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The Honored Society: A Portrait of Italy's Most Powerful Mafia
In the early hours of an August morning a gunfight broke out in an Italian restaurant in Duisburg; in less than five minutes over seventy shots were fired into the bodies of six men. Both victims and assassins were members of the 'Ndrangheta crime organization; Calabria's Mafia had extended the savage tentacle of its influence outside Italy for the first time. For the men of the 'Ndrangheta, time is still measured in hour-glasses and honour may only be washed with blood. Petra Reski dispels the Hollywood romance surrounding the Mafia to reveal the huge and menacing force lurking everywhere - from street corner to parliament offices, construction site to corporate headquarters - and involved in everything from petty extortion to the disposal of nuclear waste. Reski's searing portrait of the criminals who have come to control not only Italy but vast swathes of Europe, is a journalistic tour de force.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
13 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Petra Reski
27 books4 followersPetra Reski is a German journalist and author renowned for her anti-Mafia publications.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 1, 2014
3.75 stars. Reski takes a rather personal approach to her subject, and "The Honored Society" both profits and suffers a bit as a result. She's chosen to intertwine her own personal recollections into the story, sometimes with very good effect; at other points, the back and forth jumps in time and place end up being confusing. There are many, many players to keep track of (some with rather similar names), and Reski's hopscotching from one to the other and back again had me scratching my head at some points because I'd lose the thread regarding who she was discussing. If you are not already rather familiar with the subject and the main players, you may be hopelessly lost.
I should point out that the title is a bit misleading; while Reski does discuss the 'Ndrangheta a great deal, she spends equal time (if not more) on Cosa Nostra and also devotes a few sections to the Camorra. All of this is interesting (and somewhat inevitable, since the three mafias are intertwined to some degree), but given the title, I'd expected the focus to be more or less on the 'Ndrangheta, so I was a bit disappointed. She does delve into the 'Ndrangheta's operations outside Italy more than any other writer I've read so far, and her coverage of the ties between the three mafias and Italy's politicians is fascinating. She also does the best job I've seen yet of describing the various mechanisms (including cultural attitudes) that allow the mafias to survive and thrive in Italy, and elsewhere.
Despite a few issues, "The Honored Society" has much to offer. Reski has a poetic command of the language, and her rich descriptions of people and places make you feel like you're right alongside her. Well worth reading to get an "on the ground" feel for Sicily, Naples, and Calabria and the people who live there.
I should point out that the title is a bit misleading; while Reski does discuss the 'Ndrangheta a great deal, she spends equal time (if not more) on Cosa Nostra and also devotes a few sections to the Camorra. All of this is interesting (and somewhat inevitable, since the three mafias are intertwined to some degree), but given the title, I'd expected the focus to be more or less on the 'Ndrangheta, so I was a bit disappointed. She does delve into the 'Ndrangheta's operations outside Italy more than any other writer I've read so far, and her coverage of the ties between the three mafias and Italy's politicians is fascinating. She also does the best job I've seen yet of describing the various mechanisms (including cultural attitudes) that allow the mafias to survive and thrive in Italy, and elsewhere.
Despite a few issues, "The Honored Society" has much to offer. Reski has a poetic command of the language, and her rich descriptions of people and places make you feel like you're right alongside her. Well worth reading to get an "on the ground" feel for Sicily, Naples, and Calabria and the people who live there.
February 1, 2015
This book is less an analysis of Italy's three major mafias than an evocation of the author's, and her friends's, pessimism about their resurgence following the assassinations of the anti-Mafia prosecutors Falcone and Borsellino. The writing is imprecise, personal, and at times contradictory. For instance, early in the book she states that the three mafias, Sicilian Cosa Nostra, Neapolitan Camorra and Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, do not compete with one another, and that the 'Ndrangheta exclusively controls the European cocaine trade. Later passages refer to large cocaine shipments received by the Camorra and Cosa Nostra. Can this be explained through chronology? Or did she overstate her case earlier in the book? It's impossible to tell. Reski also relies heavily on personal flashbacks but rarely grounds them chronologically. The subject is fascinating, but this book is not a great source for learning about it in any systematic fashion. It reminds me of Saviano's Gomorrah in that regard, a similarly frustrating book.
November 18, 2017
An enjoyable read; but not very informative. Reski writes in a very unique style. It is full of emotion and thought; but very little analysis or even organization. It is almost as if two ladies decided to drive through Calabria and Sicily looking for the Mafia. Yes, Reski finds the Mafia. She interviews Marcello Fava, a cooperating witness. But the readers learn nothing about Fava's crimes or his associates. Instead, Reski reiterates how Fava felt and currently feels about his past and the future.
