On Tue, 30 Oct 2001, Carrie Pruett wrote:
> I don't read mystery/crime novels for the "puzzle"
or the plot
> or even the style, though they can be a
bonus.
Style is what engages me. But what is the most important
thing to me is the portrait of the world, depicted through
dialogue and action. This is what grabs me in the whole world
of hardboiled, be it a film or a book, that everything
necessary is portrayed through dialogue and action. The
economy of everything - that's the beauty of it.
But as for puzzles or mysteries, couldn't care less. There
are some exceptions: Westlake's first, "The Mercenaries", and
Ellroy's L.A. Quartet books. Maybe Chandler's "The Long
Goodbye", since it's so tightly woven. Ross Macdonald, also.
But not most of Chandler or certainly not Hammett interest me
with their mysteries or puzzles. The view of the world is
everything.
> Hmm, Demolition Angel is one I might say IS on the
bloated side in terms of
> dwelling on the character's past trauma. This is the
kind of book you
> usually get way down the road in a series when the
author thinks "I'm out of
> things for Joe Bob to do, let's put him in
therapy!"
Well, I've read just hundred pages of it and am mildly
getting bored with Carol Starkey's trauma. There are also
some redundancies in writing and some non-necessities,
too.
Juri
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