Friday Forgotten Books, TRIAL AND ERROR, Anthony Berkley

 Reviewed by Casual Debris

 

 https://casualdebris.blogspot.com/2012/04/anthony-berkeley-trial-and-error-1937.html

 

 

Short Story Wednesday: I'll Be Waiting, Raymond Chandler

 (From the archives)

Short Story Wednesday, "I'll Be Waiting" Raymond Chandler

Supposedly Chandler did not much like this story himself and regarded it as inauthentic, a story written for Saturday Evening Post rather than one of the pulps he usually favored. It has all of the elements of a typical pulp crime story: a house dick, a femme fatale, the man she is waiting for, the man who is waiting for him. But a heck of a lot of the story spends its time describing the hotel--in fact, we know more about the hotel than we do about any of the characters. Perhaps you need to read more of this sort of story to get it. I  have to admit though, I could draw a picture of that hotel from lobby, to bar, to elevator, to penthouses.  If I could draw, that is.

In their anthology of hardboiled fiction, editors Bill Pronzini and Jack Adrian regard the story as “a superbly atmospheric night-piece” and respond, “Chandler was a perceptive critic of others’ work, although less so of his own.” Indeed, still frequently included in anthologies, the story today is considered by many readers and critics as among his best and most polished (with a superb twist ending), and it has even been adapted for film twice, most recently in 1993 as an episode of Showtime’s Fallen Angels directed by Tom Hanks. 

From the website Story of the Week, Library of Congress.

 

Jerry House 

George Kelley 

TracyK 

Monday, Monday

 Although the temps were high, we had beautiful weather in Sarasota. We heard a lot of music at the Florida Studio Theater, the Van Wezel Auditorium and a play at a lovely theater. Our house was modest but adequate. We sampled various beaches and ate at many good restaurants. Some lovely gardens too. So much seafood. 

Sarasota is the vacation spot for a large group of Mennonites so the streets are filled with them on bicycles wearing their distinctive dress. I saw my brother and his wife, and went to a Tigers preseason game with visiting friends. Who could ask for anything more? Maybe a less hectic trip home. 

I enjoyed the movie TRAIN DREAMS but mostly we seemed to watch GRACE, which is on Britbox. I am not much for streaming night after night but my friends love to watch that way. Are you a streamer or do you prefer to stretch it out? I very much enjoyed reading THE CORRESPONDENT and one or two other novels. 

What about you? 

A Long Trip Back

Took two days to get home with our flight cancelled and another one hard to come by. I will be back in force by Monday but probably not till then. 

Monday, Monday

 

Monday, Monday

 

Monday, Monday

 

                                                Last Bookstore in LA

Monday, Monday

                                                La Jolla Sunset from the window
 

FFB: CITY OF NETS, Otto Friedrich

 

One of my favorite books about Hollywood, Otto Friedrich looks at it from 1939 until 1950. A very particular time because of the influx of Europeans fleeing Nazi Germany. Many of what would be the most talented directors and actors turned up to escape the regime and the war.  Blacklisting figures heavily in this period too. This is a terrific book for anyone interested in this era and the movie business, or the politics of that time. 

LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE NOMINEES in Mystery-Thriller Category

 https://www.latimes.com/events/festival-of-books/book-prizes#mystery-thriller

Short Story Wednesday, THE STORIES OF MURIEL SPARK

 Tracy mentioned reading THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE and I read this collection in 2020. 

I happened upon an article in "Ploughshares" discussing the ghost stories of Muriel Spark and I happened to have this collection (above) which had a number of the mentioned stories in it. I found them oddly appealing although more as pieces of writing than satisfying ghost stories. 

"The Leafsweeper" has the odd premise of being about a man whose obsession was putting an end to the celebration of Christmas. When enough people were bored and tired with his ranting about it, he was put in an asylum where he rakes leaves In the house where he formerly ranted, another ghostly figure takes his place at Christmas time although he does not rant and rave about Christmas.  The story ends with the two figures becoming one. One has to wonder what the man does when there are no leaves to rake. 

"The House of the Famous Poet" was even stranger. A woman living in the house of a famous poet is on a train ride when a soldier sells her "an abstract funeral" to cover the costs of his fare. The story ends with a bombing where people in the house of the famous poet die thus requiring a real funeral.