Reski's style is fresh, irritating, and humorous. I enjoyed her decision to visit the mafia compound of a Calabrian crime boss. What is the harm? The guy is one of Italy's most wanted. When Reski and her friend drive around the compound a group of young men rush out at them cursing. In he background is an older man who seems bewildered by the fashion sense and hair gel of the young toughs. Maybe he is directing them; maybe he is just watching them. Reski and friend are saved by police who just happen to visit the compound as well. A week later they learn that older man in the background was the wanted fugitive. What I found humorous was the way Reski casually castrates the hoodlums and their fugitive boss. Her unique way of describing the incident makes them all out to be cartoon versions of the image most people have of the mafia.
Not to be outdone, Reski and friend decide to repeat the same experience in Corleone, Sicily. This time, they arouse the anger of the wives, daughters, and mothers of the Riina-Bagarella Family. They yell insults at the journalist and dispatch a car full of toughs to pursue them. This game was a little more serious to Reski because she just stayed behind an armored car for a while until their pursuers left them. After what they went through in Calabria, why try it again? Reski was interested in the Mafia at the ground -level. How do the average Sicilians view the Mafia? How about the women and priests? I enjoyed the scene in the cafe where Reski quietly observed two women dressed in black flashing rolexes and diamonds while the owner hovered over them. When Reski asked him who they were, he shrugged his shoulders as if he did not know. It turns out they were the Riina-Bagarella women they antagonized later that day by driving around their home.
By the end of the book, this style was getting repetitive. Reski offered little detail or new insight into the Mafia except to explain why they are establishing footholds in Germany. Her chapters on religion, women, courts, etc reveal little if anything. The book is more like Thelma and Louise go driving through Sicily looking for the Mafia than an actual study of the Mafia. Her style is too casual and takes on the aurora of an op-ed rather than a news story.
Overall, I am glad I read it; but I cannot recommend it. Readers will learn little or nothing. Her clever wit and silver tongue make light of a serious topic. Her interviews of Mafia priests reminded me of news pundits asking political convention attendees carefully phrased questions to make them look buffoonish. Well, Reski employs a similar technique. Almost anyone she questions in the book appears to be annoyed or tired of her by the end of a brief conversation. That goes to her credibility as a journalist. She appears to antagonize her subjects rather than build trust or friendliness. When combined with random interjections by her traveling companion(s) and skipping around geography and time in this narrative, the reader can become easily confused about what Reski is writing about. One instance she is running away from Nina Bagarella. The next instance, she is sipping wine on a veranda in Palermo talking about photography. The only connection is the author who seems to be enjoying herself rather than investigating the honored society.
Reski's style is fresh, irritating, and humorous. I enjoyed her decision to visit the mafia compound of a Calabrian crime boss. What is the harm? The guy is one of Italy's most wanted. When Reski and her friend drive around the compound a group of young men rush out at them cursing. In he background is an older man who seems bewildered by the fashion sense and hair gel of the young toughs. Maybe he is directing them; maybe he is just watching them. Reski and friend are saved by police who just happen to visit the compound as well. A week later they learn that older man in the background was the wanted fugitive. What I found humorous was the way Reski casually castrates the hoodlums and their fugitive boss. Her unique way of describing the incident makes them all out to be cartoon versions of the image most people have of the mafia.
Not to be outdone, Reski and friend decide to repeat the same experience in Corleone, Sicily. This time, they arouse the anger of the wives, daughters, and mothers of the Riina-Bagarella Family. They yell insults at the journalist and dispatch a car full of toughs to pursue them. This game was a little more serious to Reski because she just stayed behind an armored car for a while until their pursuers left them. After what they went through in Calabria, why try it again? Reski was interested in the Mafia at the ground -level. How do the average Sicilians view the Mafia? How about the women and priests? I enjoyed the scene in the cafe where Reski quietly observed two women dressed in black flashing rolexes and diamonds while the owner hovered over them. When Reski asked him who they were, he shrugged his shoulders as if he did not know. It turns out they were the Riina-Bagarella women they antagonized later that day by driving around their home.
By the end of the book, this style was getting repetitive. Reski offered little detail or new insight into the Mafia except to explain why they are establishing footholds in Germany. Her chapters on religion, women, courts, etc reveal little if anything. The book is more like Thelma and Louise go driving through Sicily looking for the Mafia than an actual study of the Mafia. Her style is too casual and takes on the aurora of an op-ed rather than a news story.
