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A review by pattydsf
Tel Aviv Noir by
3.0
”As applied to individual stories, ‘noir’ can be reduced to ‘tough’ or ‘gritty’ or just ‘not cozy.’ But the fierce regional pride that runs through this collection does capture the characters’ fatalistic sense of alienation, even in their own hometowns.” from “You Wouldn’t Want to Live There: ‘USA Noir,’ and More” by Marilyn Stasio in The New York Times, January 3, 2014.
I have known about the Akashic Noir series for a long time. If you had asked me, I would have said that I was planning to read Richmond Noir first, since I live near there. However, I needed a book that I could interrupt if necessary and this one appeared on my library’s sell shelf.
My biggest problem with this collection prompted the quotation above. What is noir? I thought that noir usually included murder. Most of these stories do not. They are more likely to fit Stasio’s definition that I have above. The stories in this volume are undeniably not cozy.
However, the reason I liked most of these tales is that the authors seemed to know the community that they were writing about. I have only been to Tel Aviv once, but now I feel like I have visited there multiple times. These are dark short stories and if alienation is part of being noir, the works in this volume are most definitely noir.
I don’t know if you have any interest in short stories or noir fiction. However, if you do, I recommend you find the Akashic volume set closest to your hometown. I suspect you will find some stories to your liking in that volume.
I have known about the Akashic Noir series for a long time. If you had asked me, I would have said that I was planning to read Richmond Noir first, since I live near there. However, I needed a book that I could interrupt if necessary and this one appeared on my library’s sell shelf.
My biggest problem with this collection prompted the quotation above. What is noir? I thought that noir usually included murder. Most of these stories do not. They are more likely to fit Stasio’s definition that I have above. The stories in this volume are undeniably not cozy.
However, the reason I liked most of these tales is that the authors seemed to know the community that they were writing about. I have only been to Tel Aviv once, but now I feel like I have visited there multiple times. These are dark short stories and if alienation is part of being noir, the works in this volume are most definitely noir.
I don’t know if you have any interest in short stories or noir fiction. However, if you do, I recommend you find the Akashic volume set closest to your hometown. I suspect you will find some stories to your liking in that volume.