And finally "The Executor." A woman's uncle dies and leaves her his house and estate. She turns over his literary work to a foundation, holding back a novel about a witch with a chapter left for completion. As she works to complete it, little notes turn up each day, chastising her for not finishing the work and making disturbing accusations. The Foundation notifies her that they were in receipt of the final chapter and wanted the rest of it. 

None of these were satisfying to me as ghost stories but as I said, I enjoyed them anyway. Sometimes the conceit is more interesting than a satisfying conclusion. I always like Spark's writing and these were stories from a quirky mind. The best kind, I think. I have also enjoyed a number of her novels. 

George Kelley 

Jerry House 

Monday, Monday

My movie group went to CRIME 101 this month. It was a movie that was much like so many series I drift through on TV. Lots of good actors, but it just didn't grab me. Most of the other people in my group liked it more, especially due to Mark Ruffalo being in the cast. Don Winslow wrote the novel it was based on. I know the novel was probably stronger. 

Finished BUCKEYE and it really was a great novel. I will look for his earlier one (Patrick Ryan). It reminded me of a novel from the last century in that it was chronological in its telling and was gentle on its characters. Also watching THE PITT, (more frightening than ever) and the GAME OF THRONES prequel, which I like too. Also DROPS OF GOD on APPLE.  And SHRINKING. Finished ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL. Emma Thompson's daughter looks just like her. That is such a calming show but I am glad the War is over. 

Weather here is improved. I go to FL for three weeks next Monday. I will put this up in case you want to stop by.  

What about you?  

FFB: THEY CALLED US ENEMY, George Takei

 George Takei, an actor who starred on STAR TREK, co-authored this graphic novel about his childhood in internment camps during World War 2. Although it has much in common with CLARK AND DIVISION (Naomi Hirahara) it also is an individual story that is different from hers. I am always surprised at how the Japanese people in California were so ill-treated for such a long time. Most of them were a generation or two into American life and many were citizens. None of this made much of a difference in what their four years on internment were like. This is a YA book, but so much of it was new to me so I didn't mind that. We have much to apologize for in our history. 

SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY-"For a Long Time This was Griselda's Story" Anthony Doerr from THE SHELL COLLECTOR

                                                         Kevin, a long time ago.

                                     "For a Long Time This Was Griselda's Story "

 This is one strange story about a circus stunt I had never heard of. A man who can eat metal. And huge amounts of it. Esmerelda is a high school student who plays volleyball and one day goes to the circus with her sister and is mesmerized by an act where a very non-descript man  is able to consume metal. She is so enamored that she runs away with him breaking her mother and sister's heart. 

Over the years, she sends postcards from all of the places she has seen. Her sister does not show these cards to her mother and eventually the mother dies never knowing her daughter was okay all of those years. A lot of the story describes the act in great detail. Did you know their were circus acts like this one? 

George Kelley 

Tracy K 

Jerry  House 

Monday, Monday

 Another cold week. Hopefully this is the end of it. 

Did not do much outside the home. 

Watched STEAL, THE PITT, THE SEVENTH KNIGHT, Saw the movie SEASONAL VALUES again with some friends.

Had dinner at a great Chinese Restaurant.  

Read the graphic novel, THEY CALLED US ENEMY by George Takei and BUCKEYE (Patrick Ryan) 

How about you?  

FFB: CITY OF DRAGONS, Kelli Stanley

 reviewed by TracyK

City of Dragons: Kelli Stanley

Summary from the publisher:

February, 1940. In San Francisco's Chinatown, fireworks explode as the city celebrates Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party, a three day-and-night carnival designed to raise money and support for China war relief. Miranda Corbie is a 33-year-old private investigator who stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up. The cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice--whatever it costs. From Chinatown tenements, to a tattered tailor's shop in Little Osaka, to a high-class bordello draped in Southern Gothic, she shakes down the city–her city–seeking the truth.

Miranda Corbie chooses to investigate Eddie Takahashi's death. She does pick up a second, paying case investigating the suspicious death of Lester Winters, and the disappearance of his daughter, Phyllis.

