Dead Lagoon by Michael Dibdin – author of Vendetta, my note on this is at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/05/vendetta-by-michael-dibdin-author-of.html along with hundreds of other reviews- 8 out of 10

 

Dead Lagoon by Michael Dibdin – author of Vendetta, my note on this is at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/05/vendetta-by-michael-dibdin-author-of.html along with hundreds of other reviews

 

8 out of 10

 

 

Michael Dibdin has five books on the list of 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read and his hero, Italian detective Aurelio Zen is one we can identify with, and he fits the profile suggested in To the Hermitage https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/09/to-hermitage-by-malcolm-bradbury-author.html by Malcolm Bradbury

 

Novels have characters that are ‘fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound’ – at least the glorious ones, and we could not compare Zen with Lucky Jim, in my view, but he makes for one damn good protagonist, entangled in some complex crimes stories

This time, he travels to Venice, to investigate the disappearance of an American citizen, born in the former Yugoslavia, allegedly a war criminal – a spoiler alert might be needed here and now, since I am not sure what I will reveal, and more importantly, with modesty I must admit that these lines are not nec plus ultra

 

Ivan Durridge aka Duric is wanted by…Croatia, a new born state when the action takes place – the book was published in 1994 – and the way this is presented at one time is ‘just like the Israelis have looked for the Nazi war criminals, so the Croatians are trying to get theirs’, only this is coming from the camp of the villains

For yes, war and any other criminals should be prosecuted – especially Putin, though he will never be in jail – only in this situation, we have not just vigilantes, but extremists joining hands, Venice has Nuova Repubblica Veneta, an extremist outfit, precursor of the likes of AFD, and not fond of the Northern League

 

Dal Maschio is the loathsome leader, a sort of Salvini Avant la lettre, much more villainous, he is favorite to win the elections and become the mayor of one of the great European towns, and he preaches that they should separate, no longer ‘take orders from Rome,’ he also opposes allying with Milan, he wants all the power for himself

This version of Orange Jesus is involved with the fundamentalist Croatians – some group from there, surely, no nation is altogether violent – and so the disappearance of the missing American will prove to be connected with him – remember, there is a spoiler alert in place – and Aurelio Zen is detached to Venice to investigate

 

He pretends to look into another affair, and he uncovers foul play, while he is attracted to the wife of the nationalist, Cristiana Morosini, he even thinks he falls in love with her, which is causing tension and worse with the over he left back in Rome, the plans had her move with Aurelio and his mother, if they could afford it

The detective is rather harsh with the partner from Rome, albeit the latter is somewhat, or very imposing, the fact is that at one moment, Aurelio Zen says ‘this is my home’, when he is asked about returning home, which was meant to be in Rome – the truth is, Zen was born in Venice, his father was known there very well

 

In a strange twist, the hero finds that his father, who had been missing in World War II and presumed dead, has deserted, he was sheltered by a woman at a farm, where he helped work the land and all, males had been scarce or absent altogether with that massive carnage, and eventually, she becomes pregnant

The parent discovers he is in Poland, which had fallen on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, like the rest of the block, it had introduced measures to stop people from exiting the country and thus Zen senior is trapped…his son says ‘why not present his papers to show he is a foreigner and ergo he should be allowed to leave’

 

Only he had burned his documents when he deserted, and furthermore, when this old friend who had met him by accident, decades after the war ended asked about Zen senior going back to his family, he says it is too late now, they thought him dead…this is the theme, something similar actually, in a film with Marcelo Mastroianni

Maybe it was Black Eyes something like Ochi Ciornai, with Russia prominent in the narrative, Aurelio Zen is very attached to the wife of his foe, but he discovers some unpleasant facts, when they establish a meeting, she is acting strange on the phone, and then instead of her showing, we have her husband opening with her key

 

He tells Zen that he controls his wife – she will admit to trying to pay him back, he had cheated on her, and so she thought why not do the same, and have some fun, but they were not going for something serious, she says to Aurelio, and think if you were in my place, and I would try to cling on, what would you think about it?’

As opposed to the average detective work, the hero in Dead Lagoon – and Ratking, my note on it is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2020/07/ratking-by-michael-dibdin-10-out-of-10.html - is not infallible, he is human, has flaws, finds the truth about the crazy aristocrat and her apparitions, but to no effect, and while he solved the mystery of the disappearance of Ivan Duric, he was taken on orders from Dal Maschio, knowing he would be cruelly tortured, the American jumped to his death from a helicopter, to be discovered as a skeleton in the Dead Lagoon, but this will not be a crime the authorities will bring to courts…

 

 Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”