Reacher/Scudder/Bosch

Okay, boys and girls, time for my promised commentary about some of my favorite thriller/crime writers and their recurring characters. Recurring main characters are very tricky, especially if the books featuring them become commercially successful. On the one hand, you can really develop a rich character given the luxury of plotting their development over the course of several books. On the other hand, you run the double edged sword of losing your audience's affection if you change the character too much, versus losing your audience by allowing the character to remain too static. These are challenges really good writers find ways to deal with. Three characters that are genre legends, and happen to be three of my favorites for differing reasons are: Jack Reacher,creation of Lee Childs, and featured, as of this writing, in twenty novels, Harry Bosch, creation of Michael Connelly, featured, as of this writing, in twenty-one novels. and Matthew Scudder, creation of Lawrence Block, featured, as of this writing, in seventeen novels (though only three since 1998).

Let's start with a look at Jack (no middle name) Reacher. Most of the characters in his universe just call him Reacher, and he is the most iconic and legendary within the world of his own novels. He is a former Major, an Army cop, who after retiring from the Army chooses to live life off the grid as a sort of wandering hobo. He carries only a toothbrush, passport, and in a nod to modern civilization, a debit card. When his clothes get too dirty or smelly, he just buys a new outfit and throws the old ones away. Of course, he is brilliant when it comes to deduction and the art of observation. He has a head for numbers. Additionally, he is a huge man, possessed of great physical strength who also happens to be a military championship level marksman. The trick that Mr. Childs has pulled off, deftly for the most part, is to make Reacher so extreme, the reader can't wait for his next feat of physical prowess or mental acuity. The author has to ride the fine line between fantastic and ridiculous, possible and unbelievable. Mr. Childs has written on Reacher prolifically, averaging about one book a year for twenty years. Some of the books have been very plot driven suspenseful nail biters, usually featuring Reacher taking on some conspiracy plot and coming out on top against all odds. Some of the books have been more character driven, involving his family relationships. or his involvement with a woman. Unfortunately, Mr. Childs is a good writer but not a truly great one, and his best books were the earlier ones in the series. The last few, Never Go Back, A Wanted Man, Personal, were particularly formulaic. This reader gets the feeling that the last few were paying the bills. And heck, we all gotta' eat, but I don't have to spend my valuable time reading it. I have not read the most recent Reacher novel, Make Me, and I'm in no hurry. Contrast that to early in the series, when I waited anxiously for my next dose of Reacher.I would heartily recommend "The Killing Floor", "Tripwire" (which features the best villain of the entire series), "Persuader" (the best beginning of any of the books), "One Shot" (the basis for the Jack Reacher movie), and "The Affair" (perhaps my favorite).

Heironymous Bosch, better known as Harry, is an LA police detective, who works homicide in the first two thirds of the novels, and cold cases in the most recent third. Harry's mom was murdered when he was a child, and he was an orphan, product of the social services system, and his character is fueled by issues of resentment, identity, and the fight for the underdog. He was a tunnel rat in the Vietnam War before becoming a detective. Unlike Reacher, you have a "real" person here. The Bosch novels take place in a very real Los Angeles and the plots are typical police procedurals. What the author, Michael Connelly has done, is created a very nuanced character that the reader cares about at least long enough to find out how the book ends. Mr. Connelly has, unfortunately, put his character through more than his share of melodrama featuring the kidnapping of his daughter and murder of his ex-wife. All in all though, we root for Harry without conditions. How can you dislike a guy whose motto is "someone has to speak for the victim"? My recommendations for Bosch are: "The Black Echo", "The Concrete Blonde", "The Last Coyote", and "The Narrows".  Though most any of the Bosch novels will give you your money's worth.

Matthew Scudder, has the luxury of coming from the mind of Lawrence Block, the best writer of these three. Scudder killed a young girl, an innocent bystander, in the pursuit of a bad guy, and this brought on his retirement from the NYC police force and a descent into alcoholism. He makes ends meat by taking jobs, sort of a private eye, but more of a fixer, as people are referred to him by his street pals, old friends on the force, etcetera.  He is a normal guy, no superpowers, he's not a great fighter or a great shot, but he is resourceful and cunning. It's is both entertaining and agonizing to watch the potent cocktail of alcohol and guilt from which he emerges in the early books to bring someone justice or make something right. As the series progresses, he sobers up, and that has its own challenges. Mr. Block, being a brilliant writer (write to please yourself, he says, so he isn't worried about what his audience thinks) supports Scudder with great characters, both "bad" guys and friends. His best friend, Mick, is a Hell's Kitchen thug, who owns a bar, and his weapon of choice is a meat cleaver (says it all). His girl-friend is an ex-hooker (yeah Block is great, but this character borders on cliché) with the proverbial heart of gold. Mr. Block also makes so much of the  New York City backdrop that the city almost functions like a character in the stories.  In  one of many notable moments in the series, after a night of brutality that results in the rescue of an innocent and the death of two horrible human beings, Mick and Scudder get back to Mick's bar at dawn. Without a word, Mick goes and puts on his butcher's apron, and he and Scudder walk a few blocks to the early morning "butcher's mass" at Trinity Church. The poignancy and irony of the moment is not lost on the reader. As I've said in a previous post about John Irving, Mr. Block writes entire paragraphs I wish I could write on my best day. The level of writing is seriously good here. All the Scudder novels are worth reading, but I think Mr. Block was at the height of his powers in the early 90's when he wrote "A Ticket to the Boneyard", "A Dance at the Slaughterhouse", and "A Walk Among the Tombstones" back to back to back.

