Light humourous crime fiction, by another old pro Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America. Block has written a whole series of novels about this character, Bernie Rhodenbarr, a professional burglar in New York City. This is the 3rd in the series, and Bernie has acquired a second hand book store, which I believe he retains in later stories. There is a murder mystery plot and a lot of humourous observation and general facetiousness. I find it reasonably entertaining light reading. Not as good as Donald E. Westlake's comparable stuff but still not bad. I think Westlake was there first. (There are references in this book to Westlake's Richard Stark novels.)
This is the first book I've read on my new Kindle and it worked pretty well. The pages are easy to read and easy to turn and the device is a handy size and shape. It's not at all like reading a text file on a computer. The download of the book from Amazon's Kindle Store was quick and easy as well.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
"The Golden Mean" by Annabel Lyon
A sophisticated historical novel, not just an adventure story or romance with a colourful setting. The narrator is Aristotle and the story mainly concerns his service as tutor to the young Alexander, though there are relatively brief flashbacks to earlier periods in Aristotle's life. This initially struck me as extremely audacious -- how can you write in the voice of one of the great ancient philosophers? But Lyon seems to manage it well enough, in modern English literary prose. The story is told in the present tense, in an intimate manner a bit like a diary.
The title refers to an idea that Aristotle presents to the nearly mature Alexander, which seems to intrigue him, that it's good to recognize extremes in all things and find a moderate way between them. Aristotle's own personality is described by an intimate in terms that suggest some degree of what we would call bipolar disorder, though I didn't notice much of these extremes in his own narrative. Ultimately he and Alexander are opposites as well, it appears.
The title refers to an idea that Aristotle presents to the nearly mature Alexander, which seems to intrigue him, that it's good to recognize extremes in all things and find a moderate way between them. Aristotle's own personality is described by an intimate in terms that suggest some degree of what we would call bipolar disorder, though I didn't notice much of these extremes in his own narrative. Ultimately he and Alexander are opposites as well, it appears.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
"Strip" by Thomas Perry
Perry's another "old pro" suspense writer, one whose work I just discovered last year. I've since read most of his books. "Strip" is the latest, and it's a little unusual. It's in a sort of Elmore Leonard vein, generally light in tone and featuring a number of colourful characters, some smarter than others, pursuing related but often conflicting agendas without much respect for the law. The story takes place in modern Los Angeles and the central character is an aging strip club owner who launders drug money on the side. He is robbed and decides he needs to exact revenge, for the sake of his reputation; however he is sloppy in identifying the culprit.
In my opinion Perry's characters are often his strong suit, while his plots occasionally seem to get out of hand. This one has a good cast of performers and is well organized. I'd say it's one of Perry's better books. I enjoyed it, but perhaps not as much as I would expect to like a well executed Perry novel. Not sure why not; maybe I just wasn't in the right mood. It's a library book that I requested, and there's a queue of other readers waiting, so I had to get it read.
In my opinion Perry's characters are often his strong suit, while his plots occasionally seem to get out of hand. This one has a good cast of performers and is well organized. I'd say it's one of Perry's better books. I enjoyed it, but perhaps not as much as I would expect to like a well executed Perry novel. Not sure why not; maybe I just wasn't in the right mood. It's a library book that I requested, and there's a queue of other readers waiting, so I had to get it read.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
"The Shadow-Line" by Joseph Conrad
Finished this last night. It's a short novel of 110 pages in the Oxford World's Classics paperback edition I read, a nice edition with an interesting introduction and other material. It's a classic, of course, and a wonderful story that I enjoyed enormously.
It is narrated by an older man who has been a sea captain, looking back on his first command, a sailing ship he takes over in Bangkok, after the death of her previous captain. (The story was written in 1915 and is apparently closely based on events experienced by Conrad himself in the late 1880s.) A theme is stated at the book's outset: the transition from youth to early maturity. The narrator begins by describing his departure from a previous sea officer's position, an apparently imprudent decision he attributes to a young man's restlessness. 15 or 20 pages are given to the circumstances in which he obtains his first command, with the assistance of a well-disposed older sea officer who helps him defeat the intrigues of lesser men who want the post to go to someone else. At this point the young man seems to be impulsive and not very perceptive, whatever his other qualities. The voyage out of Bangkok in his new ship turns into an ordeal, becalmed with a sick and dying crew; an extreme experience, vividly described, full of strong images and odd symbolic characters.