Overall, I am glad I read it; but I cannot recommend it. Readers will learn little or nothing. Her clever wit and silver tongue make light of a serious topic. Her interviews of Mafia priests reminded me of news pundits asking political convention attendees carefully phrased questions to make them look buffoonish. Well, Reski employs a similar technique. Almost anyone she questions in the book appears to be annoyed or tired of her by the end of a brief conversation. That goes to her credibility as a journalist. She appears to antagonize her subjects rather than build trust or friendliness. When combined with random interjections by her traveling companion(s) and skipping around geography and time in this narrative, the reader can become easily confused about what Reski is writing about. One instance she is running away from Nina Bagarella. The next instance, she is sipping wine on a veranda in Palermo talking about photography. The only connection is the author who seems to be enjoying herself rather than investigating the honored society.
November 9, 2022
La autora vivió muchos años en Italia conociendo e investigando el fenómeno de la mafia, sobre el que ha escrito varios libros, algunos con una trama de ficción con el mismo tema. A raíz del asesinato de seis personas en Alemania, la autora publica este libro rememorando algunas de sus experiencias en distintos lugares y con distintos personajes. Algunos son hombres y mujeres de la Cosa Nostra siciliana, la Camorra napolitana o la 'Ndrangheta calabresa, sus familiares y convecinos, otros son fiscales y funcionarios del Estado que trabajan de manera honorable luchando contra tantas dificultades impuestas por los propios mafiosos y sus cómplices, muchas veces políticos con gran poder. El libro no descubre nada nuevo, pero revela con claridad la profunda infiltración de la mafia en estos territorios, en los que domina la economía, la política y la vida social, y nos advierte que no es un fenómeno exclusivamente italiano, sino que ya se ha implantado en distintos países de Europa. Me ha resultado una lectura interesante como primer acercamiento a este tema y leeré algún libro más al respecto.
March 29, 2023
Interwoven throughout the period of 36hrs, Reski relates her experiences with the Mafia. The juxtaposition of her prose against the stark ugliness of the Mafia is startling, and eye opening.
The Mafia is nothing but violence. Murderous thugs who profit on extortion, drugs, sex, and blood money.
There is nothing glorious. There are no saving graces. There is no romantic myth that is actual reality.
Reski pays a price for refusing to play the part of writing with blind partiality.
We need to get it out that all organized crime is ruthless and despicable. We all know about the Eastern European syndicates whose main business is slavery. We know about the drug cartels whose main business is selling drugs through slavery. It's time to glare the spotlight on the three Italian Mafias - Camorra, Costa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta - who profit through slavery.
For that is all any organized crime business is: either enforced or elected slavery, with no choices in between.
The Mafia is nothing but violence. Murderous thugs who profit on extortion, drugs, sex, and blood money.
There is nothing glorious. There are no saving graces. There is no romantic myth that is actual reality.
Reski pays a price for refusing to play the part of writing with blind partiality.
We need to get it out that all organized crime is ruthless and despicable. We all know about the Eastern European syndicates whose main business is slavery. We know about the drug cartels whose main business is selling drugs through slavery. It's time to glare the spotlight on the three Italian Mafias - Camorra, Costa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta - who profit through slavery.
For that is all any organized crime business is: either enforced or elected slavery, with no choices in between.
June 15, 2021
This would be a 3.5 if I could do half points. The author clearly knows the Mafia extremely well, however the writing style is inelegant and grating. The overuse of similes wore on me and made the book feel like a less successful imitation of Roberto Saviano’s “Gammora”.
August 31, 2020
Interesting
It was a great book , I wish it went more into the N'drangheta though .
Never the less still a good read
It was a great book , I wish it went more into the N'drangheta though .
Never the less still a good read
December 26, 2021
2.5 stars. This is the lowest rating I have given to a book. I try not to give a lower than 3 rating because it means that I have wasted time reading it. The subject is very promising but Reski wasted it with the way the book is structured. Reski recalls interviews and encounters with mafia figures in the course of a day; this results in a very disjointed book, and superficial treatment of the topic. The title is supremely misleading too, I had expected an adventure into the heart of the mafia but it is not so. I feel cheated.
December 7, 2017
Overall this is a very interesting read about the Mafia. I found it a little hard to initially get into as I felt it was too much story telling, rather than really getting into it. Good insight into the powerful Italian mafia world though, it's incredible to comprehend the violence and what the mafia do yet they remain deeply religious to their faith and God. Good insight.
Want to read
March 27, 2009Pare sia dello stesso calibro di Roberto Saviano.
May 14, 2014
A Portrait of Italy's most powerful Mafia. There is good and bad in all of us/and things...you be the judge.
May 2, 2015
Descrición detallada e amena do funcionamento e día a día das diversas mafias italianas e a súa conivencia cos gobernos, a xustiza, as máis diversas institucións públicas e a igrexa. Moi interesante.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews