Tribe wrote:
> Well, I'm gonna take the plunge. White Jazz is a
masterpiece. His stuff
> before Jazz almost seems amateurish in comparison.
Ellroy's use of the
> language is virtually poetic...and that rat-a-tat
voice takes hard-boiled
> prose and stretches it to its boundaries.
One man's meat is another man's poison. Obviously there are
people out there who would disagree with my take on it,
because it's a best-seller. Then again, so is THE DAVINCI
CODE.
> Playing it safe is for the birds.
So is following the crowd and complimenting the emperor on
his new clothes when you don't think he has any on. You've
made your point, though.
For what it's worth, I didn't "get" the whole point of
Jeffrey Eugenides' MIDDLESEX, either. And that was certainly
a book that took chances.
I guess I like writers who at least seem as if they're first
and foremost interested in telling a good story, and not so
much in creating "art." I got a compliment on my first book
this weekend from someone who doesn't usually read for longer
than ten minutes at a stretch. Said it kept him reading for
hours. (It was likely the subject matter, but I was glad to
take the compliment, regardless).
On the other hand, I agree whole-heartedly with you (DAHLIA
excepted) on the categorization of the rest of Ellroy's stuff
as "amateurish." BROWN'S REQUIEM?*retch*
;)
Tongue Firmly In Cheek, and it goes without saying that your
mileage may vary-
Brian Thornton
RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 07 Feb 2006 EST