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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
I’m always looking for hardboiled and noir reads from or set in the past. This book was recommended to me as a result of my interest in the sub-genre of Florida noir, I mentioned in my review of Bad Monkey (my review) by Carl Hiaasen. The story was well-worked. The narration was peculiar. If I had an issue it was that the 60's sensibility of the story didn’t ring quiet true to me.
The original copyright on this book is 1964. The book is 290-pages. This was the first book in the Travis McGee series. That series went on for 21-books; the largest number being set in Florida. All books included a color (in this case “blue”) in the title. The series ended in the mid-80’s shortly before the author’s death. This was also the first book I've read by the author.
MacDonald was writing a hardboiled novel, a genre formed in the 30’s and continuously re-worked to fit subsequent decades. I personally prefer the pre-WWII hardboiled novels. The depression, prohibition, American isolationism all color those stories. This pre-American Viet Nam story felt socially dull to me, despite being written in a time of prosperity and great change in the country. I was also surprised that if you didn’t look too closely how some things have not changed too-much since the 1960's. For example, modern, tropical, leisurewear and swimsuits can be described in an ageless manner, if you forget branding. It’s also always interesting to see how folks managed to gather information pre-mobile and IntarWeb. However, the novel had more of an Ian Fleming feel to it rather than the classic hardboiled of Dashiell Hammett as expressed through the characters. That is, it still conformed to the hardboiled formula of laconic men and waiting women with seductive smiles ready to slide between the sheets after a saucy rejoinder, but they were the high thread count cotton sheets of the new American prosperity. I suspect it’s because the author was already in his mid-forties when he started writing and was inspired by Flemming or perhaps Hugh Hefner? I personally tend to think of the mid-60's as being dominated by nuclear war, teething problems of the Great Society, Viet Nam war protests and The Doors.
As I mentioned, prose was peculiar. In the beginning of the book, the narrative was weirdly without contractions. This gave it a very clunky feel. However at the end of this story, a few could be found in use. While the protagonist McGee’s dialogue was appropriately monosyllabic, I found the descriptive prose to be a mixed bag. Physical descriptions of places, people and things were well done, although there was a notable repetition in some of the descriptions. There was a definite Chandler-esque attempt at usage of similes. Some were effective.
For example, He had a handshake like a glove full of hot sand.
MacDonald’s prose turns purple in the boudoir. I frankly had to laugh at these. I found it very odd, that his descriptions of women were sexually graphic, but the act was not. Like a Christian romance novel, he used a lot of words to obfuscate (mutual) satisfaction.
Action scenes were well choreographed, although descriptions of physical trauma were remarkably without blood.
Note, the story contains sex, drugs and violence. As mentioned above, the sex was not graphic. Some was obliquely described as not being heteronormative. In addition, was recreational sex that pervasive in 1962? I also noted there was no mention of contraception. Drug usage was mostly alcohol use and abuse. McGee does use the then equivalent of a rufie to knock-out an inconvenient party girl character, but not for sex. Violence was moderately graphic, but not disturbing. It includes physical and firearms usage. As mentioned above, there is remarkably little blood in the descriptions, despite some serious wounding. Body count is modest. Except for the sexuality, this could be a Young Adult read.
This story contains an odd mix of characters both bourgeois and from the demimonde. Characters included: Executives, rich men, femme fatales, prostitutes and party girls, working-stiffs (Conchs), hangers-on, and con artists. Oddly for the genre there were no cops, bent or otherwise.
The protagonist is Travis McGee. His POV is used throughout. He’s a freebooter. I can see that he’s an inspiration for the modern Jack Reacher, only more mercenary. He calls himself a “salvage consultant". For a fee of 50% (plus expenses) he’ll use extra-legal methods to recover lost or stolen property. He’s a cynical anarchist and a narcissist who eschews the 1960's American Dream. (I’m summarizing a raft-load of McGee’s, pedantic, internal exposition, one of the most annoying parts of the book.) The antagonist is Junior Allen, "The Smiling Man". (Yes, the smile never reached his eyes either.) He’s a physically formidable, psychopathic grifter with a taste for traumatizing a certain type of woman. There are also a couple of sexually attractive and available women: the wealthy divorcee Lois Atkinson and the working-class dancer Cathy Kerr. They’ve both been victims of Allen. Both were damsels-in-distress. The other characters are rather incidental.
