Pulp Fiction discussion

All the Ripley books are really good. Ripley is such a 'different' protagonist.

He's an amoral psychopath. But it all makes sense to him.

Nancy wrote: "He's an amoral psychopath. But it all makes sense to him."

Indeed. The only book i've read by Highsmith, that left me undecided about whether i liked it or not, was . Odd book. Kept waiting for something to 'happen' & it never really did. Well written, as one would expect from Highsmith, but it didn't seem to have any point to it. Maybe i missed something.

Haven't read that one yet, but I'm getting ready to read her The Blunderer here shortly.

Nancy wrote: "Haven't read that one yet, but I'm getting ready to read her The Blunderer here shortly."

She was an excellent writer. Strangers on a Train as a debut novel!! Crikey!!

Right? The mind boggles.

I'm going to read "Strangers on a Train" when I'm done with this book by Woolrich and then Joseph Conrad's "The Secret Agent". Wasn't that novel a major inspiration for Highsmith?

I've also got the newest translation of Nikolai Gogol's "Dead Souls" lying around to read too, which it took me some while to find. Since it follows the exploits of a con man in Imperial Russia, I wonder if it might have been an influence on the Ripliad.

Her favorite Conrad novel was Typhoon; interestingly, she named her Bruno character after Bruno Hauptmann! She may have been influenced by The Secret Agent -- I'll see if I can find it in her bio.

Just finished "The Bride Wore Black". I also noticed not until now that a South Korean murder mystery film I watched last week, "Tell Me Something", has a very similar main plot once the twists and relevations pile up, to the point there's no way it's not a deliberate homage of sorts.

I'm putting my objections to cockfighting aside and finally reading Charles Willeford's cult favorite "Cockfighter".

Edwin wrote: "I'm putting my objections to cockfighting aside and finally reading Charles Willeford's cult favorite "Cockfighter".

"

Read Cockfighter recently Edwin. He certainly seemed to know the subject VERY well. Wonder if his knowledge was more than mere research? I thought the writing was good, though it was my first CW novel & in retrospect i would have preferred reading one of his other books first.

Finished . It was OK, considering it's a Police Procedural & #2 in the Tom Thorne Series. Not a great fan of either Procedural or series usually. The writing was quite good & the story entertaining enough, though hardly riveting. Barely 3 stars from me.

I'm out of books till i visit the library, so until i do, i've got 4 really good audiobooks to listen to. Don't much listen to audiobooks, but on occasion...
They are ; ; -(Pt. 1 of the Border Trilogy) & . So, quite a mixture there & ALL on my TBR list.

I'm half way through All the Pretty Horses. Loving it & i'd still like to read the physical book.

Listened to Charlie Huston's Already Dead last night. About a Hard-boiled PI living in an alternate NY. Oh yeah, he's also a Vampire, so it's a Hard-boiled/ Fantasy thing. Really enjoyed it & plan to READ more CH in the near future.
The narrator is Scott Brick & his delivery is suitably laconic. Really excellent narration.

I heard good things about Charlie Huston before, so maybe I will give this a try.
Right now I finished "The Bride Wore Black" and plan to re-watch the movie when I get home because I'm pretty sure Truffaut changed the ending, and not in a positive way.

Algernon wrote: "I heard good things about Charlie Huston before, so maybe I will give this a try.
Right now I finished "The Bride Wore Black" and plan to re-watch the movie when I get home because I'm pretty sure ..."

It's the first in the Joe Pitt series Al & although i'm not usually a fan of series, this one looks like a good'un.

Started Raylan today.

Finished Raylan . I've read at least one of the 'Ray Given's' installments before, though many years ago. Entertaining enough, but not EL's best work, in my opinion. If you've read one, you've read them all. 3 Stars

Started Edge of Dark Water .

Recently finished Highsmith's "This Sweet Sickness" and Goodis's "Of Tender Sin." First Highsmith I've read and wasn't terribly impressed. On the other hand, I loved "Of Tender Sin." This is now my favorite Goodis novel.
Currently reading (almost done) "Cockfighter." I see Edwin is also reading it. I'll be interested to hear what you have to say.

