Miker wrote:
<<Dialogue can make or break a book. Chances are, if an
author can't write good dialogue, he also can't develop a
good character.>>
But none of this is true of Block. He has all the technique
one could wish for, including the ability to write fantastic
dialogue of varying degrees of seriousness and
boiledness.
Unfortunately, the intelligent goofiness that works in the
comic series featuring Bernie Rhodenbarr becomes annoying and
out of place in the Keller stories. The problem is made worse
by the amount of repetition. Perhaps Block tried to cross
Bernie with Westlake's Parker to create a comic hit man. I
think the experiment has so far been unsuccessful.
By the way, I love _When the Sacred Ginmill Closes_ and
several other entries in the Scudder series. Right now I have
_Hope to Die_ open on the library table (I read sitting at a
table, always). Something made me stop after reading the
first chapter. I know I will take it up eventually, but for
now there it sits, next to Tom Wolfe's
_A Man in Full_ (talk about brilliant shallowness...). My
investment in Wolfe's brick is about 300 pages, though, a
tough thing to abandon.
What else is open and waiting for the gods to smile? Six Easy
Pieces, by Walter Mosley. I read two chapters
(stories) and Easy Rawlins is still looking for Mouse. Quite
the friendship. This one I'll probably finish. I'll report
here if I do.
Best,
MrT
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