Despite my bones about the implementation of the story, I found it to be well laid-out. However, by modern standards that particular plot has become a bit shop worn.
Its 1960’s Florida, McGee lives on a house boat moored in a Ft. Lauderdale marina. He spends his time: drinking, womanizing and gigging on occasion. Over a long period of time, Allen gulls the poor Conch Kerr living in the Florida Keys out of a large, illegally obtained, legacy from her father that she dimly knows she has. Make a mental note to adjust currency amounts for inflation. US$10K in 1964 is worth about US$80K in 2018. Then Allen disappears in the middle of the night. Kerr is distraught, poorer still, but unbroken by Allen. McGee gets talked into helping Kerr-out by one of his innumerable “lady-friends” who knows he’s “resourceful”. McGee investigates. I found him to be very lucky with folks returning his long-distance telephone calls and volunteering important information. McGee has “contacts”, which are obviously better than the Internet ever will be. McGee eventually finds Atkinson. Allen has disappeared again, leaving her near catatonic from his depredations. McGee interrogates her, takes her home and over time heals her. Sex is involved. More investigation, with some 1960’s jetting-about the States in Boeing 707s. (Expensive in the day.) McGee uses torture to get information. Serendipitously, Allen turns up in McGee’s Florida backyard. McGee lays a trap to recover Kerr’s legacy and foil his next despoilment with Atkinson’s help. McGee underestimates what a Bad Hombre Allen really is. It all goes terribly wrong. There’s a boat chase on a dark ‘n stormy night. The good guy wins, but also loses. McGee is distraught. A richer Kerr takes him home and over time heals him. Sex is involved.
This story was interesting to me for historical reasons. Travis McGee is the template for several modern, vigilante, knights errant fictional characters. The Florida noir sub-genre starts with MacDonald’s Travis McGee world building. McGee’s world is a: tropical, leisure lifestyle, in a very white-Florida. It has a somewhat dated edu-tainment component of: boats, cars, homes, airplane travel and women. All accoutrements of the new American prosperity. A lot of modern authors have shamelessly tried and some have successfully mimicked MacDonald’s formula. I frankly thought the book’s prose was crap. At some points it was laughable. I had the feeling the author wasn’t always writing about what he knew. He was more deeply rooted in the immediate post-war 1950’s than what was becoming the early boomer 1960’s. On the other hand, he did have a dark plot, and it heartens me that the genre has much improved. I also get it-- McGee is a 60's flavor of anti-hero. Having written that, I’m likely never to read another Travis McGee story again. For all his merits the character was a douche bag.
The original copyright on this book is 1964. The book is 290-pages. This was the first book in the Travis McGee series. That series went on for 21-books; the largest number being set in Florida. All books included a color (in this case “blue”) in the title. The series ended in the mid-80’s shortly before the author’s death. This was also the first book I've read by the author.
MacDonald was writing a hardboiled novel, a genre formed in the 30’s and continuously re-worked to fit subsequent decades. I personally prefer the pre-WWII hardboiled novels. The depression, prohibition, American isolationism all color those stories. This pre-American Viet Nam story felt socially dull to me, despite being written in a time of prosperity and great change in the country. I was also surprised that if you didn’t look too closely how some things have not changed too-much since the 1960's. For example, modern, tropical, leisurewear and swimsuits can be described in an ageless manner, if you forget branding. It’s also always interesting to see how folks managed to gather information pre-mobile and IntarWeb. However, the novel had more of an Ian Fleming feel to it rather than the classic hardboiled of Dashiell Hammett as expressed through the characters. That is, it still conformed to the hardboiled formula of laconic men and waiting women with seductive smiles ready to slide between the sheets after a saucy rejoinder, but they were the high thread count cotton sheets of the new American prosperity. I suspect it’s because the author was already in his mid-forties when he started writing and was inspired by Flemming or perhaps Hugh Hefner? I personally tend to think of the mid-60's as being dominated by nuclear war, teething problems of the Great Society, Viet Nam war protests and The Doors.
