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papidoc's review against another edition
3.0
The first of many Travis McGee novels by John D. MacDonald. McGee finds himself playing the part of a conflicted knight in tarnished armor, with the honorable McGee in occasional conflict with the pitchfork McGee. All does not turn out well, but enough to be a satisfying conclusion. I read this many years ago, and enjoyed revisiting it. Three treadmills!
stapilus's review against another edition
5.0
When did I read it? Long ago. But I still remember how much I enjoyed it.
ethers_elixirs's review against another edition
1.0
Male gaze, the book. This guy wants to fuck every woman but claims he doesn't. He sleep with two women who were recently sexually abused. Women are just victims in this story besides Lois getting to help out for a split second at the end but SPOILER ALERT she dies right after. Oof.
Look, I can see past a lot of that junk but the story just isn't interesting. The mystery isn't really there. I'd rather read the Hardy Boys.
Look, I can see past a lot of that junk but the story just isn't interesting. The mystery isn't really there. I'd rather read the Hardy Boys.
dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
Junior Allen has sleazed his way into a fortune in stolen gems and the daughters of the man who they belonged to want them back. Only Junior is a woman-beating rapist and has left a trail of battered women in his wake. Can Travis McGee get the gems back and take his cut?
This is the first John D. MacDonald book I've read and probably won't be the last. MacDonald really knows how to build the suspense. Junior Allen is a first degree douche bag and a good villain. You can't help but read faster and faster, eager to see him get what's coming to him. The writing is really good and the characters of Travis and Junior are well done.
Why only three stars? The women are paper characters, barely distinguishable from one another outside of their physical descriptions. Some of that may have to do with the time it was written. I caught the fact the JFK airport was still called Idlewild pretty early on, before I saw that the copyright date was 1964. Also, I'm not completely sold on Travis McGee. Something about him rubs me the wrong way. The pages full of his inner musings got a little tedious.
All gripes aside, Deep Blue Good-By was a gripping read. I'll be tracking down the next Travis McGee book sooner or later.
This is the first John D. MacDonald book I've read and probably won't be the last. MacDonald really knows how to build the suspense. Junior Allen is a first degree douche bag and a good villain. You can't help but read faster and faster, eager to see him get what's coming to him. The writing is really good and the characters of Travis and Junior are well done.
Why only three stars? The women are paper characters, barely distinguishable from one another outside of their physical descriptions. Some of that may have to do with the time it was written. I caught the fact the JFK airport was still called Idlewild pretty early on, before I saw that the copyright date was 1964. Also, I'm not completely sold on Travis McGee. Something about him rubs me the wrong way. The pages full of his inner musings got a little tedious.
All gripes aside, Deep Blue Good-By was a gripping read. I'll be tracking down the next Travis McGee book sooner or later.
feanor451's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
hagbard_celine's review against another edition
3.0
Reads like Heinlein, if Heinlein wrote about Florida instead of the Moon.
It's packed to bursting with that specific male-ness you find on the pages of authors who grew up reading the pulps, lived through the war, and found their adulthood in the 50s and 60s writing neu-pulp for a new generation.
Part of that macho problem-solver package is the troubling attitude toward women. At least Heinlein made his buxom babes into resourceful sharp-shooters with multiple degrees in Space Law or whatever. MacDonald writes at length about the various "bunnies," and it has the cumulative effect of reminding me that I am super-glad not to live in the 60s.
Nevertheless, the plot drives hard and fast and you don't want to look away. There is something deeply compelling about Travis McGee and his adventures, despite his author-created flaws and his author-imitating flaws.
Will read the next book.
It's packed to bursting with that specific male-ness you find on the pages of authors who grew up reading the pulps, lived through the war, and found their adulthood in the 50s and 60s writing neu-pulp for a new generation.
Part of that macho problem-solver package is the troubling attitude toward women. At least Heinlein made his buxom babes into resourceful sharp-shooters with multiple degrees in Space Law or whatever. MacDonald writes at length about the various "bunnies," and it has the cumulative effect of reminding me that I am super-glad not to live in the 60s.
Nevertheless, the plot drives hard and fast and you don't want to look away. There is something deeply compelling about Travis McGee and his adventures, despite his author-created flaws and his author-imitating flaws.
Will read the next book.
pattydsf's review
3.0
“You said if X has something valuable and Y comes along and takes it away from him, and there is absolutely no way in the world X can ever get it back, then you come along and make a deal with X to get it back, and keep half. Then you just … live on that until it starts to run out. Is that the way it is, really?”
For many years, I have bumped up against the name John MacDonald. Several authors mention him as a mentor or example of good crime writing. Some readers whose reading habits I admire have referred to Travis McGee as worth meeting. Apparently in some circles, you can’t claim to be a crime fiction reader if you haven’t met these two gentlemen. Since I had not read any of these books, I decided to remedy the situation.
Travis McGee is lucky enough to be able to live his life off the grid. It may have been easier in the 1960’s, but still a man has to make a living somehow. McGee makes his by helping people retrieve things that they have lost. In this first book in the series, he is trying to help a young woman regain the treasures her father stole during World War II. It seems obvious that McGee has limited scruples – he isn’t going to return the goods to the original owners.
McGee also has limited principles about how he treats people, women in particular. To achieve his goal – find the treasure – he will use anyone who can help him in any way. Some of the ways he uses others are violent and illegal. This does not seem to matter to McGee, or at least it doesn’t matter much.
MacDonald can write, I will give him that much. He knows how to draw his readers into the story and stay with McGee through all the ups and downs. Even if there are moments that the characters seem a bit rough or the tale gets gritty, I wanted to find out how the story ended. For me this was a page turner.
Timing is everything. If I had read MacDonald thirty or forty years ago, I would have tossed the book across the room. McGee’s misogynist behavior would have made me quit reading. I am still unhappy that such men exist. However, there are other characters in this novel that are evil. McGee is just a knight in rusted armor who is not the best, but certainly not the worst.
If I have the opportunity to read another Travis McGee story, I will probably do so. However, there are plenty of books out there, so I will let MacDonald and McGee find me when it is time.
For many years, I have bumped up against the name John MacDonald. Several authors mention him as a mentor or example of good crime writing. Some readers whose reading habits I admire have referred to Travis McGee as worth meeting. Apparently in some circles, you can’t claim to be a crime fiction reader if you haven’t met these two gentlemen. Since I had not read any of these books, I decided to remedy the situation.
Travis McGee is lucky enough to be able to live his life off the grid. It may have been easier in the 1960’s, but still a man has to make a living somehow. McGee makes his by helping people retrieve things that they have lost. In this first book in the series, he is trying to help a young woman regain the treasures her father stole during World War II. It seems obvious that McGee has limited scruples – he isn’t going to return the goods to the original owners.
McGee also has limited principles about how he treats people, women in particular. To achieve his goal – find the treasure – he will use anyone who can help him in any way. Some of the ways he uses others are violent and illegal. This does not seem to matter to McGee, or at least it doesn’t matter much.
MacDonald can write, I will give him that much. He knows how to draw his readers into the story and stay with McGee through all the ups and downs. Even if there are moments that the characters seem a bit rough or the tale gets gritty, I wanted to find out how the story ended. For me this was a page turner.
Timing is everything. If I had read MacDonald thirty or forty years ago, I would have tossed the book across the room. McGee’s misogynist behavior would have made me quit reading. I am still unhappy that such men exist. However, there are other characters in this novel that are evil. McGee is just a knight in rusted armor who is not the best, but certainly not the worst.
If I have the opportunity to read another Travis McGee story, I will probably do so. However, there are plenty of books out there, so I will let MacDonald and McGee find me when it is time.