Pulp Fiction discussion

Nancy wrote: "Fine noir: The Gravediggers' Bread, by Frederic Dard (1956). So craftily put together!!"

I have a couple of Frederic Dard's books on my nightstand. Not sure why i've been putting off getting to them.

Lawrence wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Fine noir: The Gravediggers' Bread, by Frederic Dard (1956). So craftily put together!!"

I have a couple of Frederic Dard's books on my nightstand. Not sure why i've ..."

He was a friend of Simenon, and you can see some of Simenon's influence in Dard's writing. I will say that when it comes to romans noirs, Simenon is a bit tighter in his writing. But Dard is a good second.

Lawrence wrote: "I love Kafka. Years ago, we had a waterbug fall from the ceiling in my office. I asked if we had a cubicle available for Gregor Samsa. Only one other person got the reference..."

That's funny. I'm enjoying it so far. I'm going to pick at the stories over the next few months, fitting them in where I have time.

This is from my clippings. I just thought it was a curious passage:

Private Chauffeur (N.R. de Mexico)
- Your Highlight on Location 281-285 | Added on Saturday, September 1, 2018 8:37:47 PM

     IRENE Bettina Carter, had she been asked what it was she most desired of life, would probably have answered: Fulfillment. Not because she was a fool, nor even because she was seventeen years old, but because she was at a stage where the grandiose gesture seemed important to her. Her mind was full of other words, too.

Words like: ripe, “go the limit,” marriage, children, home.

Words like: Sensuous, amoral, adult, husband, passion, ravish, violate

These were a part, an important part, of the way Irene Bettina Carter thought of herself. They lay just a little below the awareness of her mind.
==========

Private Chauffeur

(my e-book is from the long defunct Munsey's).

Yes -- whatever happened to Munsey's, anyway??

I don't know if there's a 'deals' thread, but I just noticed that
The Raymond Chandler Papers: Selected Letters and Nonfiction 1909-1959
is currently $1.99 for KIndle.

Cheap enough for me!

_City of Glass_ is a postmodern detective novel with one character who wants to find the pure language of Eden, another who decides to be a detective instead of just writing thrillers, and a femme fatale who tried to protect a young man abused in childhood by marrying him. The detective takes the name of the novel's writer, Paul Auster. But the story is narrated by a friend of Auster's, who is angry at the latter for not treating the detective himself better when they meet.

That guy, whose real name is D. Quinn, did impersonate Auster, but that is not the explanation. I mention the name only b/c Auster, the character in the novel not the writer of it, has a bug up his butt about don Quixote, the novel, being created by Sancho Panza in order to cure Don Quixote, the quixotic knight, of his madness. Now how can that be a spoiler, when no one knows, me especially, what to make if it.

Having finished the book, I can tell you that, although it takes place on the upper west side, Kramer, Elaine, George, and Jerry are not characters. The case is not solved. But the investigating dick has gotten wise, not to who might mean to do harm to the abused young man, but to how truth in language may solve the mystery of a fallen world. In fact, I think there is some Hasidic conjectures about evil and how to repair the world worked in.

How do we know that the detective is making progress in his quest? we don't. We only know he had disappeared. And not to enroll in Trump University. That I can tell you.

Jay wrote: "_City of Glass_ is a postmodern detective novel with one character who wants to find the pure language of Eden, another who decides to be a detective instead of just writing thrillers, and a femme ..."

You really need to read the rest of The New York Trilogy for this story to make sense. I loved the book, actually.

Thanks. It's on to Mr Black, White, and Blue or whomever, and to the Locked Room. my least favorite kind of mystery. -Jay

Jay wrote: "Thanks. It's on to Mr Black, White, and Blue or whomever, and to the Locked Room. my least favorite kind of mystery. -Jay"

Also, if you don't read it as a mystery per se, you will get a lot more out of it.

ALLEN wrote: "Yes -- whatever happened to Munsey's, anyway??"

Yes. Shame about Munsey's. Had to close for breach of copyrighted material is what i read. I also read it was up for sale. I also read it was likely to be reopened by BlackMask. So take your pick.
I'm glad i plundered that source to it's fullest extent and managed to score some books i hadn't seen or heard of before. Particularly a bunch of books by James M. Cain and David Goodis.
Considering the vast majority of the books offered by Munsey's were old and out of print seems to be immaterial.

Thanks, Paul!

