot which is interesting without being challenging. The beauty of Dibdin, however, remains his very rich writing, his wit and his insights. Read more
Published on 8 Aug 2006 by johnverp

1.0 out of 5 stars Asleep in Seattle
Dibdin should publish this book as a blog so that his true/new audience of clever types could with immense self satisfaction interactively comment on its post modern irony, while... Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2006 by D. myatt

5.0 out of 5 stars Anti-hero Zen triumphs again
Yes, some of the characters are scarcely believable caricatures, but switch on the TV any night and look at the so-called 'reality' shows. And Italian TV is even worse! Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2006 by J. R. Caley

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