List Regarding Books A Small Death in Lisbon
| Title | : | A Small Death in Lisbon |
| Author | : | Robert Wilson |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 464 pages |
| Published | : | March 5th 2002 by Berkley Books (first published July 19th 1999) |
| Categories | : | Mystery. Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Crime. Cultural. Portugal. Thriller |
Robert Wilson
Paperback | Pages: 464 pages Rating: 3.89 | 4620 Users | 380 Reviews
Rendition Conducive To Books A Small Death in Lisbon
Winner of the prestigious Gold Dagger Award in the U.K. for the best mystery of 1999, this complex literary thriller may be one of the most satisfying suspense novels to come along in some time. Robert Wilson has written several political thrillers, most of which are set in West Africa, but they are, alas, largely unavailable in the U.S.In A Small Death in Lisbon, the narrative switches back and forth between 1941 and 1999, and Wilson's wide knowledge of history and keen sense of place make the eras equally vibrant. In 1941 Germany, Klaus Felsen, an industrialist, is approached by the SS high command in a none-too-friendly manner and is "persuaded" to go to Lisbon and oversee the sale--or smuggling--of wolfram (also known as tungsten, used in the manufacture of tanks and airplanes). World War II Portugal is neutral where business is concerned, and too much of the precious metal is being sold to Britain when Germany needs it to insure that Hitler's blitzkrieg is successful.
Cut to 1999 Lisbon, where the daughter of a prominent lawyer has been found dead on a beach. Ze Coelho, a liberal police inspector who is a widower with a daughter of his own, must sift through the life of Catarina Oliveira and discover why she was so brutally murdered. Her father is enigmatic, her mother suicidal; her friends were rock musicians and drug addicts.
The reader is treated to a wonderful portrait of Lisbon in the aftermath of the 1974 revolution that ousted Salazar from power, and the scars from that conflict are still close to the surface for the citizens of Lisbon, including Coehlo and his colleagues. We also see World War II in a slightly different manner from that to which we are accustomed--through the eyes of the Germans and the Portuguese. The pace of the book is leisurely but compelling as the events of 1941 and those in 1999 merge in an extraordinary climax
Details Books In Favor Of A Small Death in Lisbon
| Original Title: | A Small Death in Lisbon |
| ISBN: | 0425184234 (ISBN13: 9780425184233) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | The Macallan Gold Dagger for Fiction (1999), Deutscher Krimi Preis for 1. Platz International (2003) |
Rating Regarding Books A Small Death in Lisbon
Ratings: 3.89 From 4620 Users | 380 ReviewsDiscuss Regarding Books A Small Death in Lisbon
Real real spoilers here, namely a plot detail over which I *must* rant. First thing: the author gets exactly right some details about Portugal, namely food and geography. He is totally right about menus and what people eat in restaurants, or the noise the bridge does, or what the neighborhoods look like. I could see it, he was there, that is what Portugal looks like. But he does not get what Portugal thinks or how it works. The way he presents motivations and relations (nevermind how theI'm not going to finish this. This book is artificial. The writing has the stench of the studio to it. It reads well..., in fact, too well... goes down as smooth as a Jamaca malt (whatever the f&k that means...) - there are manufactured sex scenes, novelistic descriptions of Nazi generals the author, obviously, has never met... and who therefore feel somewhat formulaic. In other words, this book/writer is a pro - he's very proficient -- you can actually see him at work, laying down the
We are all mad, Inspector, for the simple reason that we dont know why we exist and this...this life is how we distract ourselves so that we dont have to think about things too difficult for us to comprehend. That quote (from the book) pretty much sums up how I felt about the book. The first half of the book was relatively easy to follow. It was interesting to read about the Nazis and the Allies vying for the tungsten steel of Portugal during WWII. But the second half where the more current day
I feel this book started off a little slowly, but I ended up really enjoying the ride. The fact that it stitched together two periods in time is what first called my attention to it (mostly the WWII-era story), and I have to say that I think the challenge was well-handled by the author. There was a lot more character depth and backstory than I expected from a "crime novel" (a genre largely out of my area of interest), but then, maybe that's not really what it was.
I enjoy complex plots, which this had, and intermingled histories, which this also had. Unlike some other reviewers, I didn't find all the overlapping relationships to be unbelievable- that seems to happen in the tiny worlds of the 1%. I wish there had been more Portugal in this book. The author clearly meant for the country to be another character in it, but he didn't describe it well enough for those of us who haven't been there. That might be an asset if you're from there, but I felt like I'd
I can't say I liked this book, exactly. I hovered over three stars for a while near the end, tiring of the 400-page immersion in the world of despicable people and their overly-described full range of bodily functions. Nevertheless, I had to bump the rating back up to four stars when I sat down to glance at the first lines of a chapter before making dinner, and, hours later, having been unable to set it back down, closed the completed book.Wilson's writing is undeniably skillful. All the loose
As a huge Robert Wilson fan, I was disappointed with this one. (I realize its his most popular title, to date!) I thought the plot was overly-complex, was weirdly filled with sex scenes, and was way too long. I couldnt keep the characters apart in my head and I felt like the whole book came together in the last 3 pages. But it lacked all of the intense character development that made the Javier Falcon series so great.
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