----- Original Message ----- From: Chris Bahn asks,
> What's a good place to start reading Nero Wolfe? I
always had the
impression
> that his books were cozies in the Agatha Christia
style, but it sounds
like
> I was mistaken. If it's a Holmes/HB blend, that's
just to my taste.
>
I read four or five Wolfe. Granted it was many years ago when
I was reading very little mystery, but the books failed to
sustain my interest. I loved Holmes and obviously like HB,
but the books seemed like static set pieces. I thought Archie
served as Wolfe's Watson by narrating the books and
occasionally doing the legwork rather than as his hard boiled
equal.
BTW, Lawrence Block really liked Wolfe. His Chip
Harrison - Leo Haig books were, to put it kindly, tributes to
Wolfe - Goodwin. I've read the two earliest Harrison books
that were imitation Holden Caulfield coming of age and not
mysteries. Like the books themselves, he seemed to lose his
appeal when partnered with Haig. Although Block has revived
all his other series, he has wisely let this one rest.
-- # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to majordomo@icomm.ca. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/ .
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 07 Mar 2000 EST