I have to agree with miker . I think Pelecanos has great
taste in music. Of course I do - he and I have the same
taste! But in his novels the references do seem kind of
name-droppy, don't they? it doesn't tell us much about the
characters, other than that they, too, have great taste in
music. or much about the story. other than that it's
happening to people with great taste in music. i don't see
how the musical references illuminate theme, either.
--Steve Lichtman
----- Original Message ----- From: "Robison Michael R CNIN"
<
Robison_M@crane.navy.mil> To: <
rara-avis@icomm.ca> Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
11:49 AM Subject: RE: RARA-AVIS: RE: Soul Circus
> Craig wrote:
> I read _Soul Circus_ last week and while I enjoyed
it,
> I couldn't help but feel that there was a
certain
> sameness to the book that has been there in a lot
of
> Pelecanos' recent work. He's almost writing the
same
> book, over and over--It's not as bad as James
Lee
> Burke yet, but he's getting there.
>
> ************
> The thing I wonder about in his books is the
era-specific
> references and the frequency of them. To an extent,
it
> parallels the social history novels I've read by
O'Hara,
> Heath, and Gores, with one critical shortcoming.
Those
> other books open up an era you didn't live in and
make it
> come alive. Unless you are already familiar with
what
> Pelecanos is talking about, the music he mentions
tells
> you nothing. It's like an insider joke.
>
> It damages shelf life. Maybe he's writing for
the
> present and doesn't care how it will read in 30
years.
>
> miker
>
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