Re: RARA-AVIS: Ellroy's style (was Movies better than books)

From: Brian Thornton ( tieresias@worldnet.att.net)
Date: 19 May 2002


At 10:17 AM 5/19/02 +0100, you wrote:
>Brian wrote:
> > I recall quite clearly that Buzz Meeks got shot (and killed?) in the first
> > ten pages of "The Big Nowhere" because I only read the first twenty.
>
>I made it to page fifty. It amazes me that Ellroy enjoys such commercial
>success when a number of people who read a lot (as we obviously do, or we
>wouldn't be members of this list) find his style inaccessible. I think he's
>a tremendous writer. In fact, "LA Confidential" is one of my favourite
>books. But I still found it hard work. I could not, however, read "Ellroy
>Takes The Piss", sorry "The Cold Six Thousand". (Al opens book. Al scans
>page. Al flips page. Al says, "Aaargh." Al wastes money.)

Hi Al,

I couldn't agree more. If I want "difficult", I'll read Joyce, because at least with Joyce there is a reward to it, as opposed to swimming in the sewer with Elroy's "Each-new-protagonist-scummier-than-the-last" string of antiheroes.

Speaking as one who wasted a kindred amount of money on Elroy,

Brian

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