The handling of the setting in time and place is fantastic. Kelli Stanley makes San Francisco of the 1940's come alive, and she describes the tensions within Chinatown due to the war in Asia and Europe very well. I learned much about Chinatown and the US attitude toward the war at that time. I always enjoy a story set in Chinatown (of any city) but I don't think I have ever read one that was set before World War II.

Due to the writing style we are privy to Miranda's thoughts at times, and get glimpses of her background as a nurse in the Spanish Civil War, and the loss of her boyfriend in that war. She is clearly still suffering from these experiences, and seems to take out her pain on friends and foes alike.

Although the story is told from Miranda's point of view it is not in first person. Sometimes her thinking and reactions read like a stream of consciousness, with short sentences and choppy delivery. At other times, the writing is very beautiful, lovely descriptions and straightforward prose.

I will not pretend that this was the perfect reading experience for me. We are reminded too often about the unhappiness and confusion that Miranda is experiencing. Many readers complained about the many, many references to smoking, which did not bother me. And I should warn readers that there is a lot of profanity, although I felt it fit the context.

Nevertheless, I was involved with the story and admired the heroine. I want to follow her in her story and I plan to read the next book in the series. My husband has read all three books in the series and will be purchasing book 4 when it comes out.

  ----------------------------------
Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2010
Length:    335 pages
Format:    Hardback
Series:     Miranda Corbie #1
Setting:    Chinatown, San Francisco, 1940's
Genre:     Historical Mystery

Short Story Wednesday: A MEMORY OF MURDER, Ray Bradbury

 From the archives (oh, how we miss you)

Ed Gorman 

A Memory of Murder, Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury's first collection, published in 1947 by Arkham House, contained so many memorable and lasting stories it has become legendary. A single book by a young writer including true masterpieces such as "The Lake," "The Small Assassin," "The Homecoming," "Uncle Einar" and many, many more--just about unthinkable. A fair share of these stories were later included in The October Country, a collection that is for me the equal of The Martian Chronicles.There's another collection that in the scheme of Bradbury's career is far less important but equally interesting. When Dell published A Memory of Murder we were given our first look at the crime and suspense stories Bradbury wrote for such pulps as Dime Mystery Magazine and New Detective Magazine. Most of the stories appeared between 1944 and 1946. I've probably read this book four or five times over the years. It has the energy and inventiveness of all good pulp with the bonus of watching a young writer struggle to find the voice that is really his. In several of the stories we hear the voice that Bradbury will later perfect. He's often proclaimed his admiration of Cornell Woolrich and here we see the dark Woolrich influence, especially in the excellent "The Candy Skull" (Mexico has long fascinated Bradbury; here it's nightmare Mexico), "The Trunk Lady" and (what a title) "Corpse Carnival." One of Bradbury's most famous stories is here also, "The Small Assassin," written for a penny a word for Dime Mystery Magazine in 1946.The most interesting story is "The Long Night." I remember the editor who bought it writing a piece years later about what a find it was. And it is. A story set in the Hispanic area of Los Angeles during the war, it deals with race and race riots, with the juvenile delinquency that was a major problem for this country in the war years (remember The Amboy Dukes?) and the the paternal bonds that teenage boys need and reject at the same time. A haunting, powerful story that hints at the greatness that was only a few years away from Bradbury.What can I tell you? I love this book. At its least it's a pure pulp romp and at its best it's the master about to change science fiction forever. And making a memorable pass at making his mark on crime fiction as well.

 

TracyK 

George Kelley 

Jerry House 

Monday, Monday

 I enjoyed my eleven days in CA. The weather could have been warmer but it also could have been colder like almost anywhere else. I think I am done with CA though after ten trips there. I go to Sarasota in three weeks. Both plane rides were smooth and on time. 

Our condo was right on the water and we saw some fabulous sunsets.  Lots of great meals: Vietnamese, Middle Eastern, Thai, Fish. I watched both playoff games for the first time ever. 

Read THE POSTMAN's FIANCE after THE LONELY POSTMAN (Denis Theriault) which was okay. 

Started THE DROPS OF GOLD on Apple. This is the second season.  The final THE NIGHT MANAGER is on February 1, I think.  I watched the first episode of the second season of HI-JACK, which takes place on a train instead of a plane. Been revisiting CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM. Started SHRINKING.

What about you? Are you keeping warm?  

 

Monday, Monday

 

Monday, Monday