Not Milan's Best Work
592375
I've read the two previous book in The Brother Sinister series. I've been waiting for Oliver Marshall's story. Unfortunately, The Heiress Effect did not live up to my expectations. It is so far my least favorite in this series. Oliver Marshall, the strong illegitimate duke's son we met in The Duchess Wars, comes across as very weak in The Heiress Effect and of possible dubious honor. He is very nice, but not the strong hero I am used to.

The woman still confuses me a little. At first she said that her blinding dresses were an act to keep potential husbands away and then she says she actually likes those fashions and it is a part of who she is. There wasn't as much chemistry between the main characters as in other Milan novels. I really enjoyed the secondary romance in this story between the female MC's sister and an Indian barrister. It detracted from the main romance story, but I found it more interesting and more romantic. I wish Milan would have given the secondary romance its own story!

The heroine's uncle really got under my skin. Milan did not vilify him, but his thick-headed stubbornness was almost too much for me to take. He is supposed to be a Cambridge graduate and he had the mental skills of an uneducated man. He believes in quackery and is trying to heal his niece who suffers from fits. I liked the twist at the end with Marshall's agoraphobic aunt. Milan did a good job of presenting physical disabilities in this story.

Pacing in this book tended to lag at times. If there had been more sparks between the MC's it would have been better. They spent too much time apart for my taste. Overall, it was a good read but far from Milan's best.
4125968
If you want a complete Anna Russell collection, by all means obtain this DVD.  But her rendition of these two operas is not quite as much fun as her send-up of the Ring.  I could understand satrizing The Magic Flute but it seems to be that some other Italian opera mught have been a better subject of "Russelization."  As I am not any kind of an expert on opera, it may be that I did not get all the nuances.
3210881
Although I am a fan of Colin Firth, and it is interesting to see an early performance of his, this movie left me cold.  The young Greta Sacchi was good.  The scenery was good.  The costumes, especially the men's hats, were cheesy and off-putting.  The writing and direction and production are below average.
Instead of this DVD, I recommend the wonderful Franco Zeferilli version of the opera starring Placido Domingo and the lovely Teresa Stratas.  Search on Amazon is:  Verdi: La Traviata Teresa Stratas.  The opera is fast moving and of course a classic.  This is the same story as Camille.<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Verdi-La-Traviata/dp/B000T0XEGS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Verdi: La Traviata</a>
2936392
Since the death of her parents in a plane crash, Victoria "Vic" Asher has been taking life a baby step at a time. After spending time in foster care, Vic was rescued by her older brother Gil, who took her in. Not wanting to go to college yet, despite a lavish settlement from the airline, she's busy working as a diner waitress along with her best friend Tiffany, dealing with her flaky quasi-boyfriend, and missing Gil who is currently studying immigration law for a semester abroad in Italy. However, her life gets an unexpected jumpstart when she receives one of Gil's journals in the mail, containing cryptic stories about people she's never heard of. After attempting to contact Gil and realizing that he's dropped off the grid, Vic decides to fly to Italy, where she stumbles into a mystery that will require her assistance to solve. As she becomes involved with a top secret team from Interpol in order to investigate the Italian crime world of mobs and human trafficking, Vic will also find herself falling for Ian, her team leader. Though Ian tells her (more than once) that his job requires no ties to family or close friends, Vic still yearns to become involved with him on more than just professional terms. While Vic unexpectedly discovers she has a taste for undercover work, it begins to look as if Gil's whereabouts may be discovered, but that he may be in even more danger than believed. Can Vic find her brother in time to save his life, and after this is completed, decide what her plans are for her future?

Thoughts: This novel had an intriguing premise and what promised to be a spunky heroine with a backstory that easily made her sympathetic to the reader. However, the cast of characters was rather weak when it came to developing their personalities. I did like Tiffany and Sam, but they were quickly left behind as the action shifted to Italy. Without giving anything away, I thought how Vic ultimately decides to help the team at a crucial juncture was disappointing, plotwise. In addition, the insta-love between Vic and Ian seemed like it had been done to death, but this seems to be a requirement of such YA novels nowadays.
2898362
I was eager to read this book after having read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil several years ago, which I enjoyed immensely. In fact, I recommended City of Falling Angels to my book club based on my experience with Midnight. Now I wish I hadn't.

At first I thought this was going to be about the Fenice burning with vignettes of quirky characters, and it is to a point, but the storyline fizzles quickly and dissolves into aimless rambling and name-dropping that seems to lead nowhere.

The only thing I can make of this is that maybe Berendt was trying too hard to replicate the success of Midnight and just ran out of ideas. There's a lack of overall cohesiveness; maybe there wasn't meant to be, but I think I would have enjoyed this more if there had been.

