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Post by zenina on Apr 25, 2011 17:28:54 GMT
Loved Dead Lagoon too KMK - I agree that Dibdin captured the morbid charm of Venice beautifully. It made me wish to go there again. Be prepared for Cosi fan tutti - it's hilarious  and quite different. Really loved it and it made me laugh out loud quite often. It maybe helps if one knows the opera Cosi fan tutte by Mozart, but not really necessary. I just finished A Long Finish - which is the first book I had a bit a hard time to get through, maybe also because it was rather dark after the more lighthearted Cosi fan Tutti. There were also some things in it - rather gruesome things that made me almost skip over the sentences and my imagination was running wild at the appearance of rats. Towards the end I kept thinking - no Aurelio you've got it all wrong - well but like KMK says Dibdin wraps everything up nicely. |
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Post by robela on Apr 27, 2011 16:15:33 GMT
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Post by rueful on Apr 27, 2011 16:44:23 GMT
Dead Lagoon was one of my favorites too, for all the reasons Kate mentioned. I also hope that eventually this one will be made. (I'm hoping Zen will be enough of a hit on PBS to generate some interest.)
I had a bit harder time with Cosi Fan Tutti, not knowing the opera. It was fun and I enjoyed it, but I kept feeling like I was missing some of the jokes. In A Long Finish, some of the wine-making details were lost on me, but I thought it was a really good mystery novel. (But the rats--eeeeek!)
If you're reading the books in order, then you have some really good ones ahead. I particularly liked Medusa and End Games. I hope you enjoy them all!
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Post by kissmekate on Apr 28, 2011 6:23:59 GMT
I've ordered the next three - hopefully they will arrive in time so I can go on reading when I'm back home. I'm sure I'll enjoy them  |
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Post by welshdragon on Apr 28, 2011 10:03:36 GMT
I'm reading the last Zen book at the moment (sob!) and have really enjoyed them all. The most interesting thing for me is the description of Aurelio - in the first book you get the impression that he is quite heavyset, 'fleshy' and with grey hair. As the books go on he is more frequently described as being tall and lean ,in one Dibdin mentions his taut skin over the angled planes of his face. In the last book he describes his luxuriant dark hair flecked with grey - he could actually be describing Rufus! My favourite line from this book so far - an 80 odd year old woman is being interviewed by Zen "Dear God, she thought, where were you when I wanted babies?" - love that |
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Post by kissmekate on Apr 28, 2011 22:17:48 GMT
That's a very nice quote, the old lady has excellent taste!
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Post by zenina on May 14, 2011 15:52:42 GMT
Just finished "And then you die" loved it. It was different again. Loved the little excursion to Iceland. I know Iceland very well, have been there numerous times and could so relate to everything that was described And Lucca, just could see Zen sitting in the piazza where an amphitheatre used to be and where I had been too a couple of years ago. Also loved that it seems that he finally has met someone and that this time it could actually last.  |
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Post by kissmekate on Jun 13, 2011 16:35:50 GMT
I read "Così fan tutti" and "A Long Finish" during my vacation. More wonderful reading. I'll have to read up a bit on the Mozart opera, though, as I certainly missed lots of little hints at that. I'll never be able to look at a garbage truck neutrally any more  Also liked "A Long Finish" a lot, with all the great wine around ;D Dibdin got me on the wrong track once more, he's really a master of plot twists and turns! (And the rats were icky indeed!!) I felt very sorry for Aurelio about the way his relationship with Tania turned out. She has developed into a rather nasty character in the books. Would have been interesting to see if the TV Zen makers had taken the couple down the same road in the series ... What made me crack up with laughter was the hotel-room scene with the family's traditional cold remedy in "Long Finish". That would have been a superb one for Rufus to play, I could really see him huddled on the bed with sunken eyes and runny nose, trying to make that fabulous potion  Generally I'm amazed again and again at how much the description of Aurelio in the books fits Rufus, apart from the age and grey eyes  |
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Post by robela on Jun 13, 2011 23:21:26 GMT
I'm reading the last Zen book at the moment (sob!) and have really enjoyed them all. The most interesting thing for me is the description of Aurelio - in the first book you get the impression that he is quite heavyset, 'fleshy' and with grey hair. As the books go on he is more frequently described as being tall and lean ,in one Dibdin mentions his taut skin over the angled planes of his face. In the last book he describes his luxuriant dark hair flecked with grey - he could actually be describing Rufus! My favourite line from this book so far - an 80 odd year old woman is being interviewed by Zen "Dear God, she thought, where were you when I wanted babies?" - love that I am reading End Games now and picked up on this paragraph as well. How good is it that we can all imagine Rufus playing Aurelio whilst reading the books! I have not finished it yet but am so enjoying it as I have done all the others, although as already mentioned they are quite different, some being more light hearted and others darker! |
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Post by adina on Jun 14, 2011 12:54:42 GMT
Welcome back, Tannedkate ! Così fan tutti is a quite special book, isn't it? "This is the least I can do in return for your help, Gilberto. I only wish I could do something about your real problems. Perhaps I'll get one of my Neapolitan contacts to ask San Gennaro to intercede for you. I'm told he's very effective."This is my absolute favourite Zen quote. Dibdin's humour is as dangerous as a shark.   !  |
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Post by kissmekate on Jun 14, 2011 13:23:18 GMT
That's a great quote, yes! I love those little funny asides that you sometimes have to read twice to really get them.
Not being familiar with the opera (despite a long-time love for Mozart's music) probably had me missing large part of the fun in this book, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. The ending to the storyline of the two girls and their suitors was a nice surprise, too.
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Post by robela on Jun 19, 2011 12:26:15 GMT
Have read all the Inspector Zen Mysteries now! I enjoyed and couldn't put down every single one of them. Michael Dibdin is a great writer, very descriptive in his prose and keeping the reader's interest and excitement throughout. It helped that I could imagine Rufus playing Aurelio like a second skin as was described in the Making of Zen.
Such a pity that we will be unlikely to see him in the role of Aurelio Zen again!
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Post by kissmekate on Jun 19, 2011 15:08:24 GMT
I've bought them all now and I'm not at all sure that I will manage to keep reading them at a one-per-month rate (which I wanted to do so that the fun wouldn't be over too quickly). They are just too good reading!
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Post by chocolate on Jun 29, 2011 11:26:07 GMT
I though this is a good place to ask all of you something. But if this needs to become another thread, please move my post.
I have noticed you all almost have bought and read most of the novels. I haven't done that yet.Today, while answering Michael on the Zen Facebook page, another idea came to my blond mind. What would you think if we suggested (i am going to anyway) to audible or other audio making/ distributing companies to have all Zen books made in audio format with our man, of course as narrator?
I know only one exists on audible- I think it is "Cosi fan tutti", the others I haven't see so far. May be I do not know them if they existed somewhere. Please, prove your detective skills and say if you think the idea is good.
Also, I know some of you can get hold of Rufus'es agent or production company (I may be using the wrong terms here, sorry about that) and to suggest to them this option for Rufus to try and develop, or be part of. I think we are not only a fangirls and we do think he is an excellent narrator?
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Post by walt on Jun 29, 2011 11:54:36 GMT
IMHO that's a good idea and at least worth to try. I do not have all of Rufus' audios, but I like all of these.
And my favourite of his audios is "The Woodlanders" which Rufus narrates so beautiful that usually I must cry in the end - more likely than when I watch the film. And maybe because Rufus also played Giles Winterbourne in the film he is so deep immersed in the book that he reads it so absolutely beautifully.
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and quite different.