Next time, we're going to cover a writer from another country, just haven't chosen between two, so maybe you get both. In the meantime, read well and prosper.

Can't Live Without 'Em

To the few who read this, my humble apology for such a long gap between posts. I had a serious run-in with pneumonia in April that put me in the hospital. It took a long time to recover. During the recovery, we moved, and even though the new house is beautiful, the move was a LOT of work.

One of the joys of moving was that I got to unpack and reset my library. That meant lots of rummaging through boxes, getting reacquainted with my "old friends". Recently, I came across a NY Times article about someone writing a book based on asking various "famous" people what ten books they can't live without. I thought about that some, and it's an intriguing question. NOT, what ten books do I want on a desert island, and NOT what are my ten favorite books.... rather, what ten books can I NOT live without? Holy cow! When you think about it, it's a hell of a question.

While ruminating on that, here's what's been on the night table in the bedroom, side table in the sun room, on my desk, etc.... "Seeing Further", edited by Bill Bryson, is an amazing book compiling essays by first-rate scientists and science writers giving their take on the "royal society", which may, or may not, depending on the way you think, be responsible for the development of modern science as we know it. Great stuff about Boyle, and Huygens, and Locke and Wren and Newton and Leibnitz, and so on. Early enlightenment thinkers are one of my favorite areas of interest,so I am geeking out on this book. Finished the latest Reacher novel by Lee Childs, called "Personal", it wasn't very... I think Mr. Childs is cashing checks rather than continuing to develop what was once a most fascinating character. Knocked off "Memorial Day" by Vince Flynn in about three days. Almost done with "Transfer of Power" by the same author. Mr. Flynn writes thrillers about political espionage featuring a recurring character, Mitch Rapp. If you've watched a season of  "24" then you know all the plots in the Mitch Rapp series. They are beyond predictable. However,the guy does write really good action scenes. Utlimately, that's not enough, and I'm done, at least for a while, after this one. Also finished "Wait for Signs" by Craig Johnson, one of my most favorite writers. It is a short story collection about the beleaguered sheriff of Asharoka County, Montana, one Walt Longmire. Mr. Johnson writes economically, but also beautifully, rendering interior dialogues of characters and the natural settings of the West, in magnificent fashion. He sprinkles his stories and dialogue with wit and humor.  Can't wait for whatever he writes next. Finally, I just read the Hangman's Daughter, it's a German novel, written by Oliver Potzsch, issued in America in translation, and it's the first of three in a series he's written. It is fresh, dark, scary,and funny. Mr. Potzsch has an original voice and he certainly knows his history. The setting is medieval Germany (then actually Bavaria) and it is a time of superstition, hangmen, corrupt barons, and nosey children. He handles these elements in unpredictable ways. I could not stop turning the pages.

Okay, here, not in any particular order,  are the ten books I can't live without (for today, tomorrow the list might be different,nyah!):

1)  The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle  - this jewel has every word Conan Doyle wrote about the mercurial Mr. Holmes. Don't see how I could live without the kooky, clever goings on at 221B Baker Street. How boring would life be without an occasional peak into the mind of the world's greatest detective?

2) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien - even though it's three books, Tolkien wrote it as one, so it's not cheating to count it as one selection, and if it is, I once again say nyah, cause after all this is my blog. Anyway, not every day by any stretch, but every once in a while, I have to relive the adventures and relationships of Sam, Frodo, Gandolf,  the Bal-Rog, etc... Simply the most entertaining "alternative world" creation of them all. I think the scenes with Shelob, the giant spider are the most terrifying, and the first time I read it, I really did think the fate of Frodo was in doubt. It seemed entirely possible that Tolkien would kill off his main character, and that's the mastery of it. He wrote a story wherein anything was possible and you just had to read it to find out.

3) The History of Philosophy by Will Durant - I know, NOT his history of civilization? But again, it's books I can't live without and that is a bit different from favorites. I need to review what I think I know, and mostly what I don't know about the world's great thinkers from time to time, and here in one volume, are the most concise and readily understandable summaries of what they thought. There are even moments when I think I have a clue as to what the hell Hagel is talking about, thanks to Durant.

4) The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote -three volumes I know, too damn bad, it's one book. Anyway, I can't live without an accurate, lively civil war book, and Foote's is not necessarily the best, but it may be the best written. He tells a terribly well known piece of our history in a most engaging, entertaining and thought provoking way.

5) The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry - how do I include Eliot, Stevens, Moore, Yeats, Carlos Williams, Alan Duggan,et al, without using all of my picks on poets? That's what anthologies are made for, and what a great one this is. Thorough and inclusive, the pages are bent, the binding is cracking, and it is filled with underlining and notes from many years of enjoyable reading. Great book.

