Andrea Camilleri died at the age of 93. He was a writer, a screenwriter, a director, a playwright, a teacher. He became famous thanks to the lucky series of Inspector Montalbano.
He leaves a blank page, maybe even more than one. Andrea Camilleri started his career as a theatre director and play writer in 1942. The passion for writing follows him throughout the years. His first book, “Il Corso delle Cose”, was published in 1978 and written 10 years prior. In 1980, he published his first novel set in Vigata: “Un filo di fumo”. In 1994, he published “The Shape of Water”, in which Inspector Montalbano made his entrance into Camilleri’s narrative. This character brought him fame, and the author himself has said that he feels both hate and love towards him.
“After 20 years, Montalbano is for me a relative who I love, but he’s also an inconvenient character. Even in the best families, it happens that there is an uncle or a cousin who we love, but frankly, that uncle or cousin is inconvenient, since his success dragged the success of my other novels, the historical and civil ones. Therefore, I hate him and I love him.” This is what Andrea Camilleri said in his interview at “Terza Pagina”, aired on Rai3 on May 24th, 2019. Montalbano, in fact, is not only a literary success, but also a TV sensation. The inspector, appreciated by international TV audiences, always holds first place in TV ratings, even during replicas. The Inspector’s success, as underlined by Camilleri himself, has dragged the success of other novels. Among them, “La Mossa del Cavallo” and “La stagione della caccia”, both adapted for TV and always produced by Palomar, the historical producer of Inspector Montalbano.
