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Robert B. Parker
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Where should I start reading the Spenser series?
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Unfortunately, it's not a series I've read, Ziv. Hopefully some others of our members can help. Good luck.
Bill, I was putting off responding because I thought someone who had read the Spenser series more recently would give you better advice.It has been a while since I read the earlier ones, still I would recommend starting with the first couple. You need to get a feel for Spencer and Hawk especially. (Susan is not always in the picture.)
After their behavior becomes familiar to you, you can jump into any of the rest out of order. You will even get to know how each will respond to any situation, you will soon know them so well!
Do you use FictFact? I couldn't live without it! Just go to www.FictFact.com and enter Spenser in the search box. Ta da!
The trouble about reading Parker's Spenser is that they are addicting. When I read them...the tv series was on (and well done) and I was overjoyed to take a first trip to Boston. Parker describes Bean Town perfectly...and I could almost see Spenser everywhere we went....Don't miss the early ones...
Get ready to long for Boston sites....the Hancock Building, the No Name Restaurant...the Green downtown...the Freedom Trail..even lunch at the Ritz Carlton...
I very much enjoyed the early, hard-hitting Spencer series right up to the inclusion of Spencer's psychiatrist girlfriend Susan as a major character. Unfortunately, Susan added nothing to subsequent plots and her character became a drag on the series with way too much psychological analysis for my taste. But hey! it's worked out well for Robert Parker since he still publishes from the grave so to speak, giving new meaning to term "ghost writer".
Ed wrote: "Unfortunately, Susan added nothing to subsequent plots and ..."Yeah but, without Susan's inability to boil water, we wouldn't have Spencer the remarkable cook. :)
If you start with the first book and read them in order, you'll have a better understanding of the characters. As for Susan, I got a little tired of her sitting on her pedestal taking teeny bites of really good food and sipping tiny sips of really good drinks. The last novel Parker wrote consisted mainly of Spenser and Susan congratulating themselves on how wonderful and unique they were, which is understandable, I guess. Still, Parker wrote some really witty dialogue for his characters, and the novels are worth reading for that.
Chip wrote: "In the den."lol
It reminds of the fortune cookie trick in which you add the phrase "in bed" after reading your fortune phrase. :)
I'd say start with the earlier ones....glad to see plenty of Susan Silverman haters on here....dullest girlfriend in literatiure? I gave up in later years, as the much-praised dialogue just consisted of the characters repeating the same phrases. Even if they were Jesse Stone or (Spenser in a skirt) Sunny Randall.
I agree start early and work your way through. Maybe it's just me, but I wish he (and his ghost) would have stopped about 15 years ago. The books lost their "uniqueness" and became repetitious and sort of sad at some point. I finally quit buying them. And honestly, I'm with Andrew - Susan bored me to tears. Spenser deserved a girlfriend with an attitude.
Lynne wrote: "I agree start early and work your way through. Maybe it's just me, but I wish he (and his ghost) would have stopped about 15 years ago. The books lost their "uniqueness" and became repetitious and..."Rita Fiore from the early books might have been more fun....and stopped all the tedious psychotherapy stuff which intruded on the later books...and the Jesse Stone & Sunny Randall series too
Where's a good point for a beginner to dip into the series? I'd love to hear thoughts and recommendations.
Thanks!