Yes they are... Well that's only part of the answer. All of
the Factory series are very well worth reading - my favourite
is He Died With His Eyes Open. The next one to come out is I
Was Dora Suarez which?completely lives up to its reputation
as one of the most-upsetting and disturbing and emetic crime
novels - I've not gone back to reread it, it's too hard. A
State of Denmark is his dystopian political novel - it's ok,
with?pre-echoes to my mind of Alan Moore's V For Vendetta,
but not, in my view up to the Factory stuff. The Crust On
Their Uppers is enjoyable, with its glossary of cockernee.
I?was disappointed by Nightmare on the Streets, which had all
the existential despair of his?London novels?but little flesh
beyond that, it was either an unpublished typescript, or (as
I have seen on?t' 'net) was published in France, where he
enjoyed far greater acclaim than in the English speaking
world. I've read a none factory crime novel too, Not Till The
Red Fog Rises, which, again,
?was a little disappointing, with an unsatisfactory
Nuclear spy plot tacked on...
I love Raymond, and think of him as something akin to Jim
Thompson in?his?other-worldly mental world,?I find his work
extraordinarily moving - often not?in a good way. If noir's
motto is 'Everyone's F****d', Raymond's is everyone is
F*****g F****d to F*****g oblivion and good F*****g riddance
to them. You're right that it's only?loosely crime, and, as
crime it's not even that good! But, I'm enthralled by them -
there's lots of stuff on the net on him and if you see his
memoir The Hidden Files, save a copy for me!
I do remember reading somewhere - I think in a book jacket
from the 80s listing among?his other works including, The
Factory Series - now a BBC television production, but?I've
never been able to find out any more; whether it was?never
produced, or just a pilot -?if any avians know?any more about
that I'd be thrilled to hear it!?Talk of films a few years
ago doesn't seem to have come to anything.
All the best Avians,
Colin ????
-----Original Message----- From: Nathan Cain <
IndieCrime@gmail.com> To: rara-avis-l <
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Mon, 18 Feb 2008
0:34 Subject: RARA-AVIS: How The Dead Live (Derek Raymond not
Will Self)
I just finished How the Dead Live by Derek Raymond, which
Serpent's Tail is reissuing this year. I kind of feel like
I've been punched in the gut. I'm not a huge fan of talk
about "transcending the genre," but I think the concept
applies to this novel. It's only a crime story in the most
superficial sense. It's more of a meditation on love and
mortality and it's very unsettling. It's one of the darkest
things I've ever read. Are all his Factory novels this
interesting? How about his other stuff?
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