The writer reveals the dark side of some foundations and NGOs in the new novel in Commissioner Brunetti’s series. “Going through Venice is like shopping at Disneyland: pizza, ice cream or spaghetti yes, but if you need underwear, a button or a needle, you’re out of luck”
In 30 years, Donna Leon (New Jersey, age 79) has published 31 novels starring her Venetian curator Guido Brunetti. The last is ‘Give and it shall be given to you’ (Seix-Barral), in which the North American writer, who settled in Switzerland after fleeing Venice, exposes the hidden manipulations under the humanistic and supportive facade of some foundations and NGOs. An abandoned Venice in the midst of a pandemic is the unusual setting in history in which some greedy unscrupulous profit is made from supposed charities. “I’m not talking about the pandemic, I’m talking about those who got rich from it,” the author warns.
“We live in a culture that loves money. We respect it, but money doesn’t necessarily bring happiness.” He knows there are plenty of people who ‘will do anything for profit’, but he makes sure he doesn’t lump all charities together. “I don’t think there are any general rot is behind the gilded facades of NGOs, but we don’t know how they work,” he says. “They tell me that the FAO spends 90% of its money on salaries and bureaucracy, and only 10% on real aid and specific projects ”, he gives as an example.
“There’s always someone evil who wants to take advantage of the vulnerabilities of others,” he says without spoiling the novel. “Here in very civilized Switzerland, the elderly are mistreated and some are beaten by people pretending to be members of solidarity organisations. They convince them to leave all their possessions in their will,” Leon explains in a video conference from his Swiss home.
“I get furious when I see the weakest being abused. It revolts me either because of the “bullying” in school or the scams on the elderly. Inequality makes me angry,” says Leon, who is very clear “that you don’t have to kill to be a terrible person.”
The Brunetti saga began with ‘Death at La Fenice’ (1992). He has therefore been breaking down and writing about human evil for three decades, but he assures that it does not help him understand it better. “I don’t know if I understand wickedness better today than I did then, for I don’t know if you can understand evil and cruelty. In fact, I think I’m more confused,” he admits. “As we get older and are lucky, we feel more forgiving and think we understand others better, but evil continues to confuse me,” he stresses. “The price of meanness is cruel to the wrongdoer and to the victim. I can understand that he steals, but not the cruelty to the other ».
He is more interested in Greek tragedies than platform series. “I am very cut off from modern life. I don’t have a ‘smartphone’, or Tick Tock, or Facebook, or Instagram. I know what they are, but I don’t use them. Without mobile you can live in the last century and I don’t know much about today’s life. I don’t have Netflix either, but I know what it offers and I prefer Greek tragedies over serials. With a smile, she explains that her de facto marriage to Brunetti is a happy one. “I like him and I think he would like me too,” he confesses.
Leon and Brunetti’s is therefore a solid couple with a future. Not surprisingly, he’s nearly finished the 32nd novel in the series and is thinking about number 33. “I can’t fault Brunetti. It will remain as it is.” And that he is aware that his commissioner “had a lot of prejudice against southern Italians and was a bit racist”. “Now they have told him and he admits it.”
Leon, who in order not to publish his anonymity in Italy, has lived in Venice for many years. But she left the canal city tired of the ravages of mass tourism. “It receives three million tourists and its 50,000 inhabitants are overwhelmed; they have everything to lose. In Venice it is not easy to find a shoemaker, it is almost impossible to buy a button or needle. The companies that keep a city alive are dying out. Yes indeed. But if you need underwear, you get annoyed.” He doesn’t dare say that tourism has killed the Serenissima, “but almost.” “Venice and Vienna have the oldest population in all of Europe with many people over 80 and 90. I don’t know if tourism killed Venice, but it has transformed it to the point that it has become unrecognizable, as happened with the Ramblas in Barcelona,” he says.
Turning eighty in September, he confesses that the secret to never missing his annual appointment with Brunetti and the reader is to write with enthusiasm and tenacity. “The answer is simple. If you notice that the manuscript of each of my books is close to 365 pages, it’s clear that my job is to write about 365 pages a year. Not that it will kill me, but I’m very busy. Plus, I can write 60 or 70 pages in a week,” he says. “This is not like boning chickens in a factory. I’m having a great time. I enjoy it very much, so I’m not humiliating myself. That’s the real secret.”
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
