Cara Massimina By Tim Parks

‘Cara Massimina’, the first book of the Duckworth-series, is one of the novel that provokes a very uncomfortable feeling while reading. This is because Parks is setting up a trap for the reader. First, he introduces the British expat Morris Duckworth living in Verona, teaching English to make a living. Young Morris may appear a little bit strange, but as in every book, you try to identify with the protagonist. And when you did so, you realize that the main character is not only strange but mentally ill and evil. The difficult thing is that the story is told from Duckworth’s perspective. And as you might guess, he considers himself to be a normal guy, doing bad things only as a direct reaction to the misconducts of his fellows.

Usually I like this kind of narrative approach, nevertheless I have some difficulties with Park’s style. On the one hand, the author shows us that Duckworth is a monster, capable of doing the worst things a human being can do. But on the other hand, Parks is using his protagonist to transport subtle irony, for example when commenting on the Italian lifestyle. In other words, the author doesn’t commit himself neither to comedy nor to drama. It’s not forbidden to do so, but me personally I don’t like to listen to jokes made by an evil and insane person. I love Park’s books, but prefer his works where he commits either to light, but well-written entertainment or profound drama, as in ‘Destiny’.

All in all, this novel is some kind of homage to Patricia Highsmith’s ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’, featuring narrative elements of ‘The Wasp Factory’ by Iain M. Banks. Although Parks ‘Cara Massimina’ is a good book, it doesn’t reach the level of the two novels mentioned above. I am not sure yet if I will continue the series. Tim Parks Açıkçası olay örgüsü ve hikayesi yerinde olan bir kitap olsa da olayın detaylarına girişin neredeyse kitabın yarısını bulmuş olması beni üzdü.

Tim Parks çok severim ama bu beni tatmin etmedi.
Özellikle cinayet- gerilim romanı seven bir okur olarak anlatım tarzından da tatmin olmadım.

Tim Parks daha önce okuyanlara okuyun eksk kalmasın derim ama onun dışında alın koşun okuyun hemmen diyemem.

Hatırlatma üzerine şükür ki bir seriyi sondan yakalamadım! Fakat seri olmasının hatrına devam eder miyim emin değilim.. Tim Parks Readers need to sympathise, empathise, enjoy or feel for the protagonists in whose journey they are following; this is the way of things, and yet, with Cara Massimina (Juggling the Stars in US), you don't feel any of these things. Despite being published in 1990, this is a fairly original concept - one that is interesting, unique and temperamental.

Described as a thriller, I found it more of a character thought-provoking drama of a man who is driven to murder by his insecurities of being in a different country, lack of money and career prospects and his demonised relationship with his father that ultimately forces him to struggle with relationships.

Morris is a despicable man; angry, jealous, sarcastic and pig-headed, and yet there are terrific black comedy moments where I found myself laughing out loud. It takes a subtle hand to be able to mix humour and murder together in a serious book. Morris's deepening paranoia is also delved into in such a realistic and witty way.

However, I did find the book increasingly slow at the beginning. It wasn't until I was about just over half way through that I found things picking up. The ransom letters needed to be introduced earlier in the novel and I can see why people are put off by its slow approach.

Enjoyable, but not one of the author's best. Tim Parks Vielleicht ging es letzten Endes nur darum, wie man sein Leben verbrachte, ohne sich wie ein Narr vorzukommen. Und wenn sie einen nicht durch ehrliche Arbeit oder Heirat zu Geld kommen ließen, vielleicht war es dann gar nicht so falsch oder auch nur kompliziert es zu stehlen. Vielleicht ging es einfach darum, die Augen offen zu halten und auf Gelegenheiten zu warten. Morris gegen den Rest der Welt – so war es schon in der Schule gewesen.

Dabei ging es eigentlich gar nicht um Geld, sondern viel mehr um Stil. Sollte er jahrelang Hauslehrer bleiben und die Minuten seiner Privatstunden zählen? Sollte er sich weiter im Winter in Decken einwickeln, öffentliche Verkehrsmittel benutzen und unter chronischem Neid leiden müssen, während diese Leute aufgrund ihrer zufälligen Geburt in aristokratischer Anmut dahinlebten? Was gab es für Alternativen? Was konnte ihm die Welt raten? Wie sollte man seine Zeit verbringen? Wie sollte man leben? Die gängige Lebensweisheit (Kopf hoch, Arbeit suchen, schuften und sich aufs Wochenende freuen) führte offensichtlich ins Nichts.

Wenn sie einem schon keine anständige Arbeit gaben, konnte man ihnen wenigstens einen Denkzettel verpassen.

Verona, Norditalien, Ende der 1980-er Jahre. Arthur Morris Duckworth ist Englischlehrer und betrachtet sich selbst als gescheiterte Existenz. Der Job ist schlecht bezahlt, Zukunftsperspektiven gibt es kaum. Ohne einen Abschluss musste Morris damals in England die Uni verlassen (ein lächerlicher Fehltritt: ein einziges Mal in seinem Leben hatte er Drogen genommen und wurde prompt dabei erwischt. Weil er aus einer einfachen Familie stammte musste man ein Exempel an ihm statuieren.) Seitdem fühlt er sich vom Leben benachteiligt. Die Reichen können sich alles erlauben, er selbst leidet fürchterlich daran, dass er nur Bürger zweiter Klasse ist.

Kriminell zu werden scheint ihm die logische Konsequenz nach all den Demütigungen, die ihm die Gesellschaft zugefügt hat. Zunächst unternimmt Morris eher aus Langeweile und Abenteuerlust Versuche aus seinem geregelten Dasein auszubrechen. Er entwendet einem Mitreisenden im Zug die teure Aktentasche, stiehlt eine Statue aus der Wohnung eines reichen Zöglings.