On the up-side, I did learn a lot about Venice, its Murano glass families, the expat experience, Venetians, and more, so it was not without some merit. I'm glad I read it, but it was a disappointment after having read Midnight, a work of brilliance. This doesn't come close.
1296068
Once upon a time there were great Italian films merging with sensitivity and intelligence the personal with the historical: films by Dino Risi, Ettore Scola, Bernardo Bertolucci, and others. The lineage clearly was the inspiration for this two-part television movie which, despite its noble efforts, falls short in several ways.

I had read so many glowing reviews of this series (for it is clearly a TV production) that I was all the more disappointed by the by-the-numbers- plot and the uneven acting performances. The production feels in some ways as though it came from a checklist of notable facts gleaned through the past 40 years of European history. There is woefully little in this that feels truly personal, truly the mark of an author. European TV series can be on rare occasions true cinematic creations. This is not one of them by a long shot.
3868328
I've long been a fan of Stendahl, but this one just wasn't up to what I was expecting. I brought it to read while visiting Parma, but I didn't find that Stendahl's Parma matched what I saw. His most famous work but not his best in my opinion.
4632315
The beginning was explosive and I liked this book a lot almost till the end, but there was a not so good third and last part that made me change my evaluation of the book in its wholeness. I still consider this novel a very good one, but it seemed to me a story that didn't keep up with the expectations it has created in the first part of the book, but is just my evaluation and doesn't have necessarily be true for other readers.

L'inizio mi ha preso tantissimo e il libro mi  piaciuto moltissimo e poi molto quasi fino alla fine, ma la terza e l'ultima parte hanno in parte cambiato il mio giudizio sul libro nel suo insieme. Penso ancora che sia un bel romanzo, ma in qualche modo non ha tenuto fede alle aspettative create nella prima parte del romanzo stesso, ma questa  solo la mia opinione e non quella degli altri lettori.
1126116
The Friendship of Criminals is a crime fiction novel that is somewhat misplaced in the mystery/thriller genre.  I think the novel is also done a disservice when it is advertised in the product description as explodes off the page with the crackling intensity of Scorsese's THE DEPARTED.  To me the book started off too slow, and I thought there the amount of backstory was out of proportion for the length of the novel.  It gives a good sense of the Philadelphia mob scene, and the author does a decent job of conveying the scene.  I think that Glinski could write a compelling novel if he worked on pacing and balancing present day action with backstory.  You may well enjoy reading this, but you should not really expect explosive action or a taut thriller.  If you really dig mobsters and a slow burn, this might just be up your ally.
265106
I have read everything TC Boyle has written but this is not one of his best efforts. His usual twists and turns seem to be reduced to almost a novella status instead of a novel. Sort of a pop song in place of his usual opera. Probably a really good book if penned by another author but I hold TC Boyle to higher standards than most. Better luck on the next one because I will most certainly be reading it.
4158447
I'm a fan of Alan Furst's period pieces and their rendering of the equivocations and uncertainties of the time between the world wars.  However I find Mission to Paris the least compelling of his works which I have read, lacking his usual verisimilitude, and conveying a shallower character and plot development.
3326108
Ammaniti's style is lean and sparce but full of references to many modern topics such as art,music and literature and it was fun to recognize the references or at least some of them. The book is chock full of interesting characters, some of whom appear only briefly and then disappear. The main protagonists, Pietro,a young student and Graziano, an aging Lothario meet only once but the effect of the encounter is life altering; Ammaniti tells a good story but his dialogue is stilted and the ending improbable and unsatisfactory. Being somewhat of an Italophile, I enjoyed the depiction of a small nondescript backwater town and the lives of the folks that live there. If these kinds of things interest you, read the book otherwise give it a pass.
1350976
The first part of this novel was enjoyable -- the author has clearly spent a great deal of time in Italy, and is able to give the reader a good sense of a place without being wordy.  Unfortunately, the bulk of the story relies too heavily on a string of "oh, isn't that convenient" events and characters with overly-modern speech and philosophies, which snowball until the story becomes nearly unreadable.  The need for "suspension of disbelief" is great here, but the story is not fantastic enough to create such a suspension.  Despite the weighty topics including immigration, rape, abortion, and 19th century medical practices, the book ends up feeling very light and more like a short story (which is what the author wrote originally for the main character).
109053
Unlike the last few Zen books, this one is much more light-hearted.  Zen is sent back to Bologna from Lucca where he has been living with Signorini Santini.  Little of this book has anything to do with a procedural, and the murder that is the cause of Zen being in Bologna is inconsequential.  How inconsequential?  We know the culprit was in advance and Zen spends a good portion of the book doing everything but looking for him.

