Thanks for the long post, Jeff. I enjoyed reading your
comments. THE BIG BITE is one Charles Williams' pulp I
haven't read. I'll look for it now.
Ed
--- Jeff Vorzimmer <
jvorzimmer@austin.rr.com> wrote:
> I'll have to call this my Indian Summer of Charles
Williams.
> After taking
> some time off to read some Donald Hamilton and
Jason's new
> book, I fell off
> the wagon and back on Charles Williams like a bad
habit. I
> know the day is
> coming soon when I won't have any more Charles
Williams to
> read and I hope
> to God I'll find another writer I like as well (I've
read
> almost all of
> Thompson and Goodis).
>
> The good news is that I couldn't have picked a
better book of
> his to read. I
> would say The Big Bite is Williams' best novel and
I've now
> read the
> majority of them. I was hooked from the very
beginning. Good
> harboiled
> wise-cracking dialogue, the femme fatale--it's all
there. If
> you read and
> liked Hell Hath No Fury, A Touch of Death and
Nothing in Her
> Way, this one
> is a must.
>
> I would go so far as to say it's the best hardboiled
crime
> book I've ever
> read. It's perfect in every way, not a single
misstep. You
> might even call
> it the definitive hardboiled book. I liked it so
much that I
> spent some time
> thinking about the elements that went into the
making of the
> perfect book in
> this genre. This is what I came up with:
>
> 1. Tough wise-cracking dialogue
> 2. An unsympathetic protagonist (who you
none-the-less
> identify with)
> 3. A femme fatale
> 4. Sexual tension
> 5. Ironic plot twists
> 6. A tough brutal thug (the nemesis of the main
character)
> 7. A sense though out that all the characters are
doomed
>
> The Big Bite has all these elements in spades. It's
what has
> made Williams
> my favorite author. In Hardboiled America Geoffrey
O'Brien
> said it was his
> best novel and I know many of you concur or think
that it's at
> least one of
> his best novels (it's hard to choose among the many
great
> novels he wrote).
> It was Jason Starr's suggestion for a Hard Case
Crime title. I
> agree with
> everything that's been said about the novel. Here
are some
> samples of the
> dialogue:
>
> "Say a hundred grand." Split seventy-five,
twenty-five."
> "Seventy-five for me?"
> He shook his head with a kind of pained expression
on his
> face.
> "Seventy-five for me, chum."
> "Back off and look again," I said. "The wind's
whistling
> through your head."
> "How's that?"
> "Who got run over that night? You, or
me?"
>
>
> "Is blackmail a new field for you?
> "Maiden voyage."
> "I must say you have a masterly grasp of its
intricacies, for
> a beginner."
> "Thank you. I like your legs."
> "You don't have any trouble with the moral
aspects?"
> "Why should I? I'm just a press agent in reverse.
You're
> paying me to keep
> you off the front page."
> The brown eyes met mine probingly. "Never mind the
comic
> rationalization. It
> doesn't bother you in the slightest, does
it?
> "No. I'm a bastard. I admit it."
> "Frank, to say the least."
> "Look it's a jungle. They throw you into it naked,
and sixty
> years later
> they carry you off in a box. You just do the best
you can."
> She smiled a little mockingly. "Ah. The beginnings
of thought.
> You're a
> nihilist."
> "That's out of style," I said. "Nobody's been one
for years."
> "You are surprising. I didn't think you knew what it
meant."
> "Duh," I said. "I saw it in a comic
book."
>
>
> I guess that's enough to say about one
book.
> Jeff
>
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