(Brunetti 17) (Commissario Brunetti) - The Girl of His Dreams

Donna Leon likes to raise your political consciousness and usually succeeds. This time she lets us know that in Italy, anything is for sale; except the Venetian police - unless you are looking to get promoted. Frankly, this one is a deep yawn: we never care about the victim, even though the hero [protagonist if you are an English major] does; we don't care about the victims family; and frankly, we don't even care about the hero's enchanted family.

As a subplot, Donna Leon appears to believe that Venizia should only be for the Venetians. We touristas out never set foot there, and Venetians should stop selling out and living elsewhere. By tourists, she includes anyone not a native; even if you are Italiano. By our not going there and buying up the good apartments, Venice would then be affordable to the locals, and she and the other ex-patriots can return to San Marco Plaza untroubled by anything other which wine to savor and those pesky pigeons.

The anything is for sale in Venice\Italy is not a new theme for Leon, but this is the first time that she has applied it to the lowest classes; although this surely is not the first instance of this happening in "her" fair city.

Oh,yeah, the basic plot is unbelievable if not non-existent; the characters plastic and police work jejuene. and I'm a Donna Leon fan.

This book felt like Ms. Leon started with one story, the religious scam, then got a better idea, the dead gypsy child. Instead of going back and starting over, she just added on the second story to what she'd already written.

(Or Ms. Leon took a long vacation or was ill or got distracted in the writing of this book; the two elements are that much unconnected.)

I don't mind the leisurely pacing of the Donna Leon's books. Nor the fact that the corrupt system often prevents the punishing of crimes. The books are well worth reading for the atmosphere of Venice and the scenes of Italian family life.

But as a loyal, grateful fan of Donna Leon I feel my trust was abused by this latest effort.

Donna Leon has created a winner with this latest book in the Brunetti series. David Colacci does his usual excellent job of interpreting the voices. Learning the inner workings of the Venice police force is fascinating. Both story lines are interesting and are resolved in interesting ways. No pat endings for Leon. She can't write fast enough for me. One word of advice, start at athe beginning of this series. Well worth the effort.

This is a fascinating story of the European prejudice against gypsies. Guido Brunetti and Inspector Vianello answer a 911 call and find a blond child with light eyes in a side canal of Venice. They have no idea who she was and no parent has reported her missing.

The child has some jewelry in her possession and Brunetti tries to determine her name through the watch and ring. As the days tick by, Brunetti becomes more concerned that no parents have come forward. Finally, he finds her name through information on child crimes. She is the third child of a gypsy family, who are camped on the mainland.

The solution highlights the reality of Italian politics and prejudices. This is not a 'Leave it to Beaver' kind of ending. However, it is certainly thought provoking.

I recently read one of this writer's novels about her Venetian detective Guido Brunetti and liked it so much I decided to try another, a move that turned out to be a big mistake in this case.

First of all, nothing actually happens until around page 100 when the first signs of crime appear after a girl's body is found in a canal.

The previous part is devoted to the ins and outs of Brunetti's family life and descriptions of Venice. There is a lengthy pointless sub-plot involving a conman preacher that goes nowhere and should have been either cut or used as the basis for another novel. Its only purpose seems to give the writer a chance to criticize the Catholic Church.

The actual crime mystery - was the victim pushed or did she fall into the canal - is fairly well done but overall, this was a great disappointment

Several mysteries back I stopped reading Leon for her fine descriptions of Venice, or the pleasures of eavesdropping on the Bruntetti family as the Commissario works out the solutions to the crimes he encounters. Now I read them to see how much Establishment hating, American bashing and Christian mocking can be packed into a mere 275 pages. In her latest outing we once again have the perfect politically correct mystery where the rich are always evil and the poor always noble.

The novel begins with a priest approaching Brunetti asking for help unmasking a clergy conman. This gives Leon room to spend a few chapters on clergy bashing "Just look at them, Guido, in their dear little costumes, with their hats and their skirts and their rosaries and their turned around collars", Brunetti's mother in law intones. The clergy con man thread quickly disappears from the book after it has served it's anti-Christian purpose. The fact that it was put in the book solely for this reason is obvious since the thread is completely dropped from the story.

Then Brunetti finds himself investigating the death of an eleven year old Gypsy girl (pardon me, political corrrectness requires Brunetti to call them Rom not Gypsies), who has drowned after being caught robbing a house of a few worthless jewelery trinkets. Did she fall accidentally from the roof while making her escape or was she deliberately thrown off? This is what Brunetti must discover. Of course the denouement requires that the evil doer be related to a very high up person in the Italian government. The Gypsies (excuse me, Rom) are all noble and oppresed, the Italian majority clearly causing them to send their children off to rob and steal.