Paul wrote: "ALLEN wrote: "Yes -- whatever happened to Munsey's, anyway??"

Yes. Shame about Munsey's. Had to close for breach of copyrighted material is what i read. I also read it was up for sale. I also read..."

Considering how many e-books were grabbed off Munsey's, and then turned into $.99 Kindle store e-books, maybe the problem wasn't copyright violation so much as 'negative cash flow.'

Red Goose is an example. If Norbert Davis has been dead for seventy-five years, then his work should be public domain, right? But Black Mask, or more specifically Keith Alan Deutsch, still holds a copyright, somehow?

(This is a story I remember getting off Munsey's)

Christopher wrote: "Paul wrote: "ALLEN wrote: "Yes -- whatever happened to Munsey's, anyway??"

Yes. Shame about Munsey's. Had to close for breach of copyrighted material is what i read. I also read it was up for sale..."

Greed is all pervasive.

I finished:


Personal Injuries by Scott Turow
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

I liked both those books. You probably know that "Kindle County" in the Scott Turow novels is a kind of cross between Cook Co (Chicago) Illinois, and Detroit Michigan.

ALLEN wrote: "I liked both those books. You probably know that "Kindle County" in the Scott Turow novels is a kind of cross between Cook Co (Chicago) Illinois, and Detroit Michigan."

Kindle County seems to be compared to Cook County, Ill most often, but to be honest I always think of someplace a little more southern, like Memphis.

We don't seem to have a topic for idle chit chat, so I'll just say that I was "currently reading" Ripley's Believe It or Not, and was amused by this factoid:

Koala fingerprints are so similar to humans that they have hampered crime scene investigations in Australia.

Keep this in mind if you're writing a murder mystery set in the land down under. OR, start growing a nice crop of eucalyptus if you're planning an actual murder, and want to pin the crime on an innocent marsupial.

That would make an interesting update on the locked-room mystery _The Murders in the Rue Morgue_.

For anybody interested in locked room mysteries the following book has practically all kinds of such: The Locked-room Mysteries.

By the way, it includes The Murders in the Rue Morgue.

I finished:


The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I'm starting:


The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Randy wrote: "I finished:


The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/..."

I'm teaching The Curious Incident at school at the mo-

Geoff wrote: "I'm teaching The Curious Incident at school at the mo- "

Well I'll be reading it right along with your students. What grade do you teach?

Randy wrote: "Geoff wrote: "I'm teaching The Curious Incident at school at the mo- "

Well I'll be reading it right along with your students. What grade do you teach?"

We're doing it with grade 8. They really like it.

Geoff wrote: "Randy wrote: "Geoff wrote: "I'm teaching The Curious Incident at school at the mo- "

Well I'll be reading it right along with your students. What grade do you teach?"

We're doing it with grade 8...."

I'm glad to hear that. My daughter is in 10th grade, but she's not a big reader. I'll have to see if she might like this book when I'm finished with it.

I have resumed reading Nightmare Alley , after putting it to one side for a while. Really classic noir.

Randy wrote: "Geoff wrote: "Randy wrote: "Geoff wrote: "I'm teaching The Curious Incident at school at the mo- "

Well I'll be reading it right along with your students. What grade do you teach?"

We're doing it..."
I bet she would like it. It's an easy read, but it's funny and sad too. Mark Haddon is a really amazing writer.

Paul wrote: "I have resumed reading Nightmare Alley, after putting it to one side for a while. Really classic noir."

Oh, yes! And the movie starring Tyrone Power is an unappreciated noir film!

ALLEN wrote: "Paul wrote: "I have resumed reading Nightmare Alley, after putting it to one side for a while. Really classic noir."

Oh, yes! And the movie starri..."

Haven't seen the movie Allen. It's on my list.
In tandem to reading Nightmare, i've begun The Lost Country . One of my top ten authors, possibly in my top 5.

I'm starting:


The Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb


The Black Echo by Michael Connelly

I'm currently reading:

Streaked Blond Slave by Carter Brown



which is very much of its time.

I finished:


The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Currently reading November Road . Enjoyed 'Gutshot Straight and Whiplash River so hoping this new book by Lou Berney will be equally enjoyable.
Have just finished The Lost Country , which was excellent.

Paul wrote: "Currently reading November Road. Enjoyed 'Gutshot Straight and Whiplash River so hoping this new book by Lou Berney will be equally enjoyable.
Have..."

