The Big Nowhere (James Ellroy, 1988)

To say The Big Nowhere is not as good as American Tabloid is like saying Donnie Brasco isn’t as good as The Godfather. Nowhere is far from bad, it’s just difficult to be anywhere near as good as one of the greatest novels ever written.

Coming off as a sub-par L.A. Confidential, The Big Nowhere was the first book in Ellroy’s world that utilised the three-pronged approach of merging three separate characters and story threads and funnel them into one labyrinth narrative. Events that seem innocuous to start become significant and as the revelations begin, the bigger picture, in true Ellroy fashion, is shocking.

However, in being his first foray into the triple narrative he has become known for, at times the juggling of the separate threads seems messy, and in cramming so much into such a short page count (in comes in at about 450), it is easy to get lost in the wealth of plot, which I did, frequently.

But Ellroy really knows how so tell a complex and compelling yarn and despite my problems with The Big Nowhere, it still remains compelling and shows Ellroy’s flair for street vernacular and a pessimistic, albeit, moral world view (the first truly decent character I’ve experienced in his works ends up dead in a rather gruesome manner). If something of this quality turns out to be his worst book, I cannot wait to delve further into his world.

4/5

American Psycho (Bret Easton Ellis, 1991)

American Psycho is, without a doubt, the most violent book I have ever read. The scenes of torture and murder go further than anyone, even a hardcore gore-hound, would want to go. But it isn’t needless violence for the purpose to shock (although shock and disgust are definitely what you feel). Our protagonist is psychotic, insecure and has a desperate need to fit in and, in being a book that is told in the first person narrative, his psyche is portrayed as that of a manic and fractured obsessive, so whilst the violence is told in a truly horrific, graphic and casual manner, so is everything else, like sex (which is the literary equivalent of hardcore porn) and everyday mundane events, like what people are wearing, with entire chapters devoted to Bateman’s musical preferences and items that he’s furnished his house with. The narrative itself is fractured also, never fitting what would be a conventional structure, just many random moments from Bateman’s life thrown together, adding cadence to the mundane and nonchalant ways in which he describes things (be it having dinner with a colleague or fucking a severed head).

The satire on the yuppie culture is not so much implied as it is up front and centre, with every character portrayed as a repugnant, self-centred weasel. Everyone, Bateman included, are confused as to who many of their acquaintances are, due to all looking and dressing the same, and when Bateman states quite clearly that he is psychotic, many either aren’t listening or hear something else entirely (murder and executions is mistaken for mergers and acquisitions). The men are especially horrid, mainly toward women, with Bateman’s killings emphasising as such, albeit in an extreme and hideous fashion.

Controversial? Yes. Harmful? No. Brilliant? Most definitely. What Ellis does is cleverly hide the social subtext with a near pornographic sensibility. There is a purpose for the debauchery, it is not needless. It’s just a shame, as always, that the sex and violence is what it’s remembered for, not the dark streak of humour or the fact that it is excellently written.

I will definitely read more Ellis after this. Glamorama or The Rules of Attraction maybe.

5/5

The Alexander Cipher (Will Adams, 2007)

I must confess, I didn’t finish this book. I guess I have issues with the whole adventure genre as a whole as I loathe the works of Clive Cussler and, despite being enjoyable, I still have issues with the works of Dan Brown. The Alexander Cipher is attempting to jump onto that bandwagon by utilising historical fact (in this case, the story of Alexander the Great) and spin an adventurous yarn from it.

The only problem is it aint worth shit.

I got about half way through, which is good considering how bored I was. It is clear that the author’s interests rest solely in the history of Alexander the Great and whilst that in itself isn’t a problem, it becomes one when that’s all the book is. For and adventure novel, there’s not a lot in the ways of actual adventuring and when there is something that could be construed as an action beat, it takes up all of two sentences. At least Dan Brown, a man whose writing prose is limited at best, knows for the most part how to keep the reader engaged, balancing the action and the exposition enough to make it an exciting read (apart from The Lost Symbol, which was frightfully dull). Will Adams, a first time writer, just seems interested with people talking at length about history. You know, for an adventure story, that’s a bit boring.

I genuinely feel bad if I put a book down half way through but I’d run out of patients with this one. Kinda put me off reading for the time being too.

2/5

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Jane Austin & Seth Grahame-Smith, 2009)

As an idea it’s rather amusing but in practice it doesn’t work. Whilst reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, it becomes apparent how amateurish the mash up is. The moments of Austin’s novel and the newer added zombie mayhem added by author Seth Grahame-Smith are so far removed from each other not just in content, that much is obvious, but in writing prowess also that they just don’t gel together at all. There are long lingering sections that are clearly part of Austin’s original work and then, just as boredom is about to set in, Grahame-Smith adds some mayhem. That’s about the extent of it. No witty and dense reworking of the novel, just a bunch of added scenes that feel as though the imposter author has glued them to the original manuscript.

On the back of this I will not be reading the humorously titled follow up Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. If it is like this one it’ll just be rather boring.

And to think the addition of zombies and ninjas would make it any more readable.

2/5

Night Show (Richard Laymon, 1984)

I think I'm going to have a sleazy yet fortuitous relationship with Richard Laymon. He doesn't beat around the bush and immediately revels in all things exploitation. Plots are basic, body counts are high and there's always a high element of perversion in the way nudity and lust are portrayed.

Night Show is book one in Volume 3 of his omnibus collection (there are 17 volumes in all) and tells the story of a man desperate to get into the world of horror VFX because of a bizarre fixation to scare seven shades of shit out of people. However, one of his victims has been mentally scarred by one of his pranks and seeks vengeance.

Whilst his writing prowess is limited, Laymon doesn't half know how to spin a good yarn. It doesn't intend to be anything more than the literature equivalent of a cheesy slasher flick and, in that respect, it succeeds admirably. It's a huge riot that never bores.

My only problem with the three novels I've read of his are that they're over too quickly. I think the next time I indulge with Laymon, it'll be one of his longer novels like Island or Quake or Funhouse (has a certain Point Horror vibe to it wouldn't you say).

I'm slowly falling for this man's perverse mind.

3.5/5