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8797999's review against another edition
4.0
Another great entry in the series, this time taking on a case of a judge accused of taking bribes but all is not as it seems.
I really am enjoying this series and author, all the books I have read by him have been excellent.
I really am enjoying this series and author, all the books I have read by him have been excellent.
sandin954's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of my favorite legal series. Though the plot was not thrilling by any means, it did make me think and the characterizations were as well done as always. Listened to the audio version which was narrated by Seán Barrett who was excellent.
jarichan's review against another edition
5.0
"Eine Frage der Würde" ist der fünfte Band um Carofiglios sympathischen Helden Guido Guerrieri. Doch dieses Mal muss sich der Avvocato einem ganz neuen Feind stellen: sich selbst. Fängt das Buch an, wie wir es bereits von den früheren Werken kennen, so nimmt die Handlung ab etwa der Mitte eine unerwartete Wendung und plötzlich steht Guido vor einer Entscheidung, die sein ganzes Leben erschüttern wird.
Guido Guerrieri gehört zu meinen liebsten und am meisten geschätzten Romanhelden, deshalb traf es mich schwer, ihn in so einer Situation wiederzufinden. Auch gehört Guerrieri zu jenen Figuren, die ich gerne mal in echt begegnen würde. Im Fall eines Falles hätte ich ihn auch gerne als meinen Anwalt. Carofiglio schafft es, Guerrieri so lebensecht darzustellen, dass ich mich bei jedem Buch aufs Neue frage, ob Guidos Abenteuer nicht eigentlich die Erlebnisse Carofiglios sind, Guidos Gedanken eigentlich die von Carofiglio.
Das Buch endet passend zum Thema, passend zur Auf- oder Umbruchstimmung. Meine Befürchtung: es könnte der letzte Titel mit Guido Guerrieri gewesen sein. Wirklich brauchbare Informationen dazu habe ich nicht gefunden, aber ich hoffe sehr auf ein erneutes Treffen mit diesem integeren Anwalt, der nicht geschaffen zu sein scheint für diesen Beruf, ihn aber ausführt wie kein anderer.
Guido Guerrieri gehört zu meinen liebsten und am meisten geschätzten Romanhelden, deshalb traf es mich schwer, ihn in so einer Situation wiederzufinden. Auch gehört Guerrieri zu jenen Figuren, die ich gerne mal in echt begegnen würde. Im Fall eines Falles hätte ich ihn auch gerne als meinen Anwalt. Carofiglio schafft es, Guerrieri so lebensecht darzustellen, dass ich mich bei jedem Buch aufs Neue frage, ob Guidos Abenteuer nicht eigentlich die Erlebnisse Carofiglios sind, Guidos Gedanken eigentlich die von Carofiglio.
Das Buch endet passend zum Thema, passend zur Auf- oder Umbruchstimmung. Meine Befürchtung: es könnte der letzte Titel mit Guido Guerrieri gewesen sein. Wirklich brauchbare Informationen dazu habe ich nicht gefunden, aber ich hoffe sehr auf ein erneutes Treffen mit diesem integeren Anwalt, der nicht geschaffen zu sein scheint für diesen Beruf, ihn aber ausführt wie kein anderer.
zzzrevel's review against another edition
3.0
Hmm...this was a tough one. It seemed well written, but perhaps a bit overblown on the philosophical aspects of the story from the perspective of the lawyer character (told in his first person).
At first I did not like the legalese prose used in the beginning of the book for which the author then repeated in layman terms. Too much gobbledygook. Then there are these tangents that have no bearing on the story. For example, meeting a woman at an all night bookstore was fairly unnecessary but took several pages.
However, then we come to the last part of the book and a dilemma is presented (no spoiler) and a good section is spent on analyzing the pros and cons of it. Good job here.
Then the denouement comes and I felt cheated again.
As an aside I originally picked up this book because the blurb on the back references a lawyer's private investigator is "a motorbike-riding bisexual...who keeps a baseball bat". Ah! I immediately thought of Lisbeth Salander from "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". However, inside the book all her investigative efforts occur "off scene" so to speak so you really do not get much insight into her chaaracter. Another disappointment.
At first I did not like the legalese prose used in the beginning of the book for which the author then repeated in layman terms. Too much gobbledygook. Then there are these tangents that have no bearing on the story. For example, meeting a woman at an all night bookstore was fairly unnecessary but took several pages.
However, then we come to the last part of the book and a dilemma is presented (no spoiler) and a good section is spent on analyzing the pros and cons of it. Good job here.
Then the denouement comes and I felt cheated again.
As an aside I originally picked up this book because the blurb on the back references a lawyer's private investigator is "a motorbike-riding bisexual...who keeps a baseball bat". Ah! I immediately thought of Lisbeth Salander from "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". However, inside the book all her investigative efforts occur "off scene" so to speak so you really do not get much insight into her chaaracter. Another disappointment.
nanajo's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the characters of Guido Guerrieri and Annapaola Doria, along with their supporting cast. The ethics of our system of lawyers representing the underbelly of life has always fascinated me, so this book was a real study of human nature for me.
expendablemudge's review against another edition
4.0
Real Rating: 3.75* of five
The Publisher Says: The fifth in the best-selling Guido Guerrieri series.
When Judge Larocca is accused of corruption, Guerrieri goes against his better instincts and takes the case. Helped by Annapaola Doria, a motorbike-riding bisexual private detective who keeps a baseball bat on hand for sticky situations, he discovers that the judge has links to the mafia. Larocca is blind to the immorality of his actions but Annapaola makes sure that justice is done, perhaps not in the most orthodox way. Of course Guerrieri cannot stop himself from falling for Annapaola's exotic charms.
