John & Carrie (johncarrie@sprynet.com)
Thu, 16 Sep 1999 00:46:53 -0400
Have recently finished reading two of his novels: American
Tabloid and Killer On The Road. The first left me cold and
disappointed, while the second was exhilariting.
In regard to Tabloid, while I enjoyed the stacatto prose and
the the direct hits of the writing, I found it ultimately
unsatisfying, pointless, and even sloppy. For example,
there's a mention of certain evidence in the possession of
Jimmy Hoffa which would purportedly violate several anti
trust laws. This is absolute nonsense...nothing described
amounts to anti trust violations, and moreover, labor
racketeering (or the sundry other crimes Hoffa was purported
to have committed) never violate the anit trust laws.
Likewise, the Spanish used by the some of the characters was
substantially grammtically incorrect.
I know this sounds like quibbling....but in a book like
Tagloid, which is suppossed to be paint and underground US
history, factual things like that are important I
think.
On the other hand, the characterizations of the main
characters in Tabloid are so well done. However, it seems to
all come to naught in this pointless narrative.
Killer,though, is frightening!!!! It's on a par with
Thompsons' The Killer Inisde Me, and although Ellroy has
dissed Thompson in interviews, I have to believe that the
Anderson (cop) character may be based somewhat on the main
character of The Killer Inside Me.
The plot in Killer (Ellroy's Killer) is riveting...the prose
is not so gut punching as in Tabloid, but still no frills
enough to make it straight for the jugular and exciting. In
addition, the lack of the pop psychological analysis of a
serial killer was sort of refreshing in that the main
character is just simply an amoral shit who just is, who just
exists. The inner dialogues of the killer with the mental
processes are incredibly believable.
It's an amazing novel.
Will have to wait to read My Dark Places after my wife
finishes it, and will set LA Confidential aside. I think I'll
tackle some of Willeford's stuff next.
Tribe
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