Not P: The Couselor
Mike Weaver
mike.weaver at zen.co.uk
Fri Nov 1 03:12:59 CDT 2013
There is a whole socio political discussion to be had there - why Ross
MacDonald went and remains out of fashion.
WRT to other crime writers who can write - as opposed to tell a story
well - I find most of them too verbose. What Temple and MacDonald have
in common is their ability to say so much with so few words. For
instance Burke is eloquent, Ellroy demented and impassioned, but they
lack the economy.
WRT to decades old paperbacks, earlier this year having full time work
for once I had a splurge of buying - via ABEBooks - some 1950s copies to
replace my 1970s editions of his earlier books. I love the hardboiled
covers, so inappropriate - I really don't see them as hardboiled - too
much empathy and kindness in Archer.
On 01/11/2013 05:46, Tom Beshear wrote:
> More Ross MacDonald should be in print -- I too have most of his
> novels, in decades-old paperback form.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Mike Weaver <mailto:mike.weaver at zen.co.uk>
> *To:* malignd at aol.com <mailto:malignd at aol.com> ;
> pynchon-l at waste.org <mailto:pynchon-l at waste.org>
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 31, 2013 6:24 PM
> *Subject:* Re: Not P: The Couselor
>
> Re Ross MacDonald - there have been some recent reprints. Last
> year Penguin Modern Classics published half a dozen of the best.
> Mysterious Press has published a couple of his pre Lew Archer books.
> Talking of great crime writers have you come across Peter Temple.
> Australian. Truly great writer - says so much with so few words.
> Broken Shore and Truth his latest and best.
>
> On 31/10/2013 21:46, malignd at aol.com wrote:
>> I can still read some of DeLillo; actually only Great Jones Street.
>>
>> Ross MacDonald -- I'm surprised you can find his stuff. I rarely
>> see him in bookstores. I bought up every novel of his I could
>> find back in the eighties and have most of them in slowly rotting
>> trade paperback. Maybe Amazon has stepped in. Anyway, he's the
>> best plotter I've ever read.
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com>
>> To: Mark Thibodeau <jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com>
>> Cc: Allan Balliett <allan.balliett at gmail.com>; pynchon-l
>> <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> Sent: Sun, Oct 27, 2013 1:18 am
>> Subject: Re: Not P: The Couselor
>>
>> i've been going back to re-read DeLillo. I liked Point Omega this
>> time around but couldnt finish Underworld, a novel I thought the
>> shit for a long time. in somr weird way, when I read DD as a
>> young man, he was showing me who I was, but now that I sorta know
>> who I am, it seems besides the point to get all giddy about him
>> again (how could it?).
>> I guess I liked Cormac when he popped out real novels, not these
>> experiments. anyway, now I'm onto Ross Macdonald, a man who
>> proves you can really be profound without being profound if you
>> know what I mean ("Hollywood started as a meaningless dream,
>> invented for money.But its colors ran, out through the holes in
>> people's heads, spread across the landscape and solidified. north
>> and south along, the coast, east across the desert, across the
>> continent. now we're stuck with the dream without a meaning, it
>> had become a nightmare we lived in." i fear Cormac or even DD
>> couldnt help add alot of christmas tinsel to the same idea and
>> not add much to the sentiment.
>> Oh, The Road--like Mr. Malick, dont get me started. movies you
>> want to root for a devil to show up somewheres and start throwing
>> shit ;)
>> p.s. the only guy from the old guard who hasn't disappointed me
>> is robert coover. the excerpts i've read from the brunist day of
>> wrath leaves me pissed that I have to wait till March to read the
>> damn thing.
>> rich
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Oct 27, 2013 at 12:24 AM, Mark Thibodeau
>> <jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com <mailto:jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>> I think The Road is a lot better than you suggest, although it is
>> somewhat light on a pure wordsmithery level. On the other hand,
>> haven't we all been a little let down by Don Delillo's
>> late-era work
>> for somewhat similar reasons? My favorite is Ratner's Star, but I
>> thought Point Omega his best since Underworld. Maybe Cormac and
>> Delillo are experimenting with minimalism? And we're just not
>> digging
>> it?
>>
>> Mark T.
>>
>> On Sun, Oct 27, 2013 at 12:12 AM, rich
>> <richard.romeo at gmail.com <mailto:richard.romeo at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> > whatever did cormac go? a couple of weak screenplays, one
>> disguised as a
>> > novel, which to be honest, was way too heavy on the
>> ponderous flood of my
>> > son is the messiah, again and again. at least the cannibals
>> were
>> > interesting. imagine being a member of that group? dare I
>> hope for another
>> > Suttree. thats the only reason Im sticking around. One's
>> hopes he's not
>> > leaving all those ideas in the canteen mess in Santa Fe
>> with all those
>> > scientists. I imagine those are interesting discussions.
>> but could I
>> > understand any of it? Suttree had that mad women and
>> Knoxville's best bums
>> > and drunks (are there any better descriptions of alcoholics
>> living in cars
>> > and freezing to death?). Some bits in there match anything
>> in Absalom
>> > Absalom. wherever did Cormac go? has he too lost something
>> since mellowing
>> > out with a family? who knows
>> >
>> > rich
>> >
>> >
>> > On Sat, Oct 26, 2013 at 9:11 AM, Allan Balliett
>> <allan.balliett at gmail.com <mailto:allan.balliett at gmail.com>>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Saw this last night.
>> >>
>> >> Thought it sucked badly, mostly through the pseudo
>> profound dialogue but
>> >> also poor dramatic structure
>> >>
>> >> But maybe I just resent there was no POV for the algae
>> eater (catfish)
>> >> scene
>> >>
>> >> Allan in WV
>> >> from the farm
>> >>
>> >> Sent from my iPhone-
>> >> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
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