Kiran corrected me about the title 'Friends of Eddie Coyle'. Even though I have the book, I havent yet read it. Thought it was by E.L Doctrow, but turned out to be one of George V Higgins' ealiest stories. I cant recollect anything else I have not read of Higgins, but I have read a lot of Elmore Leornard, who says Higgins was a major source of inspiration for him. Thats good enough for me. Leonard ranks pretty high up my list of 'good read' authors, up there with Ed McBain and John D McDonald.
Actually you kind of classify all these authors into one bracket - McBain, McDonald, Leornard, et al. You wouldnt put Chandler there among them though. Why ? He just doesnt seem to fit in there. Not that Leornard and co are bad, but Chandler makes them look like ordinay hacks, IMHO. I still remember one of Chandler's metaphors: " A blonde, a blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window". Neat. Read The Big Sleep and Farewell My Lovely for a dose of Chandler. Pity his books are expensive in India, though.
I collect McBain's 87th Precint series of novels. Lovely stuff - he has got a wonderful ear for dialogue. Over a period of years and novels, each of his cops have acquired a disctinct personality of their own - Carella, Mayer, Brown, Kling, Willis, Genero, Byrnes.. even The Deaf Man. The first book in the series was The Mugger. McBain has also written a book to be published after his death , Exit. Maybe they finally catch The Deaf Man.
Elmore Leonard appears to be current favorite of Hollywood. Quite a few of his books have been made into movies - Pickup on Noon Street, Get Shorty, Rum Punch (Tarantino's Jackie Brown), etc. One word to describe Leornard is 'cool'. He writes the kind of stuff you take with you when relaxing on a hammock, drink in hand and soft rock in the background.
John D McDonalds' Travis McGee is a reluctant hero in the classic mould. He lives on his yacht in Florida, The Busted Flush, and ventures out only to help friends in need or damsels in distress. Most of the novels have a colour in them - Nightmare in Pink, The Lonely Silver Rain, The Long Lavender Look et al. Good reads.
How about people like James M Cain and Robert B Parker ? I dont think I've read Robert Parker, though my friend Nachiket says he's quite good. James M Cain has written a few classics like Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice and Mildred Pierce. Made into good movies and bad remakes.
James Elroy's LA Confidential was a great book and a superb movie as well. The writing was rather unique - staccato, terse and sharp. Very noir.
I think Dashiell Hammet would be a worthy addition to the list. My personal favourite is Ellroy. I got to read his 'Black Dahlia' some time back. It is his best work to date, one of the best books I have read in the last couple of years. The autobiographical 'My Dark Places' make up a good companion work to it. In one his interviews he mentioned Cornell Woolrich as one of the noir pioneers. I haven't read any of Woolrich's works. This is the same guy who wrote "Rear Window".
ReplyDeleteA friend in Bangalore (Arul Mani) introduced me to another good author - Joseph Wambaugh. Check this guy's works up!
I am in complete agreement about your comment on Chandler; the "femme fatale" has never been the same without him.
I've read only one Hammett - The Maltese Falcon, which was pretty good. And I dont need to tell you about the movie, do I ? ;-) Bogie, Sidney Greenstreet, Paul Muni and Mary Astor. Was this in my list of favorites ? It should be.
ReplyDeleteI've read one novel of Woolrich, and a couple of short stories, I think. Cant remember the name of the novel...I havent read Rear Window though I've seen and enjoyed the movie. Speaking of Rear Window, do you know the name of the band put together by Dave Barry, Stephen King and a few others ? I think its called Raymond Burr's Legs or some such !