tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post2187556276934252131..comments2024-01-06T05:28:46.111-05:00Comments on Matt Paust's Crime Time : The McBain Curse (with The Last Best Hope and Widows) Mathew Pausthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-13744379819517843382015-10-14T17:57:22.664-04:002015-10-14T17:57:22.664-04:00I'm reading James Jones's Some Came Runnin...I'm reading James Jones's <i>Some Came Running</i> now, almost all of which is in the characters' heads, and I'm loving it as much as I did 50 years ago. That's about the same time I tried the 87th Precinct book I could not get into. So I'm wondering if maybe I just didn't identify as much with McBain's characters then. Or maybe it was the complexity that threw me. SCR moves so much slower, almost tediously so, but I find the characters irresistible. I'm curious to know your impressions when you've tried another McBain. Thanks for the comment.Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-49484345508250243022015-10-14T17:17:55.592-04:002015-10-14T17:17:55.592-04:00I've read some of the Hope books, but not for ...I've read some of the Hope books, but not for 15 or 20 years. The 87th Precinct books? Not for 40 years. I don't know why. It was too long ago. Way too long. But after reading your analysis of what McBain's approach to storytelling feels like to you, I'm anxious to give him another try. You're definitely onto something. Steve Lewishttp://www.mysteryfile.com/blog/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-49336861957699276332015-10-10T10:16:39.835-04:002015-10-10T10:16:39.835-04:00I suppose once a writer gets enuf of a regular aud...I suppose once a writer gets enuf of a regular audience the editors are reluctant to interfere, maybe a sort of quasi-superstition. I'm a fairly easy mark as a reader, willing to suspend disbelief if the narrative works overall. But I haven't read much Hunter yet. I didn't say this in the review, but <i>Last Best Hope</i> reminded me of Hiaasen, whom I have grown tired of. Probly eventually happen with Hunter, too.Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-2180806638622449872015-10-09T12:46:58.524-04:002015-10-09T12:46:58.524-04:00Then again...there is an unfortunate lack of veris...Then again...there is an unfortunate lack of verisimilitude in entirely too much Hunter fiction, for no compelling artistic reason so much as, it usually seems to me, that he couldn't be bothered to fix the narrative. Why bother, seemed to be the notion. If I can live with this galumphing stupidity at the heart of the narrative, or near it, so should the reader be able to.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-22903312961649272552015-10-02T15:35:31.354-04:002015-10-02T15:35:31.354-04:00Our tastes evolve, I guess, Tracy. I was probly to...Our tastes evolve, I guess, Tracy. I was probly too conditioned by <i>Dragnet</i> when I cracked open my first 87th. Thanks for the visit. Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-20539599015988461612015-10-02T15:26:02.743-04:002015-10-02T15:26:02.743-04:00Maybe it is good that I waited until I was older t...Maybe it is good that I waited until I was older to read 87th Precinct novels. A friend always encouraged me to read them decades ago and I never did. I do appreciate them now. I haven't tried a Matthew Hope yet. Great post.TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.com