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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of my favourite books of all time. Fast, brutal, bloody, confusing and gripping. Highly recommended.
medium-paced
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
After a year's break, I decided to come back and give this book a second chance. I was able to pick it up right at the halfway point and it didn't take long to get back up to speed with who's who and what's what - which either means Ellroy's prose makes an indelible impression or it's really repetitive. Maybe a bit of both. There are many brilliant passages - literary crack! - but it does go on and on and on ... Initially, my reading rate ran slower than normal (ironic for a book with short chapters and propulsive prose), and it wore me out with a Russian-novel's worth of relentlessly unlikable characters engaging in thousands of little, dark acts that add up to a darker-hued take of early 60's history as we know it. The second half went by much more quickly and less exhaustingly. I understand and admire the Tolstoy-ian project here, and finally making it to the end improved my rating by a star. It would make good long-form television, but the book did have a tendency to harsh my buzz.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
(this was a diversion, something to transport)
Much of the GR community shares a united front on American Tabloid, comparing it to meth or serial lines of blow, Ellroy is credited with thousands of pages of plot stripped down to slide into a mere 600 page volume. There is a measure of truth in said consensus. Well some of the metaphors do work. It does often appear that an acetylene torch is applied to the reader's soul. Events do come tumbling into focus and then disappear in the span of a few pages. The historical significance trails afterward like a sonic boom. The novel's chief created characters ( as opposed to the historical personages that the author stacks to the rafters) all occupy the opaque underworld of the FBI and the Syndicates. The Mob and communist inspire night terrors. Affairs branch outward from there. No one can afford loyalty, we understand. A subplot involving the daughters of the G-men being friends is but a plot device, quickly discarded to no real effect. Many of the characters decide that they don’t hate sufficiently and question matters. I’m guessing a few readers came to the same conclusion.
Much of the GR community shares a united front on American Tabloid, comparing it to meth or serial lines of blow, Ellroy is credited with thousands of pages of plot stripped down to slide into a mere 600 page volume. There is a measure of truth in said consensus. Well some of the metaphors do work. It does often appear that an acetylene torch is applied to the reader's soul. Events do come tumbling into focus and then disappear in the span of a few pages. The historical significance trails afterward like a sonic boom. The novel's chief created characters ( as opposed to the historical personages that the author stacks to the rafters) all occupy the opaque underworld of the FBI and the Syndicates. The Mob and communist inspire night terrors. Affairs branch outward from there. No one can afford loyalty, we understand. A subplot involving the daughters of the G-men being friends is but a plot device, quickly discarded to no real effect. Many of the characters decide that they don’t hate sufficiently and question matters. I’m guessing a few readers came to the same conclusion.