W. S. Di Piero, in his introduction to Leonardo Sciascia's "To Each His Own," aptly comments that Sciascia "used storytelling as in instrument for investigating and attacking the ethos of a culture-the insular, mafia-saturated culture of Sicily-which he believed to be a metaphor for the world." He did this as a political journalist, as a short story writer (notably in his fine collection, "The Wine-Dark Sea," which I also have reviewed here at Amazon) and, perhaps most effectively, as a writer of a unique type of detective story, one in which the usual investigation and solution of a crime is occluded by the lie, the secret, the collusion, and the murder that seemingly pervade Sciasica's Sicily.

In "To Each His Own," a pharmacist receives a simple, threatening and anonymous letter: "This letter is your death sentence. To avenge what you have done, you will die." The threat is apparently soon carried out, for a few days later the pharmacist and a close friend, Dr. Roscio, are found murdered. The two men had been hunting and their pack of dogs returned to the town without the men, prompting much speculation and a typically Sciascian commentary on the Sicilian code of silence:

"The return of the dogs set the whole town to disputing for days and days (as will always happen when people discuss the nature of dogs) about the order of Creation, since it is not at all fair that dogs should lack the gift of speech. No account was taken, in the creator's defense, that even had they had the gift of speech, the dogs would, in the given circumstances, have become so many mutes both with regard to the identity of the murderers and in testifying before the marshal of the carabinieri."

From this point forward, "To Each His Own" narrates the personal investigation of the crime by Professor Laurana, a sexually repressed high school teacher who lives alone with his mother in the same house he has lived in all his life. Professor Laurana undertakes the investigation not because he really cares to bring the perpetrator to justice, but "rather like the man in a living room or club who hears one of those stupid puzzles volunteered by the fools who are always eager to propose and, what is worse, to solve them, and who knows that it is a futile game and a waste of time, yet who feels obliged to solve the problem, and doggedly sets about doing so."

Professor Laurana methodically follows the clues and, along the way, provides a narrative that illuminates the corruption, the secrecy, the complicity, and the silence that make any effort to bring a criminal to justice in Sicily "a futile game and a waste of time." It is a narrative sharply critical of every institution in society-the Government, the Police, the Church, the Family-and laden with commentary and erotically charged innuendo on the relationship between men and women in a patriarchal and overtly sexist, if not misogynistic, culture. "To Each His Own" is, ultimately, a tale that ends grimly for those who seek the truth, even as the perpetrators celebrate their crimes in Sciascia's cynical Sicilian world.

As one expects from Sciascia, this is a highly readable book with well-drawn characters, intriguing plot ... all the makings of a delightful read. But as one also expects from Sciascia, the book is also a pointed political and social commentary. Follow the meanderings of a less-than-socially-observant professor as he tries to unravel the murder of a drugist and doctor on opening day of hunting season. Discover that the real mystery is who knows what when ... and why everyone keeps their knowledge close to their breasts. If you like suspense that reveals the complexity of the human condition, this is definately for you.

Set in a small town in Sicily, the novel "To Each His Own," starts with a death threat: "..." But the town pharmacist who receives the threat, Manno, is convinced he has done no wrong and dismisses the threat as a joke. The next day, he and his hunting companion, Dr. Roscio, are found dead. There are no obvious suspects and no obvious motives. After a perfunctory investigation by the town marshal, the local Professor Laurana takes up the case only to have it all end badly.

The author, Leonardo Sciascia, is widely considered a prominent Sicilian author, a master who pretty much invented the form of the "metaphysical mystery". This dazzling page-turner is ample evidence of the master's craft. The book (as are all of Sciascia's works) is also a social commentary on Sicily with its culture of secrets and violence. When the pharmacist and doctor are done in, there is hardly much of a stir in the local populace. The marshal comes down from the county seat to briefly investigate the "big headache", speculations are tossed around and life goes on. The silence and nonchalance are chilling.

The New York Review of Books recently reprinted "To Each His Own" under its "classics" issues (and what a great service that is!). I am eager to read the rest of the talented Sciascia's works. A word of caution--the edition published by the New York Review of Books has a wonderful introduction to the novel in the beginning. Save this for after you have read the book. While the introduction is good, it gives too much of the plot away!

The final word must belong to the absolutely haunting painting on the book cover. Called "Night in Velate" and rendered by the Italian painter, Renato Guttuso, the picture is the perfect choice for the dark, wonderful book.

If you look closely enough, you can almost see the evil lurking and doing its thing under the cover of a deceptively beautiful Sicilian night.

Fantastic background to the area both from the antropological and geographical points of veiw. However, when I visited Qaanaaq in 1990 and mentioned this book I found that the local inhabitants were not impressed by their protrayal. Particularly concerning the more private aspects of their society.

Insightful and introspective account of the author's extended study of the Polar Innuit of the Thule district in Greenland. The most recent edition includes the author's bittersweet reflections many years later on modern incursions that threaten the survival of this indigenous culture.

Although the primary objectives of Malaurie's work were cartographic and geological in nature, he became, by default, a primary voice in describing the Thule culture by recounting his personal experiences and lifestyle during the expedition. Surely, ethnography can never be a truly objective effort, but Malaurie seems to appreciate this and relates cultural information through an admitted cultural filter. Rather than stifle his own reactions in his writing, Malaurie has adequately described, with sensitivity, his personal paradigm shift as well as that of the culture he is inevitably impacting by his very presence. It is inevitable that in any ethnographic description it will be found that something is amiss, lacking, due to the inevitable loss of information that occurs whenever information is transferred across cultural and linguistic lines. This work is one of the few that I have read that treats cultural interaction and exchange with dignity on behalf of the observed and the one observing. And, after all, these lines of distinction regarding observer and the observed shift and change radically during such a period of cultural interaction. Malaurie wonderfully describes this process.