Yesterday I went shopping for some holiday reading and picked up some
French crime fiction, totally unrecommended by anyone. One of the books
is Citoyens clandestins, by an author who goes by the pseudonym of DOA.
It won "Grand prix de littérature policière" in 2007, according to the
broad red strip of paper wrapped around it in that French way. Not
having read it yet, I can't report. But one of the things that caught my
attention was the note at the beginning (my translation):
With a view to clarity, the author has included, as appendices to this
book, a list of main characters, a simplified organization chart of
French intelligence departments and a playlist.
The playlist at the back tells what various characters are listening to
on different days and the effect of the music on them. A couple of examples:
November 14, 2001, revolutionary Lynx was fighting to the sound of
Public Enemy (album: Fear of a Black Planet/track: Fight the Power).
November 18, 2001, calmer, Jean-Loup Servier discovered the Doves
(album: Lost Souls/Track: Sea song). November 27, 2001, he consoled
himself with Booth and the Bad Angel (album: Booth and the Bad
Angel/track: Dance of the Bad Angels).
Now I have no idea what the book is about yet (a thriller featuring a
journalist and apprentice jihadist) and I don't know many of the songs
listed, but I find the playlist a kind of cool idea.
Karin
On 19/07/2009 8:26 AM, Eric Chambers wrote:
> Since we're on the subject, am I the only one who likes to soundtrack my noir and hardboiled reading?
> I'm as interested in scores and soundtracks and musical themes to this genre as I am in the writing and the authors.
>
> Chandler, Hammett and their ilk have inspired creative work in many other genres than writing. Music, film, radio, comics, comic strips, graphic novels, fine art, posters, design, automobile design to name only the more obvious.
>
-- Karin Montin
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