Although America has no role in this novel whatsoever Ms. Leon just can't help herself in somehow throwing them into the mix, accusing them of bringing the Mafia into the Post World War Two Italian government to keep those nasty Communists from infiltrating the government, as well as a few additional gratuitous slams for good measure.

To quote the Italians, I say, "Basta!" "Enough",I am no longer going to waste my eyesight on Leon's simple minded political diatribes.

ISBN-10: 1555849032
ISBN-13: 978-1555849030
Donna Leon The Girl of His Dreams
Brunetti finds a gypsy girl floating in the water of the canal. He tries to find her family which does to want to be found. Going into the Gypsy camp is dangerous; only men come out to greet him and the woman who has been the police interface with them. Brunetti presses them to acknowledge the child is one of theirs. Working with the gypsy (Rom) camp is difficult but working with two issues which plague him over the course of the investigation, Burnetti comes to more deeply understand the pain of the people with no country and those who have political ties.

For me, this read brought horror and tears. It is not a cozy though it may read as one.

Death is absence of consciousness Brunetti believes. This is its awfulness. His father had not gone to church, remaining silent on the issue of faith, and his mother had. The funeral described in the book's opening is that of the mother of Guido Brunetti, the Commissario. His mother had had a morning disposition.

The Commissario seeks the services of his mother-in-law to help him unravel a case involving a probable religious huckster. The Commissario is suspicious of the priest-informant in the matter, an old friend of his brother. Brunetti through police work has lost the instinct to trust.

Brunetti, another officer, and their wives go to a meeting of the religious leader who is the subject of the investigtion. The theory is that the presence of the wives will provide cover for the police inquiry. Guido encounters post-modern communication theory when he seeks elucidation of a memo received from a superior officer. (What is multi-cultural sensitivity, what is a verbal stance?)

The setting, the tone, the dialogue, the ancillary issues described in the story surround and enhance the mystery plot. The writing in the series is excellent. There is humor of a mocking variety. Descriptions of the police bureaucracy, for example, are droll. Death of the young is in the foreground. The Venetian background adds specificity to this police procedural that is much more than a police procedural.

It is difficult to write a review of this glimpse into the life of Venetian detective Guido Brunetti without providing any spoilers. Suffice to say, as always, I enjoyed looking at the world through the eyes of this detective and family man.

However, there were some unsatisfying aspects to this book ... and ironically, I fully believe that this is the way that author Donna Leon WANTED me to feel. Life is not always a Larry Levinson-stamped Hallmark Channel movie where the guy always gets the girl and the bad guy is always exposed and punished and ... and the author clearly understands that. Somehow, though, she manages to paint what could be a truly depressing thought in its best light. And THAT, is a great gift - from G-d to the author, and from the author to her readers.

I give the Girl of His Dreams a solid 4 stars.

WARNING: One subplot clearly reflects an anti-Catholic bias. (However, a careful reading of this aspect of the book will reveal that the author DOES allow for a silver lining in a pessimistically dark, dark cloud.)

Once again Donna Leon delivers another graceful and thoughtful Commissario Brunnetti installment. Leon's style of writing and the way she develops the plot my not be everyone's cup of tea, and "The Girl Of His Dreams" may not rank amongst Leon's best work, but truly, I really enjoyed the book.

When a childhood friend of Brunetti's eldest brother, a priest, Padre Antonin, approaches Brunetti about his fears that a scam may being perpetrated, Brunetti is suspect about Antonin's motives. Always suspicious about the clergy and having some not very good memories of Antonin, Brunetti is tempted to let the matter drop with only the most superficial of investigations. But Brunetti's queries reveal that Antonin may be onto something afterall. It looks as if a brand new Christian sect has opened up shop in Venice, and several of the sect members have been persuaded to donate money to the sect. Is Mutti a scam artist as Anotonin claims? Or is Antonin afraid that Mutti may prove too much competition for the Church? But before Brunetti can go further with his queries, he becomes involved in another criminal investigation, this time involving the suspicious drowning of a young gypsy child. The young girl's death haunts Brunetti and his colleagues so much that Brunetti resolves to figure out how this child died and bringing whoever was responsible to justice...