The novel is a suspenseful legal thriller but it is also much more. It is the story of a judge who, to quote Dostoevsky, "lies to himself and listens to his own lies, so gets to the point where he can no longer distinguish the truth, either in himself or around himself."
My Review: As you know by now, this is not the usual legal thriller. I found it just lovely to read, and for someone who's closer to 70 than to 40 I think that will hold true; but I'm sorry to say I do not think it will be of very wide appeal. The author's Italian-Mafia-prosecutor background has given us lots of good moments in the Italian legal system. Believe me, US citizens, it needs the kind of explication that will bore Grisham readers stupid.
Even I wanted things to get moving already, in fact several times flipped ahead two pages to get away from verbosity. So not my highest recommendation...but the pleasures of reading the book are there for the patient and the curious. Whatever you do, do NOT start here! Start at the beginning with Involuntary Witness and get to know Guido. He ages more or less in real time, unlike many (if not most) US series-mystery leads. This makes the Guido of this novel significantly more seasoned, and less approachable if you will, than his earlier self. Don't waver because of that...he's not surly! He's simply...feeling Time's Arrow nudging between his shoulder-blades.
But the pleasures of reading these stories are quite clear, very evident, eg:
It is worth remembering what the author's career is...trial lawyer...when reading that quote. He's got the insider dope, alrighty all right, and is sharing it with us. In more ways than one, and some are unconscious and unintentional....
This quote should be engraved on the rocks we throw at 45 after he's impeached, convicted, and is being transported to his forever home in prison:
Don't guess that needs belaboring.
Occasionally Author Carofiglio lapses into some sort of brain seizure, a strange and sad misalignment of synapses that produces these odd statements of unnecessary-to-refute error:
Poor man. So sad, those delusions of...of...well, beats me what you call it, but it's the syndrome when some Satanic imp uses your brain to bring *shudder* book-desacralization disorder into the world. Imagine thinking some books are dispensible! It is to laugh!
The Publisher Says: The fifth in the best-selling Guido Guerrieri series.
When Judge Larocca is accused of corruption, Guerrieri goes against his better instincts and takes the case. Helped by Annapaola Doria, a motorbike-riding bisexual private detective who keeps a baseball bat on hand for sticky situations, he discovers that the judge has links to the mafia. Larocca is blind to the immorality of his actions but Annapaola makes sure that justice is done, perhaps not in the most orthodox way. Of course Guerrieri cannot stop himself from falling for Annapaola's exotic charms.
The novel is a suspenseful legal thriller but it is also much more. It is the story of a judge who, to quote Dostoevsky, "lies to himself and listens to his own lies, so gets to the point where he can no longer distinguish the truth, either in himself or around himself."
My Review: As you know by now, this is not the usual legal thriller. I found it just lovely to read, and for someone who's closer to 70 than to 40 I think that will hold true; but I'm sorry to say I do not think it will be of very wide appeal. The author's Italian-Mafia-prosecutor background has given us lots of good moments in the Italian legal system. Believe me, US citizens, it needs the kind of explication that will bore Grisham readers stupid.
Even I wanted things to get moving already, in fact several times flipped ahead two pages to get away from verbosity. So not my highest recommendation...but the pleasures of reading the book are there for the patient and the curious. Whatever you do, do NOT start here! Start at the beginning with Involuntary Witness and get to know Guido. He ages more or less in real time, unlike many (if not most) US series-mystery leads. This makes the Guido of this novel significantly more seasoned, and less approachable if you will, than his earlier self. Don't waver because of that...he's not surly! He's simply...feeling Time's Arrow nudging between his shoulder-blades.
But the pleasures of reading these stories are quite clear, very evident, eg:
Jurists, with rare exceptions, are unconsciously and tenaciously averse to clarity and brevity.
It is worth remembering what the author's career is...trial lawyer...when reading that quote. He's got the insider dope, alrighty all right, and is sharing it with us. In more ways than one, and some are unconscious and unintentional....
This quote should be engraved on the rocks we throw at 45 after he's impeached, convicted, and is being transported to his forever home in prison:
Power – any form of power – is acceptable only if it’s transparent and clean, if it’s exercised in a way that is equal for everybody.
Don't guess that needs belaboring.
Occasionally Author Carofiglio lapses into some sort of brain seizure, a strange and sad misalignment of synapses that produces these odd statements of unnecessary-to-refute error:
The situation had got out of hand, particularly because of the books. Apart from those on the shelves, there were books everywhere. On the floor, on the tables, on the sofas, in the bathroom, in the kitchen—and let's be honest, not all of them were indispensable.
Poor man. So sad, those delusions of...of...well, beats me what you call it, but it's the syndrome when some Satanic imp uses your brain to bring *shudder* book-desacralization disorder into the world. Imagine thinking some books are dispensible! It is to laugh!
briang_67's review against another edition
5.0
The novel should be required reading in law schools and ethics courses.
offmessage's review against another edition
4.0
I love these books. I'm never quite sure if that's because they are generally exceptional (they are incredibly well written and translated), or just because they speak to me so directly (I am pretty sure I'm Guido in another life).
Either way, if you fancy spending some time inside the head of a middle aged Italian lawyer undergoing his own version of a midlife crisis these are the courtroom thrillers for you.
Either way, if you fancy spending some time inside the head of a middle aged Italian lawyer undergoing his own version of a midlife crisis these are the courtroom thrillers for you.
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