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jakeray's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
essjay1's review against another edition
3.0
Wouldn't recommend unless you have a special interest in the area or the corruption of the NSW police force at the time. Dapin is funny, and I always enjoy his writing, especially his feature writing. His characters are brilliantly drawn, and anyone with enough knowledge of the era should be able to figure out who the book is about.
kcfromaustcrime's review against another edition
Anybody with a passing interest in notorious Australian "identities" in the not so distant past isn't going to take too long to figure out who Mendoza is based on, and that same reader probably is going to be excused for any guesses about the writer who narrates this fictional book.
Basically the story is that a journalist working for The Australian Jewish Times makes a complete hash of a story and ends up being fired by the editor. Circumstances intervene, things happen, he finds himself interviewing / writing the life story of Sydney gangster Jacob Mendoza. Mendoza is what he is, although he does try to wrap it up in a lot of long-winded justification. Klein, the writer, isn't what he says he is. He wraps that up in a bit of a story as well.
Most of Mendoza's story is told in a series of long interviews or monologues, whilst most of Klein's story is narrated by him - aiming
obviously for an unreliable narrator scenario Undoubtedly the author has a fine eye and understanding of the characters that inhabit Kings Cross, but that fine eye seems somehow to fall sort when it comes to his two central characters. Mendoza's story is, I suppose, supposed to be hilariously funny - and there were some lines that absolutely raised a smile. It was also seemingly supposed to be confrontational - crude, rude and more than a bit risqué. Which has, after all, been done before and whilst I'm a big fan of writers doing this in our own voice, it has to be a more complete package.
Unfortunately I found KING OF THE CROSS a little too tedious, a little too forced and the few good touches didn't quite compensate.
Basically the story is that a journalist working for The Australian Jewish Times makes a complete hash of a story and ends up being fired by the editor. Circumstances intervene, things happen, he finds himself interviewing / writing the life story of Sydney gangster Jacob Mendoza. Mendoza is what he is, although he does try to wrap it up in a lot of long-winded justification. Klein, the writer, isn't what he says he is. He wraps that up in a bit of a story as well.
Most of Mendoza's story is told in a series of long interviews or monologues, whilst most of Klein's story is narrated by him - aiming
obviously for an unreliable narrator scenario Undoubtedly the author has a fine eye and understanding of the characters that inhabit Kings Cross, but that fine eye seems somehow to fall sort when it comes to his two central characters. Mendoza's story is, I suppose, supposed to be hilariously funny - and there were some lines that absolutely raised a smile. It was also seemingly supposed to be confrontational - crude, rude and more than a bit risqué. Which has, after all, been done before and whilst I'm a big fan of writers doing this in our own voice, it has to be a more complete package.
Unfortunately I found KING OF THE CROSS a little too tedious, a little too forced and the few good touches didn't quite compensate.
tricky's review
2.0
This book has a stack of wonderful things written on the cover about it, the book is funny, a riot, etc..
Yet when I read it, well I am not so sure about this one. The main character Nick is awful, the women are all portrayed as awful, only usable for sex and Jacob Mendoza the other main character is larger than life with no redeeming features. The novel is about Nick, his lies and his complete lack of nothing. He apparently wants to be a journalist but he lies about his background and he lies his way through everything. There is a lot of swearing in this book, it did not bother me, nor did the graphic descriptions of sex and violence. Yet the book and I did not connect,I found the direction to obvious, I found the main character clueless, not having to make any kind of real decision about anything. I struggled with the book because it just failed to live up to the hype of the cover.
The book also borrows from a couple of true crime stories but still it took the more sensationalist elements rather than building strong interesting characters that are not caricatures.
Yet when I read it, well I am not so sure about this one. The main character Nick is awful, the women are all portrayed as awful, only usable for sex and Jacob Mendoza the other main character is larger than life with no redeeming features. The novel is about Nick, his lies and his complete lack of nothing. He apparently wants to be a journalist but he lies about his background and he lies his way through everything. There is a lot of swearing in this book, it did not bother me, nor did the graphic descriptions of sex and violence. Yet the book and I did not connect,I found the direction to obvious, I found the main character clueless, not having to make any kind of real decision about anything. I struggled with the book because it just failed to live up to the hype of the cover.
The book also borrows from a couple of true crime stories but still it took the more sensationalist elements rather than building strong interesting characters that are not caricatures.
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