"
DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net" Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:33 pm
(PST)wrote
I
was in a used bookstore today with a stack of Saint books.
Are they
any good? Any better than others?
Mark
......................................................................
They vary considerably. The earliest were full length
'novels' and have no real style. They are potboilers, but
they are fun though if you like that kind of thing. As the
series went on, Charteris wrote mostly short stories. For a
while he got better and better at it. The books of the
thirties and forties are the best. The earlier books were set
in England and Europe, the later ones in the U.S. The U.S.
short stories are quite good. The quality of the series got
worse in the 50's and those written in the 60's and later are
pretty dire. Often written by other writers. The character
went through two periods of great popularity, first with the
series of movies and then with the Roger Moore TV show. The
more popular the character got, the worse the books got. Val
Kilmer's more recent Saint movie had nothing in common with
the original character. For mine, the saint has not yet been
done effectively on the screen. I have a soft spot for the
Saint because the serendipity that led to my opening a copy
of 'The Saint and Mr Teal' and laughing myself silly back in
the 60's started a journey which has led me here.
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