Ralph wrote: "Recently finished Highsmith's "This Sweet Sickness" and Goodis's "Of Tender Sin." First Highsmith I've read and wasn't terribly impressed. On the other hand, I loved "Of Tender Sin." This is now my..."

Try the Ripley series by Highsmith Ralph. I felt much the same about The Price of Salt, also by PH.
Read 5 books by Goodis recently, Of Tender Sin being one of them. Wonderful writing.

Finished . Halfway through (i read a review on-line), i realized it was for Young Adults. I think any age group would enjoy this cross between Huck Finn & Stephen King. A good read. 3 1/2 stars.

Started A Man Without Breath . My first Philip Kerr book.

Speaks the Nightbird - an extraordinary murder investigation during a witch trial in South Carolina in 1699. Matheww Corbett is cast in the role of gumshoe, a young clerk who refuses to bow down to the pressure of the whole community for a guilty verdict and insists on uncovering the truth behind demonic visitations.

Would be interested to hear what you think of it Al. Haven't read any of McCammon's books, but i have been looking at some other authors who write Crime/Fantasy cross-over stuff recently. Some of it looks quite interesting.

Finished Willeford's "Cockfighter." Pushed through the actual cockfighting parts - pretty gruesome and inhumane - but the rest of the book was good. Not sure how to classify it. The back of the book says Fiction/Crime. I don't think that applies. I wouldn't call it noir either.

Finished Ed Lacy's "Blonde Bait." It took a while to get going, and was just okay once it did. One of those "nightmare" stories where the hero is being pursued and doesn't know why.

Just started WT Ballard's "Say Yes to Murder."

Ralph wrote: "Finished Willeford's "Cockfighter." Pushed through the actual cockfighting parts - pretty gruesome and inhumane - but the rest of the book was good. Not sure how to classify it. The back of the boo..."

Read 'Cockfighter' recently too Ralph & felt much the same as you. It was my first Willeford book & i would recommend those wanting to read CW for the 1st time, try one of his other books first.
I thought it was well written too & will definitely be reading more by this author in future. I just don't think 'Cockfighter' is a good entree to his work.

I just finished "Cockfighter" too. It reminded me a bit of a Jack London adventure, but instead of dog sledding or boating, it transported you to early 60s Florida and cockfighting. It was unique and well written. I liked it.

I'm starting Strip for Murder by Richard S. Prather. I've never read any of his Shell Scott books.

Paul wrote: "Ralph wrote: "Finished Willeford's "Cockfighter." Pushed through the actual cockfighting parts - pretty gruesome and inhumane - but the rest of the book was good. Not sure how to classify it. The b..."

Ralph wrote: "Finished Willeford's "Cockfighter." Pushed through the actual cockfighting parts - pretty gruesome and inhumane - but the rest of the book was good. Not sure how to classify it. The back of the boo..."

I've had John D. MacDonald on my reading list for awhile, and went to the library to see if I could get The Deep Blue Good-By. They didn't have that, but they did have the short story collection of his, so I got that.

The first one, Deadly Damsel, really grabbed me for the first few pages. Then it kind of dropped off and lost my interest.

More Good Old Stuff

Started reading Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West . This has been on my TBR list for sometime.

Paul wrote: "Started reading Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West. This has been on my TBR list for sometime."

Set yourself up for the long haul with this one. It took me over two weeks to get through it, and that was while reading it with a group. Very deep, and definitely worth every second you put into it. One of my favorite novels.

Good to hear Nancy. Been meaning to read it for ages.

Loved 'The Road' & 'All the Pretty Horses'. Have got the other 2 books in 'The Border Trilogy' on my TBR soon list.

I won't say too much more about it here, but it's one of the darkest books I've ever read. Just thinking about it gives me the willies.

Nancy wrote: "I won't say too much more about it here, but it's one of the darkest books I've ever read. Just thinking about it gives me the willies."

Ex-cel-lent:))

I am reading The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. Interesting how many pulp genres had their origins in "real literature", in this case the espionage thriller being an outgrowth of modernist existentialism.

Which shows here, Conrad is at least as concerned with the internal psychological conflicts of the main characters and their motivations behind their different political loyalties, not to mention providing an in-depth sociological portrayal of Edwardian Britain, as with the mechanics of the plot construction if not more so.

