Saturday, October 9: Mississippi Mud
EASY DOES IT (SOMETIMES)
by John M. Floyd
Like all of you, I have favorite authors. All I have to do to list mine is to turn around and look at the books on the shelves of my home office: Coben, King, McMurtry, Conroy, Evanovich, Francis, Barr, Sakey, DeMille, Westlake, Hiaasen, Burke, Block, Leonard, Sandford, Parker, Lippman, Follett, and so on. And, as you might suspect, I read books the way chain-smokers go through cigarettes, lighting a new one off the butt of the old. Those Pony Express guys who hopped over to a fresh ride without even dismounting don’t have a thing on me.
Variety and other spices
Two weeks ago, true to form, I finished Carl Hiaasen’s Star Island and began Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo without so much as a moment’s break between the two. Afterward, though, I was intrigued by how totally different those two novels were, and not only in subject matter. The writing styles couldn’t have been farther apart. I enjoyed both, but the first was what one might call an “easy” or “quick” read, while the second required (for me at least) more time and thought—especially the parts about international corporate finance.
In my opinion, the same is true of Robert B. Parker vs. Nevada Barr. The works of both are usually fair-play mysteries, but they have a far different “feel” to them. Parker’s plots always move quickly, with loads of dialogue and minimal exposition; Barr uses not only more description but a more complex sentence structure. Yet I like them both. Another example is the difference between the novels of Nelson DeMille and Martin Cruz Smith. Both contain a brilliant use of wry humor, which I love (I’ve read everything both of them have written), but Smith’s books seem to require more time and concentration than DeMille’s.
I think other “rapid-fire” reads are the works of Westlake, Evanovich, Sakey, Grisham, Coben, and Leonard; more involved are some of those by James Lee Burke, Doug Preston, Lehane, Turow, Ludlum, Le Carre, etc. (I’m leaving out the more obviously “literary” authors like Cheever, Irving, Proulx, Bellow, Conroy, Faulkner, and so on, and referring more to writers of mystery/crime/suspense.)
One thing I don’t usually do is read two novels back-to-back by the same author, or even (if I happen to know, ahead of time) two written in a similar style. But sometimes I do; it all depends on the book and the writer.
Split personalities?
There are even a few authors who manage to write as if they were two different people, with or without pseudonyms. One example is the fiction of Larry McMurtry, which encompasses, at opposite ends of the spectrum, Terms of Endearment and Lonesome Dove; another is the body of work created by Ed McBain/Evan Hunter. One of the many appealing things about Lawrence Block is that I can enjoy his darker, gritty Matt Scudder series just as much as his lighthearted Bernie Rhodenbarr capers. And James Patterson can turn out books as different from each other as the Alex Cross novels on one hand and Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas on the other.
T-shirts vs. suit jackets
Of the two options—quick, laid-back reads or those that are more complicated and thought-provoking—which do you enjoy more? As for me, I’m not sure I have a preference. I’m fond of the lightning-fast Spenser and Jesse Stone and Stephanie Plum mysteries, but I also like elegantly-written, remember-them-long-after-you’ve-read-them crime novels like Mystic River, The Last Child, A Place of Execution, Cimarron Rose, and No Country for Old Men. And I remain in awe of stories that are both entertaining and enlightening: The Godfather, Shane, The Silence of the Lambs, The Stand, To Kill a Mockingbird, and so on. These are among the novels that I think will live forever—and the same is true of short fiction. Short stories that bridge the gap between literary and genre (“The Lottery,” “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” and “The Gift of the Magi” come to mind) are often the best of the best.
Thank goodness there’s enough room on my shelves—or at least on my wish list—for all kinds.
- Illustration by Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874 – 1951) for The Saturday Evening Post [↩]
Ii finished Star Island yesterday. I really like Hiaasen but I find I can’t read two of them in a row. I once took a bunch of Hiaasen books to Cancun for a week, thinking it would be perfect beach reading. I had to stop half way through the second one. All of those seedy Florida characters became overpowering. (That sentence will doubtless provoke a response from Leigh!) One of the most enjoyable things about Star Island is the large role given to Skink, one of the great characters of all time.
I could read Stieg Larsson forever without needing a break. Speaking of great characters, Lisbeth Salandar is remarkable.
Dale, Lisbeth is probably the most interesting character in recent fiction. I’ve not yet read the other two books in the Dragon Tattoo series, but everyone I’ve talked with says the second one is the best. I can’t wait . . .
I agree, Skink is another one-of-a-kind character. I always picture Hulk Hogan when I read about him.
Dale, we’re not so much seedy as pod people. Whoops, the Triffids are calling.
By the way, I love the work of the Leyendecker brothers and the artists of that era, including Maxwell Parrish and Louis Tiffany. Like writers, it took a while for them to be seen as true artists rather than hacks.