It is narrated by an older man who has been a sea captain, looking back on his first command, a sailing ship he takes over in Bangkok, after the death of her previous captain. (The story was written in 1915 and is apparently closely based on events experienced by Conrad himself in the late 1880s.) A theme is stated at the book's outset: the transition from youth to early maturity. The narrator begins by describing his departure from a previous sea officer's position, an apparently imprudent decision he attributes to a young man's restlessness. 15 or 20 pages are given to the circumstances in which he obtains his first command, with the assistance of a well-disposed older sea officer who helps him defeat the intrigues of lesser men who want the post to go to someone else. At this point the young man seems to be impulsive and not very perceptive, whatever his other qualities. The voyage out of Bangkok in his new ship turns into an ordeal, becalmed with a sick and dying crew; an extreme experience, vividly described, full of strong images and odd symbolic characters.
"The Hidden" by Bill Pronzini
Read this last weekend. It is, as its cover says, " a "novel of suspense". Pronzini holds the title of Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America; he's an old pro. I've read 8 or 10 of his books.
"The Hidden" concerns a married couple who arrive at seaside cottage on an isolated part of the northern California coast to spend a few days over the Christmas-New Years holiday period. Their marriage is in bad shape. The weather is stormy. The neighbouring cottage is occupied by some disagreeable, quarrelsome people, one of them a rude man with a handgun. And a serial killer is loose on the coast.
The novel is narrated mainly in alternating sections told from the point of view of the husband and wife. The reader gets an intimate view of the state of the marriage and the two characters, as seen by themselves and each other. Pronzini's prose is plain but effective. The characters and the scenes in which they talk and interact struck me as quite credible. The promised suspense is there. There's one big piece of misdirection that allows for a major twist to keep the plot interesting as it approaches its climax.
One important character, the bad guy, is less well developed and less interesting than the rest. And there is an epilogue in which another character's psychological problems are explained and resolved in a neat manner that I didn't care for.
But I enjoyed the book; it's a pretty good read of its kind.
"The Hidden" concerns a married couple who arrive at seaside cottage on an isolated part of the northern California coast to spend a few days over the Christmas-New Years holiday period. Their marriage is in bad shape. The weather is stormy. The neighbouring cottage is occupied by some disagreeable, quarrelsome people, one of them a rude man with a handgun. And a serial killer is loose on the coast.
The novel is narrated mainly in alternating sections told from the point of view of the husband and wife. The reader gets an intimate view of the state of the marriage and the two characters, as seen by themselves and each other. Pronzini's prose is plain but effective. The characters and the scenes in which they talk and interact struck me as quite credible. The promised suspense is there. There's one big piece of misdirection that allows for a major twist to keep the plot interesting as it approaches its climax.
One important character, the bad guy, is less well developed and less interesting than the rest. And there is an epilogue in which another character's psychological problems are explained and resolved in a neat manner that I didn't care for.
But I enjoyed the book; it's a pretty good read of its kind.
Friday, January 14, 2011
"February" by Lisa Moore
“February” by Lisa Moore. Finished this yesterday. Moore is a popular and well regarded Newfoundland literary writer. I’ve read her previous novel, “Alligator”, and a few short stories. I liked “Alligator” quite a bit.
“February” is about the life experience of a Newfoundland woman whose husband is killed in the 1982 “Ocean Ranger” disaster. It’s about widowhood, motherhood, love, marriage, and raising children. It’s very solidly planted in in a specific time and place: St. John’s, from the 1970s to 2009. The book deals with the sinking of the "Ocean Ranger" and its impact on Newfoundland. But, again, it is mainly concerned with the feelings and experience of Helen, the bereaved central character -- not just the effects of the loss of her husband on the oil rig, but her whole adult experience, as wife, mother, widow etc. This focus inclines me to call the novel a “woman’s book”. Not my usual thing, but I think it’s very well written, full of arresting and interesting observation and images. I enjoyed it.
