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L.A. Confidential
 
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L.A. Confidential (Paperback)

by James Ellroy (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £6.96 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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L.A. Confidential + White Jazz + The Big Nowhere
Price For All Three: £20.62

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Product details

  • Paperback: 496 pages
  • Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd; New edition edition (3 Jan 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099366711
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099366713
  • Product Dimensions: 19.7 x 12.9 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 7,106 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #6 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > E > Ellroy, James

Product Description

Sunday Times

'Ellroy writes as if driven by demons. His brutal, staccato graffiti tips over into art'


Product Description

This work is set during Christmas of 1951. Los Angeles is a city where the police are as corrupt as the criminals. Six prisoners are beaten senseless in their cells by cops crazed on alcohol. For the three L. A. P. D. detectives involved, it will expose the guilty secrets on which they have built their corrupt and violent careers.

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

L.A. Confidential
76% buy the item featured on this page:
L.A. Confidential 4.3 out of 5 stars (9)
£6.96
American Tabloid
7% buy
American Tabloid 4.7 out of 5 stars (27)
£5.97
The Big Nowhere
6% buy
The Big Nowhere 4.8 out of 5 stars (12)
£6.85
White Jazz
6% buy
White Jazz 4.4 out of 5 stars (8)
£6.81

 

Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
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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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Confusing, detailed and brilliant
Every time I picked this book up I found it tricky to get into, but with a bit of perseverance I was hooked again and reluctant to put it down. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Sulkyblue

1.0 out of 5 stars Unreadable
I have now had six attempts to read this and never got past page 30.

It is an unreadable collection of proper nouns.
Published 6 months ago by Officer Dibble

5.0 out of 5 stars Hang on, you're in for a real ride...
From the first page you know you are in for something different. Ellroy has a very distinctive style that is a real tour de force of showing, not telling the reader what is goingh... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Stunt Goat

5.0 out of 5 stars Noir Kinda City
James Ellroy is one of the late XX Century master in noir fiction. His works are in the same level of Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Harmmet. Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2005 by Alysson Oliveira

4.0 out of 5 stars On The QT
It is highly recommended that you get acquainted with Ellroy's world by reading The Black Dahlia and/or The Big Nowhere before LA Confidential-not least so to pay respect to one... Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2004 by version150

4.0 out of 5 stars A lot to take in - but worth it.
I bought this book to read for a university module on the Detective Story. It wouldn't normally be 'my thing', although I'd seen the film, and enjoyed it. Read more
Published on 23 Feb 2004 by Mr. S. D. Mcginty

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