Re: RARA-AVIS: Ken Bruen

From: Steve Novak ( Cinefrog@comcast.net)
Date: 22 May 2007


Some of you seem to be mesmerized by Manchette, and that¹s great since he was ­ and still is - very important...Now, because of the suggestions of Rara-Avians and recent readings, I¹m really both lifted and flattened by Ken Bruen....At every turn, at every page there are discoveries, elipses, retractions, advances, flashes of humour, dark thoughts, and all in such a volatile and yet economical, almost mumbled language...and it¹s all sustained by the relentless references to a pantheon of writers, of quotes embedded in the story, weaved into the preceeding and following paragraphs...high art, totally jubilatory...it makes you cringe with pleasure literally (as good crime novels should)...I had not experienced this for many months since the flash of lightning that French writer
ɭmanuelle Urien darted with her Court, Noir, Sans Sucre in 2005, ...for those of you reading French. I am more than ever curious about opinions among Rara-Avians about Ken B... I am reading Calibre and the first 23 pages are so dense, so layered and so easy and simple to read...I don¹t know if it¹s post, pre, or in-between, but it is like a finger pointed straight at you...

Ideas, reactions....???

Le Montois de D鴲oit

PS for those of you who would want to know: Emmanuelle Urien is at: http://www.emmanuelle-urien.org/index.htm and Court, Noir, Sans Sucre was published by Editions L¹ʴre Minuscule ­ Noisy-le-Grand, in 05

On 5/18/07 10:28 PM, " DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net" < DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net> wrote:

> William wrote:
>
> "Lately a lot of people describe Ken Bruen's work as neo-noir or noir.
> Do you read Bruen and agree with that? I've four or five of his books
> but noir? I don't think so."
>
> I'd say it depends upon the book. The standalone novels -- Rilke on
> Black, Hackman Blues, Her Last Call to Louis Macniece, London Boulevard,
> Dispatching Baudelaire, and Bust, his collaboration with Jason Starr
> (although that won't be a standalone soon) -- are definitely noir. I'd
> label the Brant books hardboiled, but not noir. The Jack Taylor books?
> I'd say they're both. Just ordered the most recent of those, Cross,
> from the UK.
>
> Mark
>
>

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