“February” is about the life experience of a Newfoundland woman whose husband is killed in the 1982 “Ocean Ranger” disaster. It’s about widowhood, motherhood, love, marriage, and raising children. It’s very solidly planted in in a specific time and place: St. John’s, from the 1970s to 2009. The book deals with the sinking of the "Ocean Ranger" and its impact on Newfoundland. But, again, it is mainly concerned with the feelings and experience of Helen, the bereaved central character -- not just the effects of the loss of her husband on the oil rig, but her whole adult experience, as wife, mother, widow etc. This focus inclines me to call the novel a “woman’s book”. Not my usual thing, but I think it’s very well written, full of arresting and interesting observation and images. I enjoyed it.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
"A Lily of the Field" by John Lawton
Finished this last night. It's the third novel I've read by Lawton, the first in a number of years.
Lawton writes historical crime fiction of a somewhat unusual kind, with the emphasis more on the "historical" than the "crime". The historical settings range from the 1930s to the early 1960s, centering around WW2 and cold war espionage. There are elements of the police procedural and the spy story, and there are fairly complicated plots with bloody climaxes. But there are also quite long stretches that are more about famous or colourful characters, or the political or cultural climate of the times. I'm not sure the two sides are particularly well integrated, though the murder story usually seems to involve a representative figure of the times, known personally to the detective, Frederick Troy. Troy works for Scotland Yard but is independently wealthy, as the son of a rich Russian immigrant newspaper magnate, and knows lots of members of the British political and cultural establishment.
"A Lily of the Field" is set in post-WW2 London and has to do with atomic spies and classical musicians. Most of the first half of the book is backstory, in terms of the murder mystery plot, relating the 1930s Vienna childhood of a talented girl cellist who is eventually sent to Auschwitz. We also follow an exiled atomic scientist who is interned by the British and then works on the Manhattan project. In the second half of the book we see Troy in postwar London, investigating the murder of a mysterious east European character, apparently a mediocre painter by profession.
I think Lawton is a pretty good writer and storyteller, who may be getting better. I enjoyed "A Lily of the Field" more than I remember liking the earlier novels I read a few years ago. The approach to historical fiction works, I guess, though the namedropping of famous historical figures met by the characters can seem a little silly. In "A Lily of the Field" there is also the matter of the Holocaust. Lawton seems to have done his research on Auschwitz and treats the history with respect. It's part of the experience of a major character, and the effect on the character is handled more or less seriously, not just as useful backstory for an action figure.
Lawton writes historical crime fiction of a somewhat unusual kind, with the emphasis more on the "historical" than the "crime". The historical settings range from the 1930s to the early 1960s, centering around WW2 and cold war espionage. There are elements of the police procedural and the spy story, and there are fairly complicated plots with bloody climaxes. But there are also quite long stretches that are more about famous or colourful characters, or the political or cultural climate of the times. I'm not sure the two sides are particularly well integrated, though the murder story usually seems to involve a representative figure of the times, known personally to the detective, Frederick Troy. Troy works for Scotland Yard but is independently wealthy, as the son of a rich Russian immigrant newspaper magnate, and knows lots of members of the British political and cultural establishment.
"A Lily of the Field" is set in post-WW2 London and has to do with atomic spies and classical musicians. Most of the first half of the book is backstory, in terms of the murder mystery plot, relating the 1930s Vienna childhood of a talented girl cellist who is eventually sent to Auschwitz. We also follow an exiled atomic scientist who is interned by the British and then works on the Manhattan project. In the second half of the book we see Troy in postwar London, investigating the murder of a mysterious east European character, apparently a mediocre painter by profession.
I think Lawton is a pretty good writer and storyteller, who may be getting better. I enjoyed "A Lily of the Field" more than I remember liking the earlier novels I read a few years ago. The approach to historical fiction works, I guess, though the namedropping of famous historical figures met by the characters can seem a little silly. In "A Lily of the Field" there is also the matter of the Holocaust. Lawton seems to have done his research on Auschwitz and treats the history with respect. It's part of the experience of a major character, and the effect on the character is handled more or less seriously, not just as useful backstory for an action figure.
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