It is true that Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti novels have changed a little over the years, becoming more introspective, quieter and less complex. But the books are still compelling and make for very enjoyable reading. It is true that there is very little suspense or tension, and I can understand the disappointment that some of the previous readers have had with "The Girls of His Dreams;" but really one also reads Donna Leon for the quiet lyricism she writes, the wonderfully evocative manner in which she describes Venice in all it's various seasons and for the regional political issues she informs us about -- it's my way of keeping in touch with what's going on in Italy on a social level other than through the media. "The Girl of His Dreams" was a very quiet, elegant and lyrical read, but it may not be to every reader's taste, esp given the ending, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. As other reviewers have already mentioned, "The Girl of His Dreams" may not rank as one Leon's most stellar of offerings, but for stalwart fans, it will prove to be an enjoyable and rewarding read.

The title of this 17th instalment of Commissario Brunetti's investigations is slightly misleading; the girl is nobody's dream, but she is dead and appears to Brunetti in his nightmares rather than his dreams.
The opening of the book sees us at the funeral of Brunetti's mother which occasions more nostalgia in all concerned than real grief. Brunetti then is asked by the priest officiating at the funeral to investigate a shady guru-type priest. Sometime later Brunetti and his faithful sidekick Vianello find a young blond girl in one of the canals. The subsequent investigation leads them to a gipsy camp outside Venice and has them confronting their own prejudices.
In terms of mystery this novel is quite unexciting. As always, Brunetti's dogged intellect unravels what has happened to his satisfaction, but nonetheless he is unable to bring justice to the victim; I understand that the law and justice seldom go hand in hand (in real life), but in the case of Leon's novels it gets more and more difficult to bear that the perpetrators of crime hardly ever are brought to justice (and by this I don't mean that they are punished by the law).
In my opinion this is one of the weaker instalments, the mystery is very unsatisfying, nothing exiting happens either in terms of the plot or with the characters but life for Brunetti just ebbs along the way we have come to expect. This is not necessarily a bad thing; in a world where one is daily bombarded by the ravages of war, hunger, poverty, unemployment and finds it increasingly difficult to find any meaning or constancy, the predictability of Brunetti's world offers great comfort. That is not to say that Brunetti lives in a perfect world; he also laments the inefficiency of government, the stupidity of his superior, the increasing number of tourists that deluge Venice, the extinction of fruit and vegetable vendors in Venice, the rise of the mafia and so on. But aside from all this his life moves in an orderly fashion; he goes to work, he cleverly manipulates his superior into letting him do what he wants, he has Signorina Elettra do illegal but highly efficient computer searches, he collects favors and dispenses favors in the course of his investigations, has profound discussion with Vianello and his wife, ambles along the little streets and canals of Venice and every so often enjoys a delicious meal.
I know that Donna Leon is a teacher and I like literary allusions but recently I find it increasingly difficult to escape the impression that some of her literary reflexitivity seems a touch forced; how else can it be explained that whatever Classic Brunetti happens to read tallies so nicely with what else is going on in the book?
I liked "The girl of his dreams" quite a lot and think it is a very nice "comfort read" but it seems to lack some of the profundity that characterized some of the earlier instalments. Nevertheless, I'm looking very much forward to the next book in the series.

Bravo, Donna Leon, for writing a mystery novel that delves into the underpinnings of crime and society. Italy, like all western European nations, is struggling with a huge influx of immigrants from other cultures. Now Europe must struggle with the problems that have been ongoing in the US for a couple of centuries. As I've said in other Leon reviews, Guido Brunetti is perhaps the most humanistic of all series detectives published today. In this outing, he must cope with the drowning of a "Rom" (Gypsy) child who was involved in an apartment robbery. Her face haunts him as he goes about his business, trying to discover what happened and why. Leon is brilliant at portraying the clash between cultures and consciences. Girl of His Dreams does the best job yet of bringing to the forefront the difficulties of reconciling legal and humanitarian needs. This is not an easy book to read; there are, in fact, moments of discomfort awaiting the reader. But it's an eloquent and important book, one that deserves attention and thought.

The 17th entry in Donna Leon's wonderful Venetian series has not one but two cases for her marvelous policeman, Commissario Guido Brunetti. The mysterious head of a "fringe" religious cult may or may not be a con man, bilking the faithful of their cash, and an old acquaintance asks Guido to investigate. But before he gets far in that case, the body of an 11-year-old girl is fished out of the Grand Canal. She was a "Gypsy," one of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants plaguing the European countryside, and she apparently died while committing a robbery. Brunetti is determined to bring her killer to justice.

