Perhaps I should first briefly introduce myself. I'm a middle
aged, fairly omnivorous "general reader" who has recently
been taking an interest in the kind of literature discussed
on this list. I've been subscribed for a number of months
now, and I'm enjoying the discussions.
I just finished "Black Money" last night. It's the first Ross
MacDonald I've read in many years. I read a few a long time
ago, and all I really remembered was that the plots all
seemed to involve bad behaviour many years before having
repercussions on the lives of present day family members.
"Black Money" isn't really like that. The past that needs
excavating is only a few years back.
I was quite impressed. There is some interesting writing.
Archer seems like an odd character: very occasionally flaws
and vulnerabilities appear, though most of the time he's the
superior, more worldly observer. I'm thinking of his
momentary susceptibility to the charms of one of the female
characters, or when he reacts to a setback by getting drunk.
As Mr. Denton noted, many of the characters are awfully open
about their lives when speaking to him, for no apparent
reason.
As far as the question of influence is concerned, I don't
really know the genre or its history well enough to make any
kind of informed comment, but the book did make me think of
Kinsey Milhone's observations of the Santa Teresa scene.
She's a more down-to-earth character than Archer,
though.
Stephen Burridge
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