I have read about 70 books of both Rex Stout and Agatha Christie.
Christie’s main protagonist was Hercule Poirot (Belgian, not French :smack: ). Poirot has a dim sidekick (Captain Hastings) and is a vain obsessive detective. He wanders around using his ‘little grey cells’ and finally reveals a complicated set of events which explain how the murder was done.
Christie is certainly ingenious with plot (e.g. ‘Murder on the Nile’), but her characters are very one dimensional. The story will contain clues for the reader, but will not otherwise impress. Perhaps you will learn something about the historic customs of England years ago (the servant class features strongly).
So why did I read 70 books?
Because I started with ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’, which has the best plot twist ever.
And sadly none of the other 69 matched it.
Rext Stout soon settled down to the character of Nero Wolfe.
Wolfe hails from the Balkans, but now lives happily in a New York brownstone. he has his own chef and thousands of orchid plants in the roof. Wolfe is certainly vain and sticks to a rigid schedule. However he does read well (both newspapers and books). He has to charge large fees to support his lifestyle. Since he prefers not to leave the house, he employs Archie Goodwin as his legman. Archie has brains and energy, and has been well-trained by Wolfe.
You will have guessed by now that I strongly prefer Stout. His books read well, with a good supporting cast. Although the plots are not as deep, there is great characterisation, touches of humour and a joy in entering this world.
I am still searching for the odd volume out of print - he’s that good!
If only I could get in on Archie’s poker school …
In addition to the previously suggestions, I would recomend the following as contemporary versions of the ‘noir’ detective:
Loren Estleman - Amos Walker series set in Detroit
George Pelecanos - set in Washington DC
Michael Connelly - Hieronymus Bosch series set in LA (The guy’s name ought to tell you something)
Walter Mosley - Easy Rawlins series and Socrates Flatow series
set in LA from Post WW2 to date
Charles Willeford - Hoke Moseley series set in Miami quite funny IMHO
Bill Pronzini - Nameless Detective series (The character collects old pulps) like Lawrence Block, the early books are much darker than the later ones. I guess the charcters mellow out after they settle into a long term relationship.
James Sallis - Lew Griffin series. Excellent portrait of an alienated man. (plot is secondary to the mood here).
I would highly recommend ‘Cypress Grove’ his latest as a very tightly written story with each chapter revealing a little more about the protagonist.
Alright, I’m about halfway in The Big Sleep, and really like it. The dialog is great, and the pace is fast. The sense of humor isn’t as sick as I had hoped for, but that’s a minor gripe. Besides, it looks like Pop 1280 should give me all of the twisted comedy I could hope for.
I was looking through some Raymond Cahndler books at a Books A Million, and The Long Goodbye struck me as a good chapter in the Philip Marlowe legacy, but it also seems to be later in the series. Do I have to read the books that come before it to enjoy it? Will I be missing anything if I don’t? Chandler is great, but I’m going to aim to read non fiction books for the most part after I get done with a few books I have on my reading list.
Also, and I’m hijacking my own thread here, what’s the deal with the word “fuck” being made blank in books? I noticed this at first when I read Mort by Terry Pratchett, and figured that Pratchett wanted his books kid friendly. that seemed the obvious answer esspecialy considering the crossword puzzles at the back of Terry Pratchett’s books. But now I’m reading a Chandler book and am seeing the same thing. What gives? Anyone with the smarts enough to read either of the books are going to know what’s being implied anyways, and the word is going to enter their mind as they look at the blanks. Is this something that is only in the newest editions, or were the words made blank in the first editions as well?
Not that it’s really important, I just found it odd.
“People lose teeth talking like that”. I don’t know if Chandler did that or the publisher.
Is the line when General Sternwood asks, “Have you met my daughter?”
“Yeah, she tried to sit in my lap. I was standing up at the time.” in the novel or only the Bogart movie?
When I first heard of Personville, the guy I was talking to called it Poisonville. He also called his shirt a shoit. Later I heard it the same way from somebody who could manage his R’s, but I still didn’t think anything more of it than the kind of humor that makes richardsnary the thieves’ word for dictionary.