Fans of this series will feel right at home with Guido, his family, and his colorful colleagues in the police force. If you're a newcomer, start with an earlier title (preferably the first one in the series, DEATH AT LA FENICE) and catch up with the rest of us. You won't regret it. Along with P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, Elizabeth George, Peter Robinson, and a few others, Donna Leon is writing one of the most accomplished, literate, literary mystery series available. Recommended.

What could have been an interesting story about a crooked minister, which turned into an anti-American and anti-Catholic rant, became a whiny diatribe on the Rom/Gypy/Roma when a 10 years girl is found dead in the canal.

I am a fan of the series, and will hopefully have my enjoyment restored with the next in the series, but this book is more a wordy essay of Leon's prejudice hidden in a weak mystery. Her descriptions are still vivid and that saves the book from being a one-star.

This book is largely set on the fishing island of Pellestrina, and Commissario Brunetti is tasked with resolving the murder of two fisherman, a father and son. The former is universally disliked, the latter is truly mourned.

The writing is as languorous as the lapping waves along the canals, the food on Brunetti's table as delicious as only Venetian food can be, and the detecting is interspersed with the odd glass of Prosecco or Vin Santo. Bonsuan, the police pilot, navigates the waterways as Brunetti shuttles back and forth between the islands, perhaps past the island of San Servolo, gliding past Santa Maria delle Grazie and San Clemente and on to Saca Sessola. Paola, his ever supportive wife, is always in the background, voicing her thoughts, keeping his conscience, getting him to think things through carefully and providing sustenance (both emotional and via food). Reading Donna Leon, for us, is not overly challenging, but brings Venice to life and feels as comfortable as a well worn pair of shoes. "Donna Leon's engaging books have been the cheapest way to travel to Italy for quite some time..." (the store)

Donna Leon's Brunetti mysteries are not (in general) for those who want lots of action and a satisfying conclusion in which justice is served. But for those who want thought-provoking problems, good characterization, and a strong sense of place, they are well worth reading.

This story, nominally an investigation of a child found drowned in a Venetian canal, in concerned with how we decide what we believe about other people. Prejudice of various forms (ethnic, anti-clerical, anti-authoritarian) is one major theme of the book. Another is corruption (religious scams, graft, influence-peddling, involvement of children in crime).

Commissario Brunetti works in an unpleasant, possibly irredeemable society. His life is made tolerable by his sweet family life and his enjoyment of the physical world - good food and wine, the changing seasons, and the magnificent city of Venice. He is not always satisfied with the conclusion of his cases, but I am always satisfied with the books in which he appears.

I have loved all the Commissario Guido Brunetti books I have read so far but this book was a real disappointment. I think it was the theme of social commentary on the Romani, social services, and Roman Catholic clerics. It had an angry tone to it. I can listen to talk radio if I want to hear that attitude. Although I found it amusing that in Italy Brunetti was having a difficult time finding a believer (Christian/religious). It was still worth my time because I love the setting of the novels and the characters especially Brunetti and his family.

This book is much better written than Donna Leon's previous "Suffer the Little Children", which just seems sloppy and not up to her usual standard. But despite the excellent writing, this book is highly flawed.

There is a theme in every Commissario Brunetti book, ranging from the Italian military and the Venice Opera to the glass-blowing industry and the plight of illegal immigrants and homosexuals in Italy. But where in every previous book Commissario Brunetti, his wife and the sympathetic characters, and by extension Donna Leon, share compassionate liberal values towards oppressed minorities, like illegal immigrants, this book perpetuates every cliche about Europe's most oppressed minority, the Roma.

In previous books Brunetti has referred to the Roma by the old derogatory name "Gypsies". Not only does that continue in this book, the few times it is pointed out that there is a less racist name, the name Leon offers is "Rom", which is also derogatory. And Brunetti, and the other normally sympathetic characters, dismiss "Rom" as another exercise in political correctness, and continue to use the word "Gypsy".

This story includes every cliche about thieving gypsies who want to live in caravans, refuse to work, and force their children to steal or into prostitution. Only two characters are sympathetic to the Roma. One is a social worker who is not only depicted as unfriendly, she also has to be ugly, as if her appearance reflects her inner faults. The other is a doctor. What he has to say about the persecution of the Roma is completely correct, but you get the feeling Brunetti just wants the guy to get off the phone and out of his life.