I've heard nothing but good things about November Road, by Don Winslow and others...looking forward to jumping into it eventually myself

Paul wrote: "Currently reading November Road. Enjoyed 'Gutshot Straight and Whiplash River so hoping this new book by Lou Berney will be equally enjoyable.
Have..."

I loved Long and Faraway Gone

I finished one of the best books I have read all year:


Provinces of Night by William Gay
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And I started:


The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Anthony wrote: "Paul wrote: "Currently reading November Road. Enjoyed 'Gutshot Straight and Whiplash River so hoping this new book by Lou Berney will be equally en..."

Reading 'Long and Faraway' now. Of Berney's four books i am enjoying this one the most.

Randy wrote: "I finished one of the best books I have read all year:


Provinces of Night by William Gay
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.go..."

If you haven't already Randy, put Twilight and Little Sister Death , on your list of books to read before you die. Good reading!!

Just finished The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. It was a different take on the closed room whodunnit, and I really enjoyed it. I had to suspend reality and go for the ride.




https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Paul wrote: "If you haven't already Randy, put Twilight Twilight by William Gay and Little Sister Death Little Sister Death by William Gay, on your list of books to read before you die. Good reading!!..."

Thanks Paul. I plan to read everything that Gay wrote including his short story collections which I understand are excellent.

Randy wrote: "Paul wrote: "If you haven't already Randy, put Twilight Twilight by William Gay and Little Sister Death Little Sister Death by William Gay, on your list of books to read before you die. Good readin..."

Take no notice of reviews you may have read regarding 'The Lost Country' Randy.
Is it his best book? No. Is it his worst book? No. The distinction when applied to WG's work is irrelevant. It was written 30 years before his death and 17 years before his first published novel. Would WG have revised and edited Lost Country? No doubt. Does it suffer for the lack of editing in hindsight? Hell no!!
When i was reading Lost Country, it called to mind another semi-autobiographical novel/character. WG has said the character Edgewater in Lost Country is his most autobiographical figure to feature in any of his novels. How similar are the characters of Suttree to Edgewater. Both characters are supposedly semi-autobiographical, both live hard scrabble lives, both men are in their early 20's, and come (seemingly) from similar, though obscure backgrounds and are estranged for some unexplained reason, from their families.
Both books strike me as somewhat existential, in that both characters are in their early twenties and searching for an undefinable something to make sense of their lives.
I wasn't sure i liked Suttree, but i often think of it, almost against my will. I suspect Lost Country will haunt me in a similar way.

One telling event that occurred in the Lost Country saw Edgewater hitch-hiking, when two young blondes pull up in a convertable, look him over, and finding he doesn't measure up to their expectations, drive off. Edgewater is eventually picked up by a loquacious vacuum-cleaner salesman and eventually they happen apon a collision between the girls' convertible and a horse and cart driven by an Amish or Mennonite elderly couple. At least one of the young girls is dead, and also the old Amish man. Edgewater ponders whether old and new collided and not able to occupy the same space in time, merely sought to cancel each other out. Egdewater's character is clearly more reflective than one might at first take him to be.
I highly recommend 'The Lost Country, either for those reading William Gay for the first time or, like me, having read everything of his thus far published.

Yesterday I finished:


Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


The Black Echo by Michael Connelly
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And I started reading:


Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

Paul wrote: "WG has said the character Edgewater in Lost Country is his most autobiographical figure to feature in any of his previous novels. How similar are the characters of Suttree Suttree by Cormac McCarthy to Edgewater...."

I've seen a lot of similarities between McCarthy's writings and those of Gay's so I'm not surprised to hear the comparison. I haven't read Suttree either, another one that needs to be on my list.

I finished these:


Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


The Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And I started reading:


The Black Ice by Michael Connelly


The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Fiction, Mystery & Detective by Arthur Conan Doyle


The Best American Mystery Stories 2016 edited by Elizabeth George

And if you want to read about some REAL crooks:


Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just finishedThe Long and Faraway Gone .
My favourite of Lou Berney's four novels.
Review Here; https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Today I finished A Feast of Snakes by Harry Crews. Pardon me for saying so, but holy s++t!

Was it good s--t or bad s--t?

ALLEN wrote: "Was it good s--t or bad s--t?"

To be very honest, it was on the good side.

Thanks Allen. You asked the question for me.
Nancy, I know we have similar tastes but I didn't know you went in for Southern Lit.