As I mentioned, prose was peculiar. In the beginning of the book, the narrative was weirdly without contractions. This gave it a very clunky feel. However at the end of this story, a few could be found in use. While the protagonist McGee’s dialogue was appropriately monosyllabic, I found the descriptive prose to be a mixed bag. Physical descriptions of places, people and things were well done, although there was a notable repetition in some of the descriptions. There was a definite Chandler-esque attempt at usage of similes. Some were effective.
For example, He had a handshake like a glove full of hot sand.
MacDonald’s prose turns purple in the boudoir. I frankly had to laugh at these. I found it very odd, that his descriptions of women were sexually graphic, but the act was not. Like a Christian romance novel, he used a lot of words to obfuscate (mutual) satisfaction.
Action scenes were well choreographed, although descriptions of physical trauma were remarkably without blood.
Note, the story contains sex, drugs and violence. As mentioned above, the sex was not graphic. Some was obliquely described as not being heteronormative. In addition, was recreational sex that pervasive in 1962? I also noted there was no mention of contraception. Drug usage was mostly alcohol use and abuse. McGee does use the then equivalent of a rufie to knock-out an inconvenient party girl character, but not for sex. Violence was moderately graphic, but not disturbing. It includes physical and firearms usage. As mentioned above, there is remarkably little blood in the descriptions, despite some serious wounding. Body count is modest. Except for the sexuality, this could be a Young Adult read.
This story contains an odd mix of characters both bourgeois and from the demimonde. Characters included: Executives, rich men, femme fatales, prostitutes and party girls, working-stiffs (Conchs), hangers-on, and con artists. Oddly for the genre there were no cops, bent or otherwise.
The protagonist is Travis McGee. His POV is used throughout. He’s a freebooter. I can see that he’s an inspiration for the modern Jack Reacher, only more mercenary. He calls himself a “salvage consultant". For a fee of 50% (plus expenses) he’ll use extra-legal methods to recover lost or stolen property. He’s a cynical anarchist and a narcissist who eschews the 1960's American Dream. (I’m summarizing a raft-load of McGee’s, pedantic, internal exposition, one of the most annoying parts of the book.) The antagonist is Junior Allen, "The Smiling Man". (Yes, the smile never reached his eyes either.) He’s a physically formidable, psychopathic grifter with a taste for traumatizing a certain type of woman. There are also a couple of sexually attractive and available women: the wealthy divorcee Lois Atkinson and the working-class dancer Cathy Kerr. They’ve both been victims of Allen. Both were damsels-in-distress. The other characters are rather incidental.
Despite my bones about the implementation of the story, I found it to be well laid-out. However, by modern standards that particular plot has become a bit shop worn.
Its 1960’s Florida, McGee lives on a house boat moored in a Ft. Lauderdale marina. He spends his time: drinking, womanizing and gigging on occasion. Over a long period of time, Allen gulls the poor Conch Kerr living in the Florida Keys out of a large, illegally obtained, legacy from her father that she dimly knows she has. Make a mental note to adjust currency amounts for inflation. US$10K in 1964 is worth about US$80K in 2018. Then Allen disappears in the middle of the night. Kerr is distraught, poorer still, but unbroken by Allen. McGee gets talked into helping Kerr-out by one of his innumerable “lady-friends” who knows he’s “resourceful”. McGee investigates. I found him to be very lucky with folks returning his long-distance telephone calls and volunteering important information. McGee has “contacts”, which are obviously better than the Internet ever will be. McGee eventually finds Atkinson. Allen has disappeared again, leaving her near catatonic from his depredations. McGee interrogates her, takes her home and over time heals her. Sex is involved. More investigation, with some 1960’s jetting-about the States in Boeing 707s. (Expensive in the day.) McGee uses torture to get information. Serendipitously, Allen turns up in McGee’s Florida backyard. McGee lays a trap to recover Kerr’s legacy and foil his next despoilment with Atkinson’s help. McGee underestimates what a Bad Hombre Allen really is. It all goes terribly wrong. There’s a boat chase on a dark ‘n stormy night. The good guy wins, but also loses. McGee is distraught. A richer Kerr takes him home and over time heals him. Sex is involved.
