Nick Tosches - Trinities
Bantam Pbk (0 553 40933 6) £5.99
The first chapter sets
the tone of violence, corruption, betrayal, and not many laughs. Johnny di Pietro is the
pilgrim of the tale, leading us on a grim and relentless journey to the heart of darkness.
When we first meet him he's a lost soul going nowhere fast, working as a part time
hitman's driver and corrupt union official. He used to write poetry and read Plato. Not
surprisingly he's hit the bottle and his marriage is on the rocks. He's sad, lonely and
depressed. Then out of the blue he gets a phone call from his favourite uncle. Old Uncle Joe is quite clearly off his trolley but he fails to take over the world as planned and ironically dies the only natural death amidst 500 pages of knifings, disembowellings, castrations, shootings, ODs and explosions. The violence is almost ornographic in its banality. But there are some nice touches; the most gruesome torture/murder scene since Mr Blonde cut off the cop's ear. And how's this for sicko logic, one of book's central aphorisms; men who don't believe in killing don't believe in civilisation. They're uncivilised.
The story is epic in its pretensions. Like a modern day Ulysses Johnny travels the world fending off all the gods can throw at him. Classical references abound. Milton, Shakespeare, Machiavelli and Dante take it in turns to put their foot in. The "How to do well in business" aspects of eastern philosophy are also well represented. Some of it read like the Book of Revelations; complete with archaisms, apocalyptic visions and cod philosophy. It's completely over the top, which is OK if you like that sort of thing, but, like the classics, it's not much fun unless you're in the know. Nick Tosches has obviously done his homework. The narrative overflows with research. Unfortunately it shows. If ever you need to choose a suitable handgun for the job or fancy laundering some money then you could do worse. Frankly, I didn't care much.
Then there's the matter of the triangles, presumably some sort of unifying device. The whole mythological gamut; 3 pronged spears, 3 headed monsters, the 3 faces of Lucifer, triads, holy and unholy trinities of every description. Even Sicily, one of Johnny's more sedate destinations, is a triangle. I bet you didn't know that.
And then there's directions, lots of directions. If ever you go to Palermo, or Milan, or Thailand, or New York or any Chinatown anywhere take this book and follow these directions. I imagine Nick Tosches has been to all these places and paced out a three cornered shape down back streets and piazzas; another nice (or tedious, depending on your point of view) triangular twist to an otherwise rectangular book. (Patrick Taylor)
