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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
There are people who have a story to tell and then there are storytellers. Jonathan Lethem is a storyteller as Gun, with Occasional Music clearly shows--but he's also a craftsman and it's the latter quality that is on display in this, his first novel, though not the first in print in the UK. In previously available (but later) works, Lethem's craftsmanship has come into its own: like Don DeLillo or film maker Hal Hartley, he's a master of characters in absurd situations, as well as absurd characters in sane situations. But his debut shows a different side of Lethem and while still enjoyable, Gun is a prime example of an author getting through the difficult first novel, a storyteller still learning to use his tools.
A Chandler-esque piece of detective noir by way of Philip K Dick or Eric Garcia (Anonymous Rex, Gun is the story of private inquisitor Conrad Metcalf, a down-on-his-luck detective in a world not too different from our own. That is, if you discount the evolved animals and babies (called babyheads), a public injunction against asking questions, self-tailored drugs and the reliance on mortal karma as a criminal deterrent. There's a girl, a gun, a mysterious crimelord and some heavies on both sides of the law to deal with; the usual suspects are all present and accounted for. So too is the stylised dialogue:
She and Stanhunt had been freshly separated and the electricity between them had still been going strong--back when Stanhunt was still capable of generating electricity. Now there was a blackout. I wondered if the lady behaved any differently in the dark. I wondered if maybe she was the one who cut the wires.It's only the knowing tone--the fact that the author realises just how silly all of this is and has some fun with it--that saves this book from being a fourth-rate Chinatown. In Motherless Brooklyn, Lethem revisits crime with better results; and does science fiction better in Girl in Landscape. --Randy Silver --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Marries Chandler's style and Philip K. Dick's vision...an audaciously assured first novel!"--"Newsweek"
"Marvelous...a stylish, intelligent, darkly humorous and highly readable entertainment."--"San Francisco Examiner"
"Sharp, funny, visionary."--Jill Eisenstadt, author of "Far Rockaway"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"Marvelous...a stylish, intelligent, darkly humorous and highly readable entertainment."--"San Francisco Examiner"
"Sharp, funny, visionary."--Jill Eisenstadt, author of "Far Rockaway"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It seems that all I ever read these days is Jonathan Lethem and bizarro authors like Carlton Mellick III. The bizarro guys are pretty good and fun to read in a freaky surreal-ish kind of way, but they aren't master craftsmen of the written word. Lethem is. Gun, with Occasional Music is his first book, but probably the 7th I have read. After getting used to the style of his recent work I can really tell how strong his writing has become. He is an excellent author. Even with his first book, you can tell he is an excellent author. But he has definitely improved over time.
PROS: 1) If you like classic crime noir and weird science-fiction, you'll love this book. It is a mixture of those two. Basically, it is just your usual old time crime novel set in a future of mutants and intelligent anthropomorphic animals 2) The mystery unfolds quite nicely. Not only the mystery of the plot, but also the mystery surrounding this odd world Lethem has created. 3) Once you get into it you won't be able to put it down.
CONS: 1) While the writing is good, it is still pretty mediocre in comparison to any of his other works. 2) It was originally published by a sci-fi genre publisher, so it feels like run-of-the-mill genre fiction. So if you are a fan of the literary elements of Lethem's work more than the sci-fi elements you might be disappointed. 3) Though it was intentional, the characters are pretty cliche to that of classic detective stories. This might be a good thing or bad thing. Since I am not a fan of detective fiction, it was more of a con for me.
Overall, I give this book 4 stars. It is definitely worth reading. It's just not as good as most of Lethem's other work. I might have enjoyed it a bit better than As She Climbed Across The Table, but it wasn't as unique and smart as that book. Casual readers might like this one best, so start with here if you don't read a lot of literary fiction. Otherwise, start with Girl in Landscape or Motherless Brooklyn.
PROS: 1) If you like classic crime noir and weird science-fiction, you'll love this book. It is a mixture of those two. Basically, it is just your usual old time crime novel set in a future of mutants and intelligent anthropomorphic animals 2) The mystery unfolds quite nicely. Not only the mystery of the plot, but also the mystery surrounding this odd world Lethem has created. 3) Once you get into it you won't be able to put it down.
CONS: 1) While the writing is good, it is still pretty mediocre in comparison to any of his other works. 2) It was originally published by a sci-fi genre publisher, so it feels like run-of-the-mill genre fiction. So if you are a fan of the literary elements of Lethem's work more than the sci-fi elements you might be disappointed. 3) Though it was intentional, the characters are pretty cliche to that of classic detective stories. This might be a good thing or bad thing. Since I am not a fan of detective fiction, it was more of a con for me.
Overall, I give this book 4 stars. It is definitely worth reading. It's just not as good as most of Lethem's other work. I might have enjoyed it a bit better than As She Climbed Across The Table, but it wasn't as unique and smart as that book. Casual readers might like this one best, so start with here if you don't read a lot of literary fiction. Otherwise, start with Girl in Landscape or Motherless Brooklyn.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Excellent melange of hardboiled Raymond Chandleresque crime story with wild Philip K. Dick/William gibson futurist vision. The mystery follows an archetypical hardboiled Oakland PI as he doggedly pursues the truth in a seedy, labyrinthine case. In this dystopic vision of the future, only the police and PI's are allowed to ask questions and everyone carries a "karma" card which the police can add or deduct from as they see fit. Zero karma and you get sentenced-to years in cold storage. Genetic engineering has led to talking animals (who are definitely not first-class citizens) and bizarre gangsterish babies who have their own clubs! An awesome blend of genres which results in something all its own. If you like this, try William Gibson's Virtual Light too.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is probably my all time favorite book. This novel is pretty much what would happen if brave new world and any Raymond Chandler book got mixed up. Of course, that being said, you don't get stuck with Huxley's heavy handed moralizing about the future. And the main character, Conrad Metcalf, has a moral base that's a bit lower than Chandler's Philip Marlowe. But so far I haven't really mentioned anything you couldn't pick up off the back cover if you were in an offline bookstore. Gun with occasional music is a noir mystery set in an unrecognizable future- I can't even begin to plot a course between now and then. It's quite bizzare. Talking Animals, children replaced by accelerated growth babies (Trust me; I'm not up to explaining that one), flying antigrav pens, the musical news (no words on the radio), the pictorial news (no words in the newspaper), and a cute police officer named Catherine Teleprompter. I don't want to give too much away though. Another element I should add is that the likelihood that the title for Radiohead song Karma Police probably owes the phrase to this book-- people have a credit card of sorts with their karma point on them, which are modified up and down by the local law enforcement agents. There's a murder. It takes place in San Fransisco. There's a gorgous beraved wife. A kangaroo gangster a little fresh behind the ears. Oh, and you have to have a license to ask questions. It's fun, it's entertaining, it's deep, but not in a way to ruin the rest of your week. Check it out. Apparently none of my paragraph breaks went through.
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