Anska’s Comments (group member since Feb 28, 2018)

Anska’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I absolutely wanted them to walk into the sunset together.

Vera and Lombard also probably are the most interesting aspect of the book from a story teller's point of view: They had to be relatable (perhaps even likeable) enough to be suitable as the reader's main point-of-view characters, since they accompany you through the whole book, while at the same time had to have convincingly committed the worst crimes. Christie solved this in a rather spirited fashion by turning the qualities which would have made both of them heroes of any other tale (They are both clever, quick-thinking, take charge and face problems head on *coughs*) into exactly the qualities which made them capable of committing the most shocking crimes.

Though, admittedly, Christie took the easy way out in Lombard's case, as his crime is never much discussed. He admits to it, explains it and that's about it.

The distinction between high and popular culture is mostly politics anyway.

If I had to choose, The Long Goodbye would probably be my favorite - it introduced me to my favorite cocktail and raised my interest in alternative methods to brewing coffee; both of which the book deserves extra credit for for on my very personal scale.

By the time the judge "died" I was actually sure that one of the other victims wasn't quite so dead, since staging corpse like this should take some amount of unsupervised time - more than any of the remaining survivors had. I didn't suspect the bloke himself though.

Looking back, I am not quite sure how I feel about the book yet. Reading it was fun enough, because I enjoyed learning more about the characters and their inner turmoils as the story progressed and I had fun making up theories who died when and during which activity.

On the other hand I can so very well relate to Chandler's resentment towards this kind of book at the moment. All of the characters have more or less gruesome actions in their past - and in Vera's case they are even beautifully explored in her shifting states of self-denial - but in the context of the island all those crimes of greed, envy and cold self-righteousness succumb to mere puzzle pieces in someone's twisted amusement. Wargrave says it himself, he wanted to kill someone, he just needed an excuse so he could still feel good about himself while doing it.

Thank you, Patrick, that short line actually helped me in unraveling a conundrum in my head.

Another thing I think is rather charming about the books is how they contradict the assumption that pulp crime fiction intended for a male audience, is action heavy. If you look a Chandler's books at least - I still haven't read all those short stories - there is little emphasis on action or on the crime solving. Both are generally told in normal or compressed time, it's daily routine for Marlowe. In descriptions of uncanny places, people or charged situations however, Chandler expands time enormously - and it's usually these emotionally charged situations that generate suspense too.

Those books are pure romanticism.

Judy, unfortunately I never managed to get hold of the movie. Old black&white seem harder and harder to come by, or they are simply hiding from me.

The anecdote Patrick told says it all though. If I remember correctly all books follow roughly the same pattern: They start with Marlowe being hired for what seems just another day's work but of course is but the first step into a maze of bizarre locales and human vices - including several murders. All crimes get more or less resolved more or less along the way and the denouement are Marlowe's melancholy musings about the events.

A first person narrator makes you always wonder whom they are talking to. In Marlowe's case my bet is on: the barkeeper while getting wasted. I believe Playback is the only one which ends with him being genuinely happy.

Whenever Chandler comes up, I involuntarily start to reconsider the question "What makes a great book?" I adore his writing. I could die happily in that sumptuous, exuberant, world-weary prose. Take the description of the Sternwood's hothouse alone: The decadent, rotten, foul beauty of it which not only sets the tone for the scene but also gives you a notion about the family who owns it.

Chandler is all about style. I believe he even said so himself. He's like a gourmet cook who had to turn to flipping burgers for a living and in turn poured all his skill into this mundane task. So, while you might still get fast food in the end, it's some fast food.

On the other hand if you care for plot-construction, specifically a carefully constructed murder ... I think I never heard someone praise his plots. They are usually a bit convoluted.

In the end, I still think his books are great (some more than others) but I can very well understand how someone might disagree and not like them at all.

Hello and good morning, please, call me Anska. My reading habits can perhaps best be described as following breadcrumbs: I like a book, its author or editor refers to another one, my interest is piqued and I will follow the trail. Recently though, I decided to take up writing book reviews as an exercise and this forced my aimless journey to a halt. For once I had to make a choice, settle down, pick a genre. What a hard choice! In the end, I decided on detective fiction, since a good mystery is what I love best: A slip of paper carelessly dropped on the pavement, a half-finished love-letter in the pocket of some old coat stored in the attic…

So, this is how I ended up reading and rereading classical detective fiction and how I ended up joining this group - since traveling alone is dreary. Before joining I had set out to tackle Agatha Christie’s body of work, but I am happy to stray from my path to follow the leads of monthly or annual reads … like I said, I am a breadcrumb reader.