A Noble Radiance

Rating:
Summary: as pure as crime fiction gets
Review: Donna Leon is wonderful. A Noble Radiance is the first book of hers that I have read, and I just know that she is wonderful. There is something so pure about this book. That's the only word i can think of to describe it. It is pure crime fiction, crime fiction with its heart in the plot, its pace in the movement of it, and its pleasure in the unravelling of it. Instead of giving us a deep and fascinating character study, Leon manages still to create a brilliant main character. He is developed subtly, gradually and fully, but he never becomes more important than the mystery. That is something lacking from some crime fiction today. The actual mystery takes a back-seat to things like setting, character, atmosphere. Here, the plot takes the front seat, but Leon still is able to present a brilliant backdrop, a wonderful atmosphere steeped in culture, and very fine characters. She uses seemingly large brushstrokes to draw them, and then fills in the details with tiny ones, imperceptible ones. She lays the clues masterfully, moves her plot along with brilliant skill. I can't really describe what a sublime pleasure it was to read this, and what joy I feel at having several more to read!

A Noble Radiance is an absolutely lovely book. Venice is beautifully described, i want to visit the city. It is very rare to find a book so rich in culture. (Also, the idea that the police of Venice have enough money spare form their budget to buy new flowers for the offices every week is an exquisitely romantic one)

I would reccomend Donna Leon to everyone. I can't believe i've been missing out for so long.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent mystery novel!
Review: I came across this novel purely by accident, purchased it, and finished it within 4 hours. I could not put it down. This was a very well-written mystery and I am thrilled to know there are other books about Commissario Guido Brunetti. I obviously read this slightly out of order with her other Brunetti books, but this was written with no other knowledge of the Commissario needed. The book was self-contained and was a fine read. I have already ordered the rest of her books.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing first taste
Review: This is the first Donna Leon book I've read, and I doubt I will be reading more. I've glanced through the other reviews that were posted, and I must say, I'm quite shocked. How this book is an international best seller is beyond me.

First, A Noble Radiance was extremely dull. I found myself skipping entire chapters just so I could finish (I can't just stop reading a book, even if it's awful -- I have to finish it). There was no tension, no characters to really care about, no suspense. The plot was completely transparent from the very beginning, and the end was so weak I wished I hadn't read the book at all.

Second, there were way too many Italian phrases with too little translation. I could make my way through a lot of them, thanks in part to the languages I do understand, but Italian is just not one I've had time to master. Some contexual assistance would have helped, but just throwing a phrase out there and expecting the majority of readers to understand it isn't fair.

A big peeve of mine is spelling errors and grammatical issues in best selling books. If it's a best seller, you should have a proofreader for the paperback. I can think of three obvious misspellings off the top of my head, and some of the sentence structures were incomprehensible.

Overall, I found A Noble Radiance a complete disappointment. The cover is pretty, but that's about all the inspiration it holds.