The grotesque satirical sense of humour in Conrad's portrayal of the British Empire's public service bureaucracy I can also see predict Franz Kafka as much as it does John Le Carré.

Oy. To say "real literature" grates on my ear.

Hence the scare quotes.

I don't know very many under the age of 40 (not even academics!) who take the division between genre fiction and "proper" literature very seriously. Indeed, the fact that the modern espionage thriller was invented by Joseph Conrad of all authors shows that the distinction is largely constructed.

Hell, even in academic circles it's the generations as old as Harold Bloom and Tom Wolfe who put the most stock in that kind of cultural hierarchy.

Actually, there were espionage novels written prior to Conrad, so I'm not at all sure I'd give him as much credit as you do.

I've just started reading Cockfighter.
This must be a good reading,and I'm sure it'll build up my English a little more.
Thank you all for info about this book.

KOHEY.Y. wrote: "I've just started reading Cockfighter.
This must be a good reading,and I'm sure it'll build up my English a little more.
Thank you all for info about this book."

Great book. Also a good film starring Warren Oates.

Recently finished Loren Estleman’s “Little Black Dress.” I gave it two generous stars and wrote a review. I’d like to quote part of my review and ask the group what they think.

“And then there were too many passages like this: "... he bore a striking resemblance to the Roman emperor with an unfortunate speech impediment in 'Monty Python's Life of Brian.'" I'm a huge Monty Python fan and I have no idea what Estleman's talking about. Should I pause and try to remember a character in a thirty-five year old movie? It's lazy writing - describe the man! These kinds of references are scattered throughout the book. Will a "Michael Jackson moonwalk" have any meaning for readers in fifty or a hundred years?”

Is it post-modernism and everything is a reference to something else? I can’t recall running into this kind of writing in Hammett or Chandler or MacDonald. Should a writer think about future readers or only the present ones? This kind of writing bothers me even when I recognize the reference. I asked my wife and she isn’t bothered by it, so I wanted to throw it open to the group. Thanks.

“And then there were too many passages like this: "... he bore a striking resemblance to the Roman emperor with an unfortunate speech impediment in 'Monty Python's Life of Brian.'" I'm a huge Monty Python fan and I have no idea what Estleman's talking about. Should I pause and try to remember a character in a thirty-five year old movie? It's lazy writing - describe the man!

I'm a true-blue Monty Python fan and I had the emperor's face and voice in my head when you brought it up. There are fans, and there are diehard fans. Diehard fans would get it immediately. That's not lazy writing at all.

It's a Roman centurion named "Biggus Dickus", whose physical appearance is based upon that of Emperor Hadrian.... who did have a similar speech impediment, the Monty Python guys liked really meticulous inside jokes like that.

What can I say? Only $0.99 and curiosity got the best of me.

Didn't Patricia Highsmith write quite a bit of that kind of stuff under a pseudonym?

Simon wrote: "Didn't Patricia Highsmith write quite a bit of that kind of stuff under a pseudonym?"

"That kind of stuff?" I'm not sure what you mean by that, but she originally used a pseudonym to write her The Price of Salt, or Carol.

Nancy wrote: "Simon wrote: "Didn't Patricia Highsmith write quite a bit of that kind of stuff under a pseudonym?"

"That kind of stuff?" I'm not sure what you mean by that, but she originally used a pseudonym to..."

"The Price of Salt" was filmed and will be released this year as "Carol", a Todd Haynes film, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.

Edwin wrote: "What can I say? Only $0.99 and curiosity got the best of me.

"

Ooo - good eye! This will do nicely for when I finish watching "Orange is the New Black."

Is this a Kindle version ?
The same curiosity has killed me,too.

KOHEY.Y. wrote: "Is this a Kindle version ?
The same curiosity has killed me,too."

Yes - it's .99 cents on Amazon US. Not sure of its availability in Japan.

I checked it now,and its price is 121yen.
Thank you,Melki.

Edwin wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Simon wrote: "Didn't Patricia Highsmith write quite a bit of that kind of stuff under a pseudonym?"

"That kind of stuff?" I'm not sure what you mean by that, but she originally used ..."

I don't think I'd ever label Highsmith as a pulp writer. Just saying.