Summer crime
Reading that is.
As an entertainment, as a diversion, or as a sleep aid or stimulant, crime and mystery novels are a part of the reading repetoire for some. With summer underway and the opportunities to take a break from self-improvement, or undergo self-improvement that just means letting go into relaxation, the crime and mystery genre is a place to look. Some of the writing is not bad at all, many of the plots are repeatable templates but comfortable in their own way, and a few a just fine.
Some of the favorites here are based in Italy: Donna Leon, an American who has lived in Venice for many years, Andrea Camilleri who lives in Sicily, and Gianrico Carofiglio from Rome. They generally have a touch of humor and a sense of civility not found in American crime fiction. Unfortunately I have read everything published or translated into English that this group has written so it's just wait for the next from these folks.
That leaves the American writers who are mostly old stand-bys. Donald Westlake and Richard Stark, one in the same, died earlier this year but left behind a huge catalogue of books beginning in the 1960's. He is viewed by some as the master of "stark" straightforward crime writing, admired by some literate types that one would not expect, such as Michael Ondaatje who praises him in "Divisadero". His books are really like extended novellas, and with their crisp style are generally no more the four hour diversions. They are distinctive for their characters and the human flaws that undermine each of them, and not in the whack you in the head with a baseball bat style of some crime, romance, and suspense writers.
Other half decent and diverting writers are Laurence Block, who has been around for a long time, and Jason Starr who came on the scene in the early 2000's. Both spend most of their time around Manhattan and occasionally the outer boroughs, Block with an ethos of New York styles and behaviors over the last 50 years and Starr with a current take on the way people live and the quirks they have. They both make occasional contributions to the Hard Case Crime series, but their stand alone books published by others tend to be more polished, if that description can be used here. For another setting, there's James Lee Burke whose fairly grim crime novels set in New Orleans, Cajun country, and Montana, with some Texas always thrown in, have some flair and the stories develop at times in unexpected ways. The downside is that the bad guys, and gals, are always really evil, and the good guys are often not much better. Burke at times writes well, with some humor and colloquialisms thrown in, but he overwrites as well with descriptions that are an over the top effort at literate fiction. At least he makes the effort but it doesn't quite work some of the time.
Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiassen, favorites of many it seems, are not included here as their characters are generally repetitive and unattractive. Leonard is seen as the best at dialogue and unlike the work of many writers, screenwriting has made some of his stories stronger over the years. Each to his own.
For a different genre adventure, the espionage writing of Charles McCarry is not so well known today but it's worth checking out. He did venture out of retirement four or five years ago with "Old Boys". His writing draws well developed characters, more so than LeCarre, and his plots are less byzantine. The knowledge of history that he weaves in is exceptional. As a former CIA officer and traveler to many places, his settings evoke place in a way that makes them familiar.
And now to find something redeeming to balance out the diet.
As an entertainment, as a diversion, or as a sleep aid or stimulant, crime and mystery novels are a part of the reading repetoire for some. With summer underway and the opportunities to take a break from self-improvement, or undergo self-improvement that just means letting go into relaxation, the crime and mystery genre is a place to look. Some of the writing is not bad at all, many of the plots are repeatable templates but comfortable in their own way, and a few a just fine.
Some of the favorites here are based in Italy: Donna Leon, an American who has lived in Venice for many years, Andrea Camilleri who lives in Sicily, and Gianrico Carofiglio from Rome. They generally have a touch of humor and a sense of civility not found in American crime fiction. Unfortunately I have read everything published or translated into English that this group has written so it's just wait for the next from these folks.
That leaves the American writers who are mostly old stand-bys. Donald Westlake and Richard Stark, one in the same, died earlier this year but left behind a huge catalogue of books beginning in the 1960's. He is viewed by some as the master of "stark" straightforward crime writing, admired by some literate types that one would not expect, such as Michael Ondaatje who praises him in "Divisadero". His books are really like extended novellas, and with their crisp style are generally no more the four hour diversions. They are distinctive for their characters and the human flaws that undermine each of them, and not in the whack you in the head with a baseball bat style of some crime, romance, and suspense writers.
Other half decent and diverting writers are Laurence Block, who has been around for a long time, and Jason Starr who came on the scene in the early 2000's. Both spend most of their time around Manhattan and occasionally the outer boroughs, Block with an ethos of New York styles and behaviors over the last 50 years and Starr with a current take on the way people live and the quirks they have. They both make occasional contributions to the Hard Case Crime series, but their stand alone books published by others tend to be more polished, if that description can be used here. For another setting, there's James Lee Burke whose fairly grim crime novels set in New Orleans, Cajun country, and Montana, with some Texas always thrown in, have some flair and the stories develop at times in unexpected ways. The downside is that the bad guys, and gals, are always really evil, and the good guys are often not much better. Burke at times writes well, with some humor and colloquialisms thrown in, but he overwrites as well with descriptions that are an over the top effort at literate fiction. At least he makes the effort but it doesn't quite work some of the time.
Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiassen, favorites of many it seems, are not included here as their characters are generally repetitive and unattractive. Leonard is seen as the best at dialogue and unlike the work of many writers, screenwriting has made some of his stories stronger over the years. Each to his own.
For a different genre adventure, the espionage writing of Charles McCarry is not so well known today but it's worth checking out. He did venture out of retirement four or five years ago with "Old Boys". His writing draws well developed characters, more so than LeCarre, and his plots are less byzantine. The knowledge of history that he weaves in is exceptional. As a former CIA officer and traveler to many places, his settings evoke place in a way that makes them familiar.
And now to find something redeeming to balance out the diet.
posted by John Borden at 3:24 PM
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