Diese Taten verschaffen ihm zwar zunächst Genugtuung. Aber er selbst weiß, das ist nur Kinderkram, kleinliche Racheakte, die auf lange Sicht nichts bringen. Etwas Größeres, Grandioseres muss her.

Morris hat eine irrwitzige Idee: Die Heirat mit seiner wohlhabenden Schülerin Massimina Trevisan soll ihm die Eintrittskarte zur mondänen Welt der Reichen verschaffen.

Als dieses Vorhaben misslingt lässt Morris endgültig alle moralischen Hemmungen fallen: Er entführt Massimina, um ein Lösegeld von der Familie zu erpressen. Die darauffolgenden Komplikationen stellen ihn vor immer größere Probleme. Zumindest findet er hearus, dass Morden im Grunde gar nicht so schwierig ist:

Was ihn am meisten erstaunte, war die Tatsache, dass die Morde so wenig real waren. Wahrscheinlich war die Welt voll von Mörder, Kriegsverbrechern und Kinderschändern, die selbst gar nicht glauben konnten, dass sie so etwas getan haben sollten. Aber jeder war dazu fähig, auch wenn er’s nicht glaubte. Jedes beliebige Küchenmesser konnte zur Mordwaffe werden, und jeder hatte schon tausende Male getötet, wenn auch vielleicht nur im Kopf. Es war nur eine Frage, dass der Wunsch und die Gelegenheit zusammentrafen.

Morris Duckworth besitzt offensichtliche Ähnlichkeiten zu Patricia Highsmiths Antihelden Tom Ripley, doch während Highsmith es schaffte ihren Protagonisten trotz dessen Handlungen zum Sympathieträger zu machen, bleibt es schwer Morris ins Herz zu schließen. Arrogant, larmoyant, egozentrisch und manchmal geradezu widerwärtig gebärdet sich dieser Hochstapler.

Und dann ist da noch der Stil: Highsmith bedient sich einer sehr klaren, direkten Sprache, die so gar nichts Verschnörkeltes oder um künstlerischen Anspruch Heischendes an sich hat. Der Talentierte Mr. Ripley war ein absoluter Page-Turner, den ich kaum aus der Hand legen konnte. Mr. Duckworths Abenteuer hatten dagegen doch ihre Längen. Vor allem die Passagen, in welchen Morris sich an seinen verhassten Vater erinnert (er schreibt ihm anklagende Briefe, die er nie abschickt und spricht wütende Botschaften auf Band) gestalteten sich mit Dauer etwas ermüdend.

Trotzdem gelingt dem Autor ein zynisch-schwarzhumoriger Thriller, dem aber die Kompaktheit und Eleganz des Highsmith-Klassikers fehlt.


Tim Parks British author Tim Parks' early novel, Juggling the Stars, has been reissued as Cara Massimina: Duckworth and the Italian Girls. It is one of three or four novel the ex-pat has written about Morris Duckworth, a Brit who moves to Verona, Italy and finds a novel way to advance his fortunes.

Morris Duckworth is the kind of character you'd find in many novels which are constructed around poor-boy-on-the-make. Morris has come to Verona - this novel takes place in the 1980's - and finds a place at a language school, teaching English to the children of wealthy Veronese. He, being brighter and more hard working than those he's teaching, is envious of the easy way these young people live their lives. As the son of a widowed father who is abusive to his only child, Morris is a handsome young man with an outwardly confident nature that is at odds with the real Morris. He falls in like with one of his dimmer students - Massimina Trevisan - the youngest daughter of a widow-of-means. But if Morris falls in like with Massimina, she falls into love with him. There's a difference between the two emotions, of course, and Morris keeps his head while he's leading Mimi through a faux kidnapping.

Tim Parks reveals his characters slowly. Things happen, as they frequently do in mystery novels, but the ending is not as expected. Now, I don't know if that's because of the vagaries of the Italian police and judicial systems or because of Morris's dumb luck, but Tim Parks continues Morris Duckworth's adventures into several more books. Cara Massimina is a fun book to read and I'm looking forward to reading more Morris. Tim Parks

Bored and broke, Morris Duckworth, an English teacher in Verona, stumbles on a plan for financial salvation - to marry Massimina, a seventeen-year-old student. And if his intentions are frustrated by a suspicious, conservative family, is it any fault of his that the lovely girl chooses to elope? Obsessed by self-advancement and excitement, Morris' dreams of blackmail, theft and murder plunge him deep into a chilling nightmare of deception and violence. Cara Massimina

An Englishman teaching in Italy becomes obsessed with a seventeen year-old student and kidnaps her without her knowledge by pretending to go on holiday with her but has to resort to murder to maintain the deception. It’s quite dark with a deliberately cold and unsympathetic protagonist and the smooth prose and Italian setting maintain interest. 2.5-3 stars Tim Parks ripley tadında ama ona kıyasla az şekerli. morris'in içsel ve babasıyla monologları sıkıcılıktan uzak, ama pek de merak uyandırmıyor. kurgusu hareketli, ama heyecan yaratmıyor. yine de edebi açıdan hayal kırıklığı kategorisinde değerlendirilemez. yılın son kitabı olarak yeterince tatmin edici. umarım mimi'nin hayaleti daha doyurucu olur. Tim Parks I hated the main protagonist. He is a selfish bastard which you can sympathise with for a single second. The other reason I did not like this book, is that I thought it was a thriller/mystery book. It is not. It is the annoying story about a guy who feels he deserves better. Tim Parks An acutely observed, witty and macabre tale of an English sociopath adrift in Italy. 3.5, but rounding up for the Italian atmosphere. :-) Tim Parks This book wasn’t really bad and I wasn’t bored while reading it either but it wasn’t that good and interesting that i would read the sequel. Tim Parks

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