This story was interesting to me for historical reasons. Travis McGee is the template for several modern, vigilante, knights errant fictional characters. The Florida noir sub-genre starts with MacDonald’s Travis McGee world building. McGee’s world is a: tropical, leisure lifestyle, in a very white-Florida. It has a somewhat dated edu-tainment component of: boats, cars, homes, airplane travel and women. All accoutrements of the new American prosperity. A lot of modern authors have shamelessly tried and some have successfully mimicked MacDonald’s formula. I frankly thought the book’s prose was crap. At some points it was laughable. I had the feeling the author wasn’t always writing about what he knew. He was more deeply rooted in the immediate post-war 1950’s than what was becoming the early boomer 1960’s. On the other hand, he did have a dark plot, and it heartens me that the genre has much improved. I also get it-- McGee is a 60's flavor of anti-hero. Having written that, I’m likely never to read another Travis McGee story again. For all his merits the character was a douche bag.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A mixed bag for me. I liked how it felt stuck in its time, but weirdly also a little progressive. The central mystery was pretty good, but the ending felt forced to set up a sequel and leave our hero, who I never connected with, unencumbered with ties from this book. I was excited to find a new to me series, but I probably won’t continue with McGee unless my TBR pile gets significantly lower.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's well-written. I can hear McGee's voice in my head unencumbered by my own and I'm immersed in the scene. But, good writing only takes a book so far and my interest does not stay afloat for long. The mystery of Junior Allen is put aside as McGee tediously nurses one of Allen's victims back to health. At first, one might think McGee respects the women he seeks to help. Their dialogue and trauma is believable, their stories tragic but hopeful to overcome. The mirage quickly dissolves, however. The women have depth, but to Trav, it's measured by the size of their butts and suppleness of their skin. I didn't know I was reading fantasy, but I digress. I know, we're supposed to see the similarities between Junior Allen and McGee.
There is an exciting mystery hidden between his twentieth description of the way Cathy Kerr's body looks, but god, it's written in the most excruciating and boring way. Who knew a could be so mind-numbingly dull that you're excited when comes to pass?
Still, I see it likely that I will continue reading this series. My uncle loaned me the last two books of it and I'm as much a completist as I am a glutton for punishment. Here's to hoping the plot can become as interesting as the writing tricks us into thinking it is.
There is an exciting mystery hidden between his twentieth description of the way Cathy Kerr's body looks, but god, it's written in the most excruciating and boring way. Who knew a
Spoiler
roiling treasure hunt murder mysterySpoiler
the title of the bookStill, I see it likely that I will continue reading this series. My uncle loaned me the last two books of it and I'm as much a completist as I am a glutton for punishment. Here's to hoping the plot can become as interesting as the writing tricks us into thinking it is.
I could not put it down
Fast paced and easy read. You get lost in the language. Gripping ad exhilarating, I read it in one plane ride.
Fast paced and easy read. You get lost in the language. Gripping ad exhilarating, I read it in one plane ride.
I read a bunch of these Travis McGee novels when I was a kid and enjoyed them. It might be time for a re-read, though.
