Several comments concerning Rankin.
1. You are correct - it helps to read them in order. I
believe his writing and plotting has improved over
time.
2. I am very impressed with his writing - especially in his
more recent books. The latest US release - the Falls - is
very well written.
3. The New York Times has a nice article about him today
-
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/03/books/03RANK.html
4. I personally find Rankin the most intriguing writer of the
genre. But as my father always says "De gustibus non
disputandum est"
--- Carrie Pruett <
pruettc@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> I don't really get the Rankin/Ellroy comparison -
Rankin does tend to have
> fairly convoluted plots but his prose is pretty
straightforward and the
> stories are basic police procedural stuff, with a
loner aspect thrown in
> that makes them feel more like PI novels at times.
There are certainly some
> "corruption of social institutions"/ police
brutality type themes that you
> usually find in HB, but I don't get the "moral
sickness permeating all
> levels of society" feel that I took from Ellroy. I'm
not overwhelmed with
> the quality of Rankin's writing - not that it's bad,
but fairly workmanlike
> most of the time - but the stories are pretty good
and the characters are
> fun. I've read maybe half a dozen of these and my
favorite is "The Hanging
> Garden"; I haven't read "The Black book" though, and
I have a hunch this
> series ought to be read in order (which I haven't
done) in order to get the
> whole flavor of the stories. I generally have
trouble keeping track of who
> Rebus is working or sleeping with in any given book,
but it's such a long
> series that I haven't disciplined myself to sit down
and read them in order
> yet. The one I read most recently, "Dead Souls" I
thought had the potential
> to be a Great Book, but the story went off on so
many tangents (I counted
> five separate plots, any of which could be
considered the "main" plot of the
> book, at least one of which - excon stalking Rebus -
could have been
> eliminated to the great improvement of the book)
that the final impact was
> sort of lost on me.
>
>
> Carrie
>
>
>
>
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