I am having a hard time deciding if I like Salai, the main character in the story. I think the plot and characters are, for the most part, very interesting, but when you cannot decide if you like the main character, there is a problem.
My issue with him is not the fact that he is a thief or that he spends way too much time talking about anise comfit, but more with his personality. He does not seem to care about anything. He makes a point of telling the reader that he does not let things get to him. But it seems to fall short.
I think that Konigsburg was trying to create a character who is always looking to have fun. She says that he has a "genuine sense of mischief," and that "there was no one more alive to Beatrice than Salai." In trying to create this adventurous person, she forgot to make him care about anything. I know he has a family, and that he admires Leonardo and Beatrice, but the reader never gets the sense that if Salai was suddenly sent far away from any of them that it would bother him at all.
I'm going to finish the book anyway. The plot is interesting, and I am enjoying Konigsburg's version of events surrounding the Mona Lisa. Maybe Salai will begin to show some emotion by the end of the story.
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