I finally decided to dive into the Travis McGee series, which is universally praised by fellow authors and most fans of the crime/mystery genre. Except, it seems, by some here on GoodReads. I read plenty of negative reviews here with mild amusement. Seems some folks take exception to Travis and his course, womanizing ways. Let’s step back for a minute and examine what these stories really are. Most crime/mystery novels of this type are essentially male fantasies, allowing the reader to temporarily escape from reality and transfer himself into another world. McGee is a beach bum, living in Lauderdale on a houseboat he won in a poker game. He drives a Rolls Royce converted into a pick-up, and only has to go next door to the Alabama Tiger’s boat to find an endless supply of willing bikini clad young girls. To scratch out a living, he helps people ‘find things’, and takes half the findings as payment. Anyone expecting a refreshing viewpoint on women, particularly as this was written in 1964, is looking in the wrong place. Takes these books for what they are, folks.
But I digress. Just a few pages into this story, I felt like I was reading something different from the average pulp fiction. In Travis McGee, MacDonald has created a very interesting main character, one loaded with cynicism and insights into the slow decay of Florida and it’s denizens, a theme picked up by Carl Hiassen nearly 50 years later. In fact, a few times I had to remind myself that this book is from 1964. The influence of MacDonald is clear. The plot is pretty good too. Trav befriends a nightclub dancer, who believes her father’s secret fortune was stolen from his Army buddy, who entered her life and abused her before moving on. He turns out to be quite a despicable character. The story takes a few dark turns leading to an exciting climax.
In defense of those who disliked the book, I will say that Travis is hard to like. That makes for a tough sell when you’re wary of the main character. He’s angry, disillusioned and cynical. His motives may be on track, but his methods are questionable, and he quite literally appraises women like meat. Nearly all the women in the book are weak and somewhat pathetic. I can’t imagine very many female readers enjoying this. But the writing is good, and I get the feeling it is going to get better as I get deeper into the series. Four stars for the plot and the writing, but knocked down to three because I don’t like Travis. Yet.
But I digress. Just a few pages into this story, I felt like I was reading something different from the average pulp fiction. In Travis McGee, MacDonald has created a very interesting main character, one loaded with cynicism and insights into the slow decay of Florida and it’s denizens, a theme picked up by Carl Hiassen nearly 50 years later. In fact, a few times I had to remind myself that this book is from 1964. The influence of MacDonald is clear. The plot is pretty good too. Trav befriends a nightclub dancer, who believes her father’s secret fortune was stolen from his Army buddy, who entered her life and abused her before moving on. He turns out to be quite a despicable character. The story takes a few dark turns leading to an exciting climax.
In defense of those who disliked the book, I will say that Travis is hard to like. That makes for a tough sell when you’re wary of the main character. He’s angry, disillusioned and cynical. His motives may be on track, but his methods are questionable, and he quite literally appraises women like meat. Nearly all the women in the book are weak and somewhat pathetic. I can’t imagine very many female readers enjoying this. But the writing is good, and I get the feeling it is going to get better as I get deeper into the series. Four stars for the plot and the writing, but knocked down to three because I don’t like Travis. Yet.
I enjoy MacDonald's writing here's a small example of a Travis McGee monologue
And I am wary of a lot of other things, such as plastic credit cards, payroll deductions, insurance programs, retirement benefits, savings accounts, Green Stamps, time clocks, newspapers, mortgages, sermons, miracle fabrics, deodorants, check lists, time payments, political parties, lending libraries, television, actresses, junior chambers of commerce, pageants, progress, and manifest destiny.
This is timeless writing, written in 1964 take away the green stamps and it could have been yesterday. This is the first McGee novel and we learn the origins of the Busted Flush, how she got her name and owner.
re-read originally read January 2012
And I am wary of a lot of other things, such as plastic credit cards, payroll deductions, insurance programs, retirement benefits, savings accounts, Green Stamps, time clocks, newspapers, mortgages, sermons, miracle fabrics, deodorants, check lists, time payments, political parties, lending libraries, television, actresses, junior chambers of commerce, pageants, progress, and manifest destiny.
This is timeless writing, written in 1964 take away the green stamps and it could have been yesterday. This is the first McGee novel and we learn the origins of the Busted Flush, how she got her name and owner.
re-read originally read January 2012
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No