----- Original Message ----- From: "George C. Upper III"
<
gcupper3@yahoo.com> To: <
rara-avis@icomm.ca>
> "These disappointments are more than made up
for
> by the great delight of rediscovering an old
favorite
> and finding I like it more than I ever
did--because
> now I'm far better equipped to appreciate the
author's
> excellences It seems to me that every time I
return
> to John O'Hara and Somerset Maugham I discover
new
> evidence of their enormous craft."
> I've never read O'Hara myself, but I certainly
respect
> Block's opinion.
I read a few of O'Haras back in the days when I didn't read
crime fiction, and remembered them quite fondly until, a
couple of years ago, I encountered one of Lawrence Block's
recommendations (not the one George quotes). I dug out
"Appointment in Samarra", "Butterfield 8" and "Elizabeth
Appleton". This time round I found them all indescribably
dull. The furthest I got with any of them was halfway through
"Appointment". (I left "Pal Joey" and
"Lovey Childs" alone: I can still remember them as being fast
and entertaining reads).
Evidence, if it were needed, that a diet of dead bodies and
zillion dollar coke deals destroys the literary
palette.
Al
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