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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
I am a fan of this series, but this was not one of my favorites. I felt the book jacket gave away too much of the (almost non-existent) plot. I was waiting for a shocking plot twist that never happened. I know the author is trying to capture the culture of Venice, but I thought all the drama surrounding a gay man's romantic life was a bit too much - they need to get over it!
I admire Donna Leon’s style of making you feel connected to the characters and their story lines. The way she describes the Venetian people and their lives is captivating.
This one, however, was a bit slow for me. There was a little bit too much “character development” and not enough of the actual case for me. I also didn’t find the case itself very interesting. I think I was just looking for a more gripping case/mystery.
This one, however, was a bit slow for me. There was a little bit too much “character development” and not enough of the actual case for me. I also didn’t find the case itself very interesting. I think I was just looking for a more gripping case/mystery.
Long series books can sometimes go a bit flat and repetitive, and I had found a little of that with the later Brunetti books. This, happily, is more of a return to the Brunetti I love.
It was good, but not my favorite in the series.
Donna Leon never disappoints, and "Unto us a Son is Given" is no exception. In this novel, Commissario Brunetti investigates the best friend of the his father-in-law, who is contemplating adopting his adult, male lover to circumvent estate and inheritance laws. As always, the descriptions of Venice are beautiful, the discussions of relationships are thought provoking and ring true, and the meals are hunger inducing.
Recommended for fans of Leon and Brunetti, obviously, as well as for those who like well written police procedurals, foreign mysteries, and beautiful language.
Recommended for fans of Leon and Brunetti, obviously, as well as for those who like well written police procedurals, foreign mysteries, and beautiful language.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Lovely thoughts about food, life, literature, love from Leon, as usual, but feels more loosely written than her typical tale.
Although his feet recognized the way he was going, his mind paid little attention and let them do what they chose, sure they’d bring the rest of him home.
I think the weather’s lost its senses.
he had a measure of difficulty in understanding the concern others felt about seeing that their fortunes went to the right person or people.
Hecuba...has realized that ‘the dead care little about burial. It is the vanity of the living.
He thought for a moment about what the important things might be.
We Italians are always ready to believe there’s a secret reason behind everything.
It’s as if I’d accepted, but I do have to get back to work
His face softened, Brunetti noticed, as often happens when a person offers someone food.
"La nobiltà ha dipinta negli occhi l’onestà."
His thoughts turned to Gonzalo, the father of all of this. Brunetti had always thought he loved the Spaniard; after all, Brunetti had married into a family of people who loved him. But now he found that he felt nothing for Gonzalo beyond pity. He had known Gonzalo was selfish and a fool about young men, but he had always seen those as weaknesses and never bothered to question Gonzalo’s character because of them. ‘Oh, that’s just Gonzalo.’ But now his weaknesses had destroyed the two people he cared about the most. Brunetti could no longer attribute to Gonzalo the capacity to love, at least not in a way that he could understand that word. And because of that, his own love for the man had been dismissed or banished, or had simply died. How strange, Brunetti reflected: we choose to love people despite their flaws and weaknesses. We train ourselves to overlook or ignore them; sometimes these failures of character even fill us with a special kind of tenderness that has nothing whatsoever in it of a sense of superiority. Like bombs, these flaws tick quietly through our lives, and theirs, until we learn to ignore them, and then forget them. Until some unlikely impossibility causes them to explode, when finally we recognize how dangerous these people are and have been all along. If Gonzalo had not told Berta of the adoption, if she had not come to Venice, if and if and if, there would have been no explosion, and Brunetti would remember his late friend Gonzalo with love and laugh fondly at what a goose he could be about young men. Even now, remembering Gonzalo’s frequent kindness, his habitual generosity, his love for his and Paola’s children, Brunetti felt his heart begin to warm towards him. He thought of something his mother had often said. Brunetti used to think she was talking about his father when she said it, but as he grew older, he began to suspect she was speaking in general. ‘It would be nice if we could choose the people we love, but love chooses them.’ He heard a noise, and when he looked, he saw Bassi at the door, bringing back the man Brunetti was about to charge with murder.
Although his feet recognized the way he was going, his mind paid little attention and let them do what they chose, sure they’d bring the rest of him home.
I think the weather’s lost its senses.
he had a measure of difficulty in understanding the concern others felt about seeing that their fortunes went to the right person or people.
Hecuba...has realized that ‘the dead care little about burial. It is the vanity of the living.
He thought for a moment about what the important things might be.
We Italians are always ready to believe there’s a secret reason behind everything.
It’s as if I’d accepted, but I do have to get back to work
His face softened, Brunetti noticed, as often happens when a person offers someone food.
"La nobiltà ha dipinta negli occhi l’onestà."
His thoughts turned to Gonzalo, the father of all of this. Brunetti had always thought he loved the Spaniard; after all, Brunetti had married into a family of people who loved him. But now he found that he felt nothing for Gonzalo beyond pity. He had known Gonzalo was selfish and a fool about young men, but he had always seen those as weaknesses and never bothered to question Gonzalo’s character because of them. ‘Oh, that’s just Gonzalo.’ But now his weaknesses had destroyed the two people he cared about the most. Brunetti could no longer attribute to Gonzalo the capacity to love, at least not in a way that he could understand that word. And because of that, his own love for the man had been dismissed or banished, or had simply died. How strange, Brunetti reflected: we choose to love people despite their flaws and weaknesses. We train ourselves to overlook or ignore them; sometimes these failures of character even fill us with a special kind of tenderness that has nothing whatsoever in it of a sense of superiority. Like bombs, these flaws tick quietly through our lives, and theirs, until we learn to ignore them, and then forget them. Until some unlikely impossibility causes them to explode, when finally we recognize how dangerous these people are and have been all along. If Gonzalo had not told Berta of the adoption, if she had not come to Venice, if and if and if, there would have been no explosion, and Brunetti would remember his late friend Gonzalo with love and laugh fondly at what a goose he could be about young men. Even now, remembering Gonzalo’s frequent kindness, his habitual generosity, his love for his and Paola’s children, Brunetti felt his heart begin to warm towards him. He thought of something his mother had often said. Brunetti used to think she was talking about his father when she said it, but as he grew older, he began to suspect she was speaking in general. ‘It would be nice if we could choose the people we love, but love chooses them.’ He heard a noise, and when he looked, he saw Bassi at the door, bringing back the man Brunetti was about to charge with murder.
More about relationships than mystery, it was a "goodread".
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes