---
scatalogic@aol.com wrote:
> Possibly not Patrick. I know a lot of people on
here
> really don't like where
> Ellroy has gone but I'm a sucker for his style
of
> riffs and repetitions,
> aliteration and so on. And, as far as I'm aware
it's
> totally original - I'd love
> to know if he got it from somewhere else or
if
> others have used it, I've
> mentioned the British writer David Peace as
someone
> who took a lead from it -
> and when it works it really is gripping
and
> extraordinary. I think he lost the
> plot a little at times in 6,000, which I also
think
> is overlong, and I wonder
> how long and how succesfully he can continue
before
> going down a blind alley
> or up somewhere else, or if he'll revert to a
more
> traditional style, but
> when it works... nothing better. Love it!
****************************************************** I
agree with you. I think it's brilliant, James Joyce meets
Gene Kurpa. It reads almost like poetry. The bigger problem
for me with Ellroy is the repetition of themes in his
stories, rather than his prose cadence. But to me even those
themes are fascinating. He and I have a lot in common. We are
almost the same age and we went through many of the same
experiences save that my mother wasn't murdered but died at
the age of 92. The murder of his mother made him who he is,
and as his ex-wife says, "It's not that big a joke." A lot of
the rhythmic genius of his writing may have something to do
with those inhalers he swallowed in the bad old days. But
whatever, it certainly makes him an outstanding practioner of
the art.
I've read David Peace, and to my mind he isn't even close to
Ellroy's league. Peace feels to me as though he's writing by
the seat of his pants with no idea where the thing is going
to go. I'm occasionally disappointed in the resolutions
Ellroy tacks on to his stories, but Peace's resolutions don't
even make logical sense. Then there's the amount of
punishment Peace's characters take and yet are still
fetchingly attractive to women, strains my credibility. Sure,
Mike Hammer has a similar allure. But Hammer gave as good as
he got. Peace's characters can seldom fight back. They're
beaten so their mother's don't recognize them and yet
16-year-old girls invite them for sex! He's somewhat
reminiscent of the early Lehane novels in which Patrick
Kenzie was so insecure he had to be followed around by a
wookie named Bubba to do his dirty work. I never understood
what Bubba was paid. He just liked killing people so he set
up a snipers nest on the top of Jordan Marsh whenever Kenzie
needed him too. Where can I find help like that?
In my estimation, Ellroy is a rung below Elmore Leonard in
the annals of living crime fiction writers. Leonard's only
equals are Ed McBain/Evan Hunter, Ruth Rendall, and Maj Sjö·¡¬l
& Per Wahlö¶® To my mind, that's crime fiction royalty. As
far as I know, Rendall is the only one still working, and
McBain, of course, is dead.
But Ellroy is a classic and if he staves off madness, he'll
stand the whole world on its ear sometime soon, not just us
noir nuts.
Patrick King
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