Zen has had a falling out with his 'paramour' but he's of two minds as to how he feels about the ending of the relationship.  This in itself is very un-Zen like, since we are used to him making decisions (whether good or bad) and sticking to them.  The character who early in the book appears to be important is an Italian PI who is really just a cartoon of Robert Mitchum playing Sam Spade.  This guy couldn't catch a cold, much less a murderer.  He gets mugged in a toilet and looses his wallet and gun to an amateur.

The title of the book comes from some eclectic encyclopedia.  The second or third volume was "Back to Bologna", another was "Hip to Hug".  In addition, two well known 'names' show up as cops who are 'friends' of Zen.  One is named Brunetti (Leon)and another Guarnaccia (Nabb), but no Montalbano (maybe he doesn't like Camelleri).  Dibdin seems to want to spend the whole time of the novel, making comments on Italian society, footballers, drugs and the state of affairs of the Police.

It's cute for a while, but then it gets a little ridiculous with the comments about Italian academia and the wasting of time by academicians who teach nothing and are famous for doing that.  Like wine, this book is a matter of taste.

Zeb Kantrowitz
2122702
As much as I wanted to really like this production - it was a bit of a disappointment.  The drawcards of Woody Allen and Placido Domingo are not sufficient to make it anything other than a 3 star performance.
It's not a patch on the 2004 Glyndebourne production with Alessandro Corbelli in the title role, Sally Matthews (Lauretta) and Massimo Giordano (Rinuccio).
The look and feel of this version seems to waver between a sort of  '50(?) Italian setting and a something with mafia overtone. Some very odd stage decisions - like Buoso's will being found in the large pasta pot, complete with cooked pasta - How does that work??
Being a short and very modern style of opera, there's not many standout numbers in any case but they are well worth hearing and very enjoyable when done well: Ranuccio's: Averte torto .. Firenze e come un albero fiorito; O mio babbino caro (done very well here by Andriana Chuchman); Era uguale la voce? and Addio Firenze..
I really look forward to these numbers but only O mio babbino caro delivered in this version.  Sadly, the rest were uninspiring.
Maybe it's the sound pick-up recording but the tenor Rinuccio wasn't audible enough to impress.
It was nice to see the backdrop of Florence as part of the set and you would have thought it could have been use to good effect especially in Addio Firenze.
I don't know what Woody Allen brought to this - seems something producer/directors of cinema and theatre want to do now - get an opera under their belt.
In Australia the same mismatch happened with John Bell and his Tosca.
It's certainly worth a look to see Domingo in the role but he's no Corbelli - and if he's honest, he'd admit it too.
Schicchi is probably my favourite Puccini opera - He composed it just after WW1 in that atmosphere of despair following that horrendous and cretinous war that destroyed so much.
It can be done humorously or with a bit of a darker under-current, which I suspect was Puccini's mood and intent. I referred at some length to the Dante connections (pretty clear here as Schicchi makes a brief appearance in the Inferno) in a review I did of the Glyndebourne production.
4871943
Too many Italian street names and Italian city names and locations. To an Italian or someone who is familiar with the Milan area, this may mean much more than it meant to me.  I found it unnecessary in many cases.  The story was okay but a bit too long for my taste.
1487815
The Demon Catchers of Milan is a book that was more... "meh" for me. I was probably expecting a lot more action than I got, although there were some fantastic gothic elements that kept my attention.

My main issue with the book was the fact that I was expecting more action, especially from the first few pages that I read. During the middle, especially when the author was describing Milanese culture or family gatherings, although it was beautiful, it didn't hold my interest for a long time. I did read through it, although to be frank, I was a little bored. Don't get me wrong - I loved the setting and the factors dealing with exorcism, but I did wish there was more action.

However, I found that the parts where there were actual demons and exorcisms to be pretty engaging. These scenes were pretty vivid and I was definitely hooked! The Della Torres' explanations of methods, and some of the history were pretty intriguing and added to the gothic setting and atmosphere of the book. I especially was interested in Mia's possession at the beginning - it scared me a bit, and if I saw someone who was possessed by a demon, I think he or she would look exactly like Mia o___o

The characters were, I suppose, just... okay. To be honest, I didn't find Mia to be particularly interesting, although her personality traits were admirable.  I didn't feel like I got to see other characters develop either, until there was more of a "feel-good" moment at the end in the Christmas scene. Overall, the characters weren't too bad... but they weren't spectacular either.

Overall, The Demon Catchers of Milan presents some creepy aspects of exorcism and demons, with some moments of great action and vividly described scenes, although sometimes I felt a bit bored :/ If you're interested in urban fantasy that's not too mainstream, or exorcism, or something of the sort, this book would be for you.