>
> 1974 rang false in too many ways for me to buy
in.
> The corruption covering up horrible child murders,
the
> police abuse of the protagonist and his
subsequent
> release, and his superman ability to go on
despite
> several brutal beatings and torture were too much
to
> swallow.
>
> Also, although I'm not one to stand up and
applaud
> every time another movie star comes out of the
closet,
> there is a wicked streak of anti-homosexuality in
1974
> that is a little disconcerting. Mark has
mentioned
> that when everyone in Ellroy's work seems to share
the
> same prejudice, it makes him start to wonder about
the
> author's intentions. Although I don't personally
see
> that in Ellroy, I have never seen it more
strongly
> present in another work than 1974. Spillane
ain't
> even in the game.
>
> I do have to dissent here. David Peace's Quartet is
to my mind the
> best work in crime fiction in the past decade. It's
fair comment to
> say that 1974, the first part, is a little too
obviosly indebted to
> Ellroy. And the point about the protagonist being
able to take an
> unfeasible amount of punishment is also fair enough
- though hardly
> unusual.
>
> As to the other stuff though I completely disagree.
Perhaps it's a
> US/UK difference in perception thing but really the
British police in
> the 1970s were that brutal and that corrupt, the
torture and framing
> of the innocent was almost routine (the Birmingham
Six, Stefan Kiszko,
> the Darvell brothers etc, etc, etc) and the levels
of homophobia and
> misogyny (not just in the police) absolutely toxic.
The suggestion
> that the prejudice is the author's own, though, is
way off the mark,
> as would become increasingly clear with a reading of
the following books.
>
John
>
> _
>
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