Massimo Carlotto: The Goodbye Kiss

I read a review of this books somewhere on-line (can't remember where; I think it must've been Bookgasm, but can't find that one) saying that the protagonist of the book is a much more sleazier scumbag than anyone Jim Thompson ever wrote about. I knew at that instant I gotta have the book.

And it was worth every cent. Massimo Carlotto throws a very lean and mean crime novel, clocking at 144 pages, and you hate all the characters at every step they make, every word they utter. You can't root for these guys, but you just can't turn your eyes away. Carlotto says in an interview that he's not interested in good guys winning, and it clearly shows. It's not easy to say whether the antihero of The Goodbye Kiss wins or loses, though he's still alive in the end, but some confusion is always for good. The violent bits are nasty, but they are over very quickly, with an effective matter-of-fact style. In fact, what makes this so chilling that while Jim Thompson used a non-reliable narrator you just have to believe everything Carlotto's antihero Giorgio Pellegrini says. There's no going back to deception of thinking "maybe he's a looney".

We've been planning a trip to Italy for a week next summer. Reading Carlotto's book I said to Elina: "Seems like anything you do in Italy your money will go to some criminal psychopath." Wonderful stuff! Don't let the sunny feelgood cover fool you.

Nota bene: there's a movie made from The Goodbye Kiss, getting quite mixed reviews from the IMDb crowd. Anyone seen it?