Mbdlevin@aol.com
Tue, 7 Sep 1999 02:18:02 EDT
Bill Denton seemed to give Blue Lonesome mild praise and
others have strongly endorsed the novel. I've never read
anything by Pronzini, and I'd like to go and read some of the
Nameless books. However, I really didn't like Blue Lonesome
too much. Bill mentions its weak resolution. In a good deal
of hardboiled writing, I care less about resolution than on
what's going on from moment to moment. I found Blue Lonesome
not too hard, nor was it filled with one intense scene after
another. I also thought the prose was often flat. Pronzini
also relies a lot on exposition. For instance, he summarizes
Jim Messenger's discussion of jazz without rendering it in
dialogue or attempting to describe the music in detail (or,
say, the scene in which Jim and Dacy listen to it). I'm not
sure the prose--its pace even--renders the action's tempo or
the character's feelings. Perhaps I'm not playing fair
however--I just read Shoot the Piano Player before Blue
Lonesome. SPP is better on desperation, anxiety, and even as
a love story. On the flip side, I've got to make sure that I
read some living writers and Walker may be a publisher to
support (aren't they still an independent?).
Doug
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