Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A dark masterpiece - tread warily, 20 Nov 1998
By A Customer
Definitely a masterpiece. Superlatives become a bit useless when you're this affected by a book. I had weird dreams whilst reading it and every now and then particularly nasty scenes still pop into my head. All in all it's not a particularly 'nice' book - but the style, rhythm and language are so well delivered that I found it impossible to stop reading, once I'd got used to the slang (an arcane mixture of 50's Americana and cop-speak e.g. cooze, statch rapo) The slang examples give you a taste of the subject matter, I don't think the film really does - the whole novel is so much darker and intense. I find that statement quite surprising since when I saw the film I was staggered by how dense it was. The novel is just so much more.A few statements: Complex - understatement of the year! I thought the film was complex! The screenplay has stripped away vast tracts of criminal conspiracy. If they'd been more faithful they would have had a 16 hour masterpiece, but I guess it would have been difficult to sell!! It's worth using a notepad to keep track of characters names and details. Every character has some role to play. Punchy - no wasted dialogue, in fact no wasted adjectives or other grammatical niceties. A scene from the film that lasts ten minutes is dispatched in one page (chapter 20 I think). I re-read that chapter about ten times, showed it to my friends who had also seen the film. That single chapter is the best example of Ellroy's writing. He builds characters, motives and locations so well that every so often he can accelerate the action by stripping away everything until all that's left is the core action. And, man the action is good! Dark - there are no such thing as goodies and baddies for Ellroy. The good guys are often particularly nasty. Some bad guys have legimate reasons for acting as such. The only common demoninator is that nearly everyone is corrupt. For this reason I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to anyone unless I knew they'd like it. Sounds a bit paradoxical I know. This is a nasty book in places but when you consider that Ellroy's mother was murdered when he was very young you start to realise he may trying to exorcise his own personal demons. So if you're a big fan of noir, like Millenium, Seven, the Big Heat and other such like then I think you'll like it.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece, 28 Nov 1999
By A Customer
This was my introduction to Ellroy, and crime writing in general. I was encouraged to read the book as a result of watching the film, and was more than rewarded, as the scope of the book far surpasses the film. Nothing is wasted, after the first read the novel seems amazingly complex, yet nothing is unnecessary, this is a tightly written book. It survives and improves on re-reading, as further links between characters and events are discovered. The characterisation is enough to keep you interested, they are beautifully rendered and provoke strong emotion in the reader, you actually care about them. While graphic at times and quite dark, the novel does not depress, it is realistic. Ellroy portrays his LA world in such depth that I was strongly encouraged to read more of his work, and was similarly encouraged by The Black Dahlia, and now intend to work through pre-LA Confidential Dudley Smith work.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Confirms what most know - Ellroy is the best since Chandler, 3 April 2001
If you've seen the film, the book tops it. If you haven't seen the film, then read the book and then watch the film. Anyone with any interest in crime fiction, or fiction, or just in life, should read this book. Ellroy is fascinated by the intrigues of fifties LA, crooked politicians, celebs with secrets, cops with agendas, what happens in hotel rooms you rent by the hour. Despite all this grime, there's a human heart beneath it. Exley, Vincennes and Bud White all have some redeeming features in their flawed characters and the prose is so pacey and heavy with atmosphere that two changes of shirt are required whilst reading the book. Although this is one of a series, it stands alone and it also stands head and shoulders above any other piece of crime fiction in the last sixty years.
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