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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 10, 2016 21:47:58 GMT -5
The Hunter by Richard Stark I finally pulled the trigger on this, after you guys all posted about the Parker novels. I thought it a very entertaining and well-written noir story, but I do like to be able to have someone to 'root' for in this sorta book. Parker reminds me a bit of Michael Weston (I'm sure the Burn Notice writers read some Parker books).. except he's quite possibly worse than the bad guys. He racks up a pretty big body count, and not all 'bad guys'. I'm hoping future books make him a bit more sympathetic .
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 10, 2016 21:58:00 GMT -5
The Hunter by Richard Stark I finally pulled the trigger on this, after you guys all posted about the Parker novels. I thought it a very entertaining and well-written noir story, but I do like to be able to have someone to 'root' for in this sorta book. Parker reminds me a bit of Michael Weston (I'm sure the Burn Notice writers read some Parker books).. except he's quite possibly worse than the bad guys. He racks up a pretty big body count, and not all 'bad guys'. I'm hoping future books make him a bit more sympathetic . Don't count on it.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 13, 2016 22:02:12 GMT -5
Heh... I've got the 2nd one ready to read (perhaps this weekend), I definitely want to know what happens next...we'll have to see if the good points can get me over having an unsympathetic main character Thank goodness this one is over... The Purple Cloud M.P.Shiel Yeah, so half this book consists of the main character, the last man on Earth, wandering the world and blowing stuff up. If you've always wanted to read a turn of the century travelogue where the end of every trip involves leveling the city, this book is for you. Otherwise, no. There is a bit of philposphy at the end, but nothing worth suffering though the rest of the book for. I suppose at the time perhaps the concept of being the last man on Earth and what that would do to one's mind was unique, but it's been done far, far better since.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 13, 2016 22:10:52 GMT -5
Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman I read all but the final story (which is new to the book) because it is about Shadow, the protagonist in American Gods. I plan to re-read American Gods, and the follow-up short stories (and probably Anansi Boys), so I'm going to wait on it. Any short story collection is going to have its ups and downs. But Gaiman is almost never less than interesting and that is the case here.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 15, 2016 23:01:00 GMT -5
Mail-Order Mysteries by Kim Demarais Photos and descriptions of the mail-order wonders that populated our favorite four-color comics. From X-Ray Specs to Sea Monkeys to Frankenstein posters, they're here. Now you can find out what you missed. Super fun book.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 16, 2016 1:02:21 GMT -5
That sounds pretty neat! The Man with the Getaway Face by Richard Stark I don't think I was quite in the right mindset when I read the first Parker book. Perhaps because this is more of a straight heist story, without the personal revenge mixed in... though Stubbs' 'quest' is almost a parody of Parker's earlier outing. This one almost read like a how-to, which was kinda cool. I feel as though I 'got' Parker better this time, rather than hoping he was someone else. He's just doing what he has to in order to get by, and get back to the life he likes in Florida. No shame there .
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 16, 2016 8:28:52 GMT -5
I'm currently reading two new books, one being The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith Vol.1: The End of the Story. I'm enjoying it so far and I'll post my mini-review when I'm finished.
This series is publishing all of Smith's work chronologically, which I love. Amazon has a nice complete set of H.P. Lovecraft's work that I'm going to get as soon as it comes back in stock. My only wish is that someone would do the same thing with Robert E. Howard. The Del Ray series' were fantastic, particularly since it featured Howard's stories as he intended with no editing or pastiches, but it still didn't cover EVERYTHING he wrote.
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Post by Rob Allen on Jan 17, 2016 0:37:14 GMT -5
I'm also a fan of O'Toole, with a fondness for Lord Jim (1965), and a somewhat forgotten picture called My Favorite Year (1983). I love My Favorite Year; didn't know it was forgotten. I also urge all O'Toole fans to seek out a British/New Zealand film called Dean Spanley. O'Toole is luminous in it.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 17, 2016 7:58:17 GMT -5
I'm also a fan of O'Toole, with a fondness for Lord Jim (1965), and a somewhat forgotten picture called My Favorite Year (1983). I love My Favorite Year; didn't know it was forgotten. I also urge all O'Toole fans to seek out a British/New Zealand film called Dean Spanley. O'Toole is luminous in it. I just don't find that many people know it, which is a shame. O'Toole is splendid in it, and the supporting actors like Joseph Bologna, Lou Jacobi, Lainie Kazan and Bill Macy steal the show at times. Have never heard of Spanley, though. Will look into finding it.
