[.ca] Equal Danger (ISBN 1590170628)

Ponderous Parable:
This slender novella is more of a parable about government power than it is a traditional mystery or thriller (in an afterword, Sciascia himself describes it as a ìfable about power anywhere in the worldî). Written in 1971, the story follows a policeman in charge of investigating the murders of two judges. The setting is a unnamed country where the government and the supposed opposition are merely two sides of the same coin, and is clearly based on the author's native Sicily. Inspector Rogas's investigations rapidly lead him into areas his superiors would rather he left alone, and he is repeatedly told to focus on pinning the blame on "revolutionaries". As more and more judges and prosecutors gets killed, it becomes clearer and clearer that Rogas is being diverted for political motives. This surface story is merely a vehicle, however, for Sciascia's views on the limits of justice and reason. The Inspector is alone as a man of principles, and the unmistakable message is that only in the movies are principles and reason enough to carry the day. It's not the most gripping story, but for those of a metaphysical bent, it is full of intellectual diversions such as the question as to whether there can be such a thing as a judicial error, and discussions of Voltaire, Pascal, and others. The translation is crisp and lively, but the overall tone is so ponderous that it's not exactly the most engaging work.

Metaphysical Detective Novel:
At its heart the English/American detective novel is a story about procedure. A crime takes place and the hero methodically advances step by step to unravel the mystery. The pleasure in these stories is observing the hero's clever reasoning as he solves the puzzle. The procedural detective story usually ends with evil being punished and balance returned to a decent world. Leonardo Sciascia's Equal Danger comes from another tradition. The Latin Detective Novel has some procedural elements in it but the focus is a meditation on the nature of society. Sciascia begins his novel by quoting Rousseau, "...Tell me where on earth their exists a country where it is a crime to keep one's given word and to be generous, where the good man is despised and the wicked man is honored." As a Scicilian, this world of corruption and silent complicity is all too familiar to Sciascia. On the surface, Equal Danger is story about the search for a serial killer of judges and prosecuting attorneys. Below the surface, this is metaphysical detective novel that tries to give insight into a failed civil society. Although elegantly written, Equal Danger is not light reading. If one is interested in the Latin Detective Novel, read the more accessable Michael Dibdin, Rubem Fonseca or Paco Ignacio Taibo. Sciascia is more difficult to read and understand but he is well worth the effort.