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27 June 2007 08:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nuranarI've compromised. It's now the recycle can, not the wastebasket, that's handy for kicking over. It won't make such a mess when I tump it over, but will give no less satisfaction.
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In addition to the heaps of Nero Wolfe books, my to-be-read Debris Field includes several Alistair MacLean books. Besides The Way to Dusty Death, sent to me by the Most Graciousjordannamorgan, I have The Satan Bug (from PaperBackSwap) and Fear Is the Key (from the Book Rack). The Way to Dusty Death, written in 1973, is the first of MacLean's final, and poorest, phase, so I read it first.
The Way to Dusty Death is set on the Grand Prix racing circuit in Europe. It tells of the seeming - seeming - mental breakdown of Johnny Harlow, unquestionably the best driver, after a series of crashes, and his lapse into alcoholism. Reader beware - Things are seldom what they seem. I have zero interest in automobile racing, but that was not a handicap to understanding the book.
If this is a poor book, it's poor only in comparison to MacLean's best. I didn't find it terribly suspenseful, but that is a very subjective opinion; it's far more suspenseful than most mysteries, for example. There's a bit too much narration and too little dialogue, particularly in the beginning. Characterization is not poor, but certainly doesn't show the extreme care and effort put into his earlier books.
In all of the four or five Cussler novels I've read, I've thought that Cussler tried to accomplish too much. He tries to write a modern thriller with heavy historical elements, and his hero(es) have to head off The Biggest Catastrophe to Hit the World Ever. In every book. I swallow a lot, but that's just too much. Another of MacLean's later books that I've read seemed to fall into the same trap, coupled with a (Cussler-like) caricatured Evil Villain. But not in The Way to Dusty Death. As always, the kernel of the conflict is deeply hidden; it's not a Save the World situation, though. I refuse to give away plot points, so I cannot elaborate. But it's a definitely a worthy plot.
There were a few notable word choice examples in the dialogue. At one point, the Hero agrees with the Partner, saying, "True, true!" That little phrase is up there with "wonderfulness" as the biggest of the many catch phrases that I SPY made famous. At another point, the Hero refers to the opposition as "the ungodly." If you think that didn't bring a big grin to my face, you don't know me!
---
In addition to the heaps of Nero Wolfe books, my to-be-read Debris Field includes several Alistair MacLean books. Besides The Way to Dusty Death, sent to me by the Most Gracious
jordannamorgan, I have The Satan Bug (from PaperBackSwap) and Fear Is the Key (from the Book Rack). The Way to Dusty Death, written in 1973, is the first of MacLean's final, and poorest, phase, so I read it first.The Way to Dusty Death is set on the Grand Prix racing circuit in Europe. It tells of the seeming - seeming - mental breakdown of Johnny Harlow, unquestionably the best driver, after a series of crashes, and his lapse into alcoholism. Reader beware - Things are seldom what they seem. I have zero interest in automobile racing, but that was not a handicap to understanding the book.
If this is a poor book, it's poor only in comparison to MacLean's best. I didn't find it terribly suspenseful, but that is a very subjective opinion; it's far more suspenseful than most mysteries, for example. There's a bit too much narration and too little dialogue, particularly in the beginning. Characterization is not poor, but certainly doesn't show the extreme care and effort put into his earlier books.
In all of the four or five Cussler novels I've read, I've thought that Cussler tried to accomplish too much. He tries to write a modern thriller with heavy historical elements, and his hero(es) have to head off The Biggest Catastrophe to Hit the World Ever. In every book. I swallow a lot, but that's just too much. Another of MacLean's later books that I've read seemed to fall into the same trap, coupled with a (Cussler-like) caricatured Evil Villain. But not in The Way to Dusty Death. As always, the kernel of the conflict is deeply hidden; it's not a Save the World situation, though. I refuse to give away plot points, so I cannot elaborate. But it's a definitely a worthy plot.
There were a few notable word choice examples in the dialogue. At one point, the Hero agrees with the Partner, saying, "True, true!" That little phrase is up there with "wonderfulness" as the biggest of the many catch phrases that I SPY made famous. At another point, the Hero refers to the opposition as "the ungodly." If you think that didn't bring a big grin to my face, you don't know me!