Hey, it's not February yet. It's been a long time since I
read the Lew Archer series, but they were some of my early
faves. Black Money was all right, but I'd recommend The Zebra
Striped Hearse and The Chill. What always fascinated me was
the plotting. The stories were always a circle, no matter how
byzantine the path by which you arrived. And the stories were
tragedies. Not light reading by any stretch of the
imagination. Ah, if only I hadn't had that yard sale after I
got married ... CJ
Vince Keenan wrote:
> I realize I'm coming to this party a little late. It
took me a while to
> track down a copy of BLACK MONEY, and when I did get
one I wasn't able to
> get to it right away. But I've read the book, and
it's still January,
> so I'm
> putting my two cents in.
>
> I liked it.
>
> The plot took a while to develop, but I stayed with
it because of
> MacDonald's prose and his attitude. Archer's take on
the other characters
> and their milieu walked a fine line between
amusement and contempt. (I
> can
> certainly see, though, how some readers would feel
that he veered too far
> into the latter.) I thought MacDonald shaded
Archer's reaction nicely: an
> initial defensive dislike of his client and the
others in his circle that
> gradually dissipated as he came to know
them.
>
> The material on academics was the book's strongest
suit. I particularly
> liked the sketch of Bosch, the younger professor,
and MacDonald's
> palpable
> relief that a new generation with new attitudes was
taking over. The
> women
> characters tended to blur together, all of them
saddled with men who
> don't
> recognize or appreciate their mates' strength. As
others have pointed
> out,
> Ginny never came into her own despite being at the
crux of the story.
>
> For what it's worth, it was a refreshing change of
pace to read about
> a P.I.
> who has, in this novel at least, a professional
relationship with the
> police.
>
> I have to shamefacedly admit that this is my first
experience with
> MacDonald
> aside from some short fiction in various
collections. BLACK MONEY may not
> have been the ideal place to start, but I certainly
intend to read
> more of
> his work. I'm glad the list gave me the opportunity
to start filling a
> gap
> in my reading.
>
> Vince Keenan
>
>
> www.vincekeenan.com
> Pop culture, high and low, past and
present.
> One day at a time.
>
>
>
>
> RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
>
>
>
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