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Post by berkley on Jan 19, 2016 1:45:36 GMT -5
I'm another fan of My favourite Year and also had not heard of Dean Spanley until now. To bring this O'Toole talk back to books, I remember reading an excerpt from his memoirs somewhere when they were first published in the 90s and thinking it was quite good, I should look out for the book. He was a great raconteur on talk-shows - loved his anecdote about him and Omar Sharif filming Lawrence of Arabia.
The latest book I finished was a Damon Runyon anthology, Guys and Dolls and Other Stories, my first time reading anything by Runyon. These short (10-15 page) stories were a lot of fun: quick, snappy reads that should make a good palate-cleanser if you're looking for something light between longer or heavier reads. Runyon had a unique voice that accounts for a good part of the enjoyment. I broke it up and read it over a few months, as I found they can start to feel a little similar if you read too many in a row.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 19, 2016 16:48:40 GMT -5
Thuglit 19 ed. Todd Robinson Another great issue of the neo-noir e-mag. If you like hard-boiled fiction, I really can't recommend Thuglit enough. It's always a good read.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 19, 2016 17:04:06 GMT -5
Thuglit 19 ed. Todd Robinson Another great issue of the neo-noir e-mag. If you like hard-boiled fiction, I really can't recommend Thuglit enough. It's always a good read. Salm, have you ever read Nightmare Alley? Given your love for noir, I think it might be right up your alley. Grittier than the gritty (for its time) film version with Tyrone Power. Imagine Freaks written by Kafka, add a dollop of Freud, a slice of Raymond Chandler (that angel food cake with a tarantula crawling all over it), and burnish with cynicism and you're almost there. A shame that it was William Lindsay Gresham's only novel, but, man, it's a gem.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 19, 2016 18:09:46 GMT -5
Thuglit 19 ed. Todd Robinson Another great issue of the neo-noir e-mag. If you like hard-boiled fiction, I really can't recommend Thuglit enough. It's always a good read. Salm, have you ever read Nightmare Alley? Given your love for noir, I think it might be right up your alley. Grittier than the gritty (for its time) film version with Tyrone Power. Imagine Freaks written by Kafka, add a dollop of Freud, a slice of Raymond Chandler (that angel food cake with a tarantula crawling all over it), and burnish with cynicism and you're almost there. A shame that it was William Lindsay Gresham's only novel, but, man, it's a gem. I read it eons ago. It's definitely a classic of literary noir. It's on my list of books to read as a re-read because it's been so long. However, there are over 3500 books on my list...so I have no idea when I'll get back to it. I really do love that it's one of the few books featuring a circus geek.
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Post by berkley on Jan 19, 2016 21:27:17 GMT -5
Haven't read Nightmare Alley but it's on my list. Thuglit is there too, but further down, since I'm trying to do my hardboiled reading in something close to chronological order. Next up for me in that vein is to finish up the last few stories in my Chandler anthology and then re-read some of the novels, concentrating on the ones I haven't read for a long time. Also a couple oddities or one-offs that have aroused my curiosity: The Face on the Cutting-Room Floor and No Orchids for Miss Blandish. I also read my first Simenon/Maigret a few months back, Pietr the Lett and will be going back to that series. ten I'll probably move on to Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer books
In related reading - not hard-boiled or detective, but espionage or spy thrillers - I've been getting into some early Eric Ambler lately for the first time: read Background to Danger and Cause for Alarm and have Epitaph for a Spy, Journey into Fear, and The Mask of Dimitrios coming up. I'm impressed, so far: quick, easy reads, but not too lightweight. Ambler's cynical view of the political and economic forces that shape events was a pleasant surprise to me.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 19, 2016 23:45:07 GMT -5
Is Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer on your list Berk? It's been eons since I've read them too.
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