RARA-AVIS: Re: Block not "simple"

MARIO TABOADA (matrxtech@sprintmail.com)
Sun, 19 Oct 1997 16:48:28 +0000 To call Lawrence Block's style "simple" can be misleading. I think that
Block is among the foremost stylists currently writing in the mystery
field - his style is elegant, economical, and natural. If this is what
is meant by "simple", I agree. In his work of the past decade and a
half, the writing is not only entertaining, funny, and suspenseful but
his sentences flow naturally with never a superfluous word.

For whatever it's worth, I once heard James Lee Burke say that, in his
opinion, Lawrence Block was the best current writer in the genre.

Even if it is a contradiction in terms, I would say that in his long
career, Block has "become" a "natural writer". Such is the power of
illusion (witness Charles Willeford, the most natural of all crime
writers).

I am aware that there is controversy regarding Block's worth, so I
expect to receive (and hope to dodge) a few heavy bricks...

Regards, and let me add Baynard Kendrick to the list of great but
forgotten writers from the old days.

Mario Taboada
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