Thanks for all the recommendations on Ross Thomas. CHINAMAN'S
CHANCE sounds good.
Just finished Jack O'Connell's SKIN PALACE. It was hard to
tell what he intended as serious and what was supposed to be
humorous. Maybe for O'Connell the two aren't mutually
exclusive.
Noir movies and themes play a big part in the book, and
O'Connell's dark metropolis of Quinsigamond is drenched in
noir atmosphere and violence. The plot and characters are
exaggerated in a style that is referred to nowadays as
over-the-top. Two science fiction novels, Gaiman's NEVERWHERE
and Mieville's PERDIDO STREET STATION, come to mind.
O'Connell is talented and entertaining and I will definitely
read more, but the plot had some loose ends and some pretty
big coincidences. What pictures was Hermann looking for? Who
guided Sylvia back to the carny booth that Leni was at?
Obviously Propp intended Sylvia to get the camera, but what
if Sylvia hadn't read the ad for it, or what if she didn't
want the camera, or what if she hadn't developed the film, or
what if the film wasn't perfectly preserved after sitting in
a camera unused for over 20 years? It's a small complaint
really. A little suspension of disbelief is a worthwhile
trade for a few hours with O'Connell.
A couple other things. First, although the cult-worship of
Terrence Propp is ridiculed by Propp, I think O'Connell meant
it to carry some weight, to establish a significance to the
art of photography, but memories of Willeford's THE BURNT
ORANGE HERESY made it hard for me to buy in. Second, I
understand the scene with the lost film about THE WIZARD OF
OZ, but in the end I think it worked against one of his
primary themes.
I'm going to give BRIARPATCH a shot and then finish up
Bruen's White trilogy.
miker
__________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Check out
the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
--------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads.
Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for
free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/kqIolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rara-avis-l/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email
to:
rara-avis-l-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 11 Nov 2004 EST