--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Juri Nummelin"
<juri.nummelin@...> wrote:
>
> As I've said here before, I've never been a fan of
Block and haven't
cared
> for the two Scudder novels I read (I think I only
tried to read the
other).
> But I really liked the two Tanner novels of him,
now, let's see, I
think
> they were THE CANCELED CZECH (even the title makes
me smile) and
TANNER'S
> TWELVE SWINGERS.
>
> They are spy novels, but there's a tone of parody in
them.
I second this. One of the things I most like about Block is
his outrageous sense of humor, which he can express with a
couple of well-placed words. If you go into Tannerland
expecting ultrahardboiled, ultraserious action, you may be
disappointed. But if you can relax into it, it's very
enjoyable. Like others, I came late to this series. One
description for the Tanner books is a cross between the
adventure Gold Medals by Aarons and some of the farce of
Richard Prather. In my opinion, the mix works well.
It's not that common to find successful humorists in the
hardboiled constellation, but Block is one of them (like
Westlake and Leonard, notably).
Best,
mrt
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 09 Nov 2007 EST