6) Victorian Prose and Poetry -yet another anthology, but I must have the amazing, inventive poetic monologues of Robert Browning, yes, he did invent the form. There's no living without Tennyson or Herbert or Chapman either, and the essay's of Pope and Carlyle, etc... it was a wonderful period of writing that speaks to the contemporary heart and mind. Least, it does to mine.

7) The Bible - from a literary standpoint, most everything written by western civilization was stolen or adapted or copied from the Bible. The Torah, the Psalms, the Book of Job, etc... religious significance aside, it is a treasury of great literature. Ezekiel? C'mon, one of the great angry rants in the history of literature. God telling man I WILL SMITE THEE WITH MY MIGHTY SWORD. Gotta love that. We think twice about that. It's not quite the same thing as the cowardly lion in the forest saying, "C'mon, put 'em up, put 'em up", now, is it?

8) A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving - not a ton of fiction on the list, it's not as re-readable as non-fiction is, however, this is the best North American novel of the 20th century. It is a masterpiece of writing. There are writers, that every once in a while, write a sentence, that makes me say, I wish I could write like that. Irving fills books with paragraphs that make me say that. Themes about identity and perspective and faith and family are intertwined in this coming of age novel about two New England boys. Maybe I identify because of being adopted and questions of family and identity have always run deep in my head. It mystifies me that this is not Mr. Irving's most popular book. I can, and have read sections of it over and over.

9) Dracula by Bram Stoker - of course a gothic novel had to make the list. Tough call, love "The Monk" by Matthew Lewis, but I can't live without revisiting the great gothic tale of the Count with a taste for other than wine.... Much informed by hollywood, the modern reader has a surprise waiting in this book, which is a taut, pyschological thriller, and a bit different from the movie versions. For a famous novel, it strikes me as being vastly underrated.

10) The Riverside Shakespeare - can't possibly live without the bard from Stratford-on -Avon. It's all here, every word he's ever written, all the plays, all the sonnets, with great introductory essays and useful annotations throughout. Like the Norton Modern Poetry, this is full of notes and underlining. If he's not the greatest writer that ever lived, it's hard to make a sensible argument that leaves him out of the top three. And if you're reading something and the plot wasn't taken from the Bible, it was taken from Shakespeare. Who, by the by, borrowed quite a few of his plots, but that's a story for another time.

So these are the ten books that, for today, I can't live without. I'm curious, what are yours?


 

Haiku

One of the more challenging forms of poetry, Haiku is the art of three line poetry. In most cases, the structure is syllabic, with lines of 5-7-5. It is much easier said than done. The Haiku originated in the Japanese literary tradition and may be thousands of years old. The masters of the tradition are Matsuo Basho, Yosa Buson, and Kobayashi Issa.  Basho lived in the second half of the seventeenth century, Buson was mid eighteenth century, and Issa was late eighteenth, early nineteenth century. All three men were born on farms and lived rural childhoods. Additionally, all three were travelers and spent time in the major cities of Edo (now more familiar as Tokyo) and Kyoto. Haikus pay attention to time and space often using a classic theme from the Japanese courts combined with a natural image.
Time for some examples, we will go in order of seniority, so Basho starts us off:

Autumn moonlight -
a worm digs silently
into the chestnut.

               As for the hibiscus
on the roadside------
              my horse ate it.

            Summer grass---
all that's left
            of a warrior's dreams.

Now, don't fall into the trap about the 5-7-5 syllable structure; these are translations, it worked in the original. Translators are stuck with sticking to the exact form versus capturing the essence of the writer's expression and almost always go with the second. Try writing some Haikus in English and then make sure they work out to 5-7-5 when translated into Japanese. You get me? Next up is Buson, an artist, his illustrations are quite well known.

           White blossoms of the pear----
and a woman in moonlight
           reading a letter.

        Straw sandal half sunk
in an old pond
        in the sleety snow.

          He's on the porch
to escape the wife and kids-----
         how hot it is!

You can hear the difference in tone between Basho and Buson. Basho is a seeker, his Haiku are almost meditative. Buson is a painter, and his Haiku are more like word paintings.Issa, the last of the great triumvirate is the Humanist in the group. He uses the form to illustrate the value and beauty of humankind.

      Don't worry spiders,
I keep house
       casually.

     Children imitating cormorants
are even more wonderful
     than cormorants.

    Washing the saucepans----
the moon glows on her hands
     in the shallow river.

One more from Issa that I just love because it's funny:

     Writing shit about new snow
for the rich
       is not art.

Credit to Robert Hass, editor of "The Essential Haiku" for the biographical notes and translations.
If you are reading this, it is my hope that you can get a sense of how universal and how deeply personal these poems are. Americans have, of course, done their best to imitate the form... Jewish writers seem to have done well with the sense of irony required, as this example illustrates.

Four thousand years of Hebrew
and still no word for "tact".
So who needs it?

Next time I think we will visit some of my favorite recurring characters in the mystery/thriller genre.