Considering the support for the oppressed in all of the previous books, it is almost as if this book is actually a story from the point of view of the evil racist Lieutenant Scarpa, and everywhere it says Brunetti, Scarpa's name should appear instead.

Maybe the Roma in Italy are different from the oppressed Roma everywhere else in Europe. In light of the proposal by the right wing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that every Roma in Italy be fingerprinted, a proposal met by uniform protests from the international community, perhaps this book accurately reflects racist attitudes in Italy today.

But I just don't think Guido Brunetti, and certainly not his wife Paola, have suddenly adopted the values of the anti-immigrant Lega Nord. I kept waiting for something to happen for Brunetti to realize that he had it all wrong. Unfortunately it never did.

This otherwise well-written book is seriously flawed, and a great disappointment.

I've read most of this series with great enjoyment, but this one is below the standard she has set for herself. The novel doesn't hang together--the mother's funeral takes up a lot of space but doesn't really lead anywhere. Ditto the side story about the priest, old friend of Sergio. A lot of print for very little understanding of characters or action. The main story could have been interesting, but all of the characters are cardboard figures. Even Paola and Guido seem to be lacking in their usual zest--the food isn't even interesting. I will admit to possibly having a jaded palate, due to reading this right after reading two fabulous books by Sicilian (mystery) writer Andrea Camilleri. Still, I think Leon has done much, much better.

This story was excellent. The reader is brought into the story and wants to know what happened. Every Donna Leon book in this series tells you more about living in Venice. If you like mysteries you will enjoy this one.

Before writing my review, I waited two days after reading The Girl of His Dreams to see if I liked the book any better after sleeping on it. I didn't. Sorry, Ms. Leon. This one's a clunker. Why? Of two cases, only one is interesting. And the investigation of the interesting one isn't very stimulating. This book will only appeal to those who enjoy thinking about the injustices that victims experience.

As the book opens, crime seems to have taken a holiday in Venice and Commissario Guido Brunetti has plenty of time to investigate a mysterious preacher who is looking for big donations on the behalf of a priest he barely knows. Naturally, there's no crime to pin down, but Brunetti decides to look around anyway.

Before the preacher's background and motives can be understood, Brunetti has to deal with a most unpleasant duty . . . pulling a dead girl from the water. Here's where the local color comes in. The girl is a Gypsy (the P.C. term is Rom), part of a family that steals for a living. As you can imagine, Gypsies aren't interested in telling their troubles to the police.

How will Brunetti find out what happened to the girl? That's the real mystery of this book. A lot of the leads turn out to be misleading which provides a few mild surprises.

Once again, you'll learn that the police aren't able to do very much about crime, those in the establishment who complain often have things to hide, and the poor aren't as bad as everyone else thinks. The explication of those points is, however, not very interesting compared to other books in this series.

Did I need to read this book to remain a fan of this series? Not really. You have the option to pass on this one.

Totally discordant stories about a priest and then about a dead child. I am wondering what the mystery was?
I have enjoyed two other books by this author, and now, I have to think twice about another one after this disappointing book which was a total waste of time.

As compellingly readable as always. Donna Leon evokes the mysterious underbelly of Venice better than anyone, while also drawing the almost prosaic in her depiction of the Brunettis' family life. I love her books and this one is no exception.

No surprise that Donna Leon's novels aren't translated into Italian. Nobody would care reading them, in fact. We are used to REAL crime novel, not to a dull description of a common week in a Questura. And there's something worse about it: Ms. Leon keeps on making Italian characters speak her own prejudices and wrong ideas about Italians (Italia=Mafia, pasta, pizza, racism), why doesn't she create an American Commissario?! And why does she live in a country she so openly hates?! I don't just dislike this book, I'm thoroughly offended by this amount of prejudices put into it. Let Giorgio Faletti and other great Italian novelists write real crime novels, or read Linwood Barclay and learn what crime is all about.

I am a great fan of Andrea Camilleri's brilliant, funny and moving mysteries set in Sicily featuring Inspector Montalbano. I'm also a fan of his translations which are extraordinary. I read my first Donna Leon novel and could not believe that this poorly written, apparently unedited book is popular. The plot was thin at best, the writing amateurish, and the characters pale. Don't waste your time, instead read Camilleri and enjoy yourself.

After the shock of "Suffer The Little Children" which was totally inferior to the preceding excellent books, "The Girl of His Dreams" is an improvement. Not back to full form but acceptable. Hopefully Ms Leon has not lost her touch.