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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Closer to 3.75. Very interesting but there are a few details in there that are of its time that made me laugh, like when one of the characters is named "Dave Barry", or when Travis McGee resorts to enhanced interrogation to prove that he *isn't* part of the government.
I listened to this book. Many reviewers did not like the narrator, but I thought he did a good job portraying Trav and his female voices weren't too irritating. This series started the year I was born, so needless to say I didn't read them in the 60's and 70's but this book didn't seem too dated.
I finally understand why just about every author I respect raves about John D. MacDonald. I'll definitely keep reading this series!
excellent noir thriller
not everyone likes the genre, but this is a great one. twisty & gritty, with all the wisecracks you’d expect & a lot of philosophy that was deeper than I expected. think I’ll be reading more of these.
not everyone likes the genre, but this is a great one. twisty & gritty, with all the wisecracks you’d expect & a lot of philosophy that was deeper than I expected. think I’ll be reading more of these.
I don't normally read detective series novels. I loved The Executioners (aka, Cape Fear) and Murder in the Wind. Both books felt modern and interesting to me. With the exception of the hero, the women in Murder in the Wind were the strongest and most competent characters. Those books were fascinating to me as window into the not so distant past, but a past that is often mythologized as "the good old days" by Boomers. The books feel more modern and the relationships more mature than the TV shows and movies of the day. I don't normally read detective series, especially long running ones, but decided to give this one a try. It was a disappointing book from such a good writer. The pyscopath that is the villain of the book was masterfully described and deeply disturbing not unlike the villains in the two books mentioned above. It was a quick read, but it made me very uncomfortable with the "hero." MacDonald seems to be aware of the injustices that women suffer, but can't help his biting judgement. Using physical description as short-hand to dismiss most of the women in the book. As a woman, it is heart breaking to hear the cutting description of a woman whose coarse skin, large breasts, and heavy hips mark her out as a stupid slut. Contrasting that with the tall skinny blonde with big blue eyes who is a lady that is worthy of love. It's heartbreaking to me because I was born the year this book came out and the stereotypical women were recognizable to me in terms of what society valued then and to a large degree still does. MacDonald is capable of writing strong female characters, so I'll cut him some slack on this first outing. I wish I was the type of person who can read a series out of order, I'm not sure I can make it through the early books to get to the "better" ones.
I just re-read the first Travis McGee book after many years, and am reminded of why I was so moved and influenced by MacDonald's work. Although some may find things not to like, there are richly drawn characters who leap off the page. I kept finding passage after passage of writing so good it can make you weep. Nuggets of truth and wisdom that hold true after almost 50 years.
With a few sentences, MacDonald can tell you about a person's life and choices, so you know just how they got to where they are, and where they are going. If you think that's easy, try it sometime. Makes me almost ashamed to call myself a writer when I see how effortless he made it look. He writes about the inside of a building so you feel you're there. He swiftly limns a walk-on character so well you'd think you know them.
But I did model my own mystery series on the idea of a deeply flawed outsider hero who learns to help people against the predators of society. I just wish I was as good.
There's only one problem. I now have to go and re-read the enture series...
With a few sentences, MacDonald can tell you about a person's life and choices, so you know just how they got to where they are, and where they are going. If you think that's easy, try it sometime. Makes me almost ashamed to call myself a writer when I see how effortless he made it look. He writes about the inside of a building so you feel you're there. He swiftly limns a walk-on character so well you'd think you know them.
But I did model my own mystery series on the idea of a deeply flawed outsider hero who learns to help people against the predators of society. I just wish I was as good.
There's only one problem. I now have to go and re-read the enture series...
I always restart reading the Travis McGee series with this book. I guess that I'm just obsessive enough to always want to read a series of books in order. The Deep Blue Good-By not my absolute favorite, but it's an old friend, an introduction to Travis McGee, without being a lousy origin story like the first comic-book movie in a trilogy. And make no mistake. McGee is a superhero, and Junior Allen is a supervillian, both dangerous in different ways. John D. builds his characters and spins a great yarn at the same time, all the while sharing his personal views about Florida and the culture of 1960s through McGee's crinkled pale-blue eyes. I read these for the first time in college and I have returned to them many times. It makes me grin to think that I've molded parts of myself after Travis McGee because it was what I was reading way back when. I'm excited to move on to Nightmare in Pink and retake this literary journey once again.
I would DEFINITELY suggest The Deep Blue Good-By as the first John D. MacDonald book that anyone reads.
On a side note, I've NEVER spelled "goodbye" that way. Does anyone know if it's a regional dialect thing or particular affectation of the time period or perhaps I've just been spelling it wrong all this time?
I would DEFINITELY suggest The Deep Blue Good-By as the first John D. MacDonald book that anyone reads.
On a side note, I've NEVER spelled "goodbye" that way. Does anyone know if it's a regional dialect thing or particular affectation of the time period or perhaps I've just been spelling it wrong all this time?
The constant appraisals of female characters' bodies, I could have done without. That said, I've read much more pernicious misogyny in books considered "great literature".
And really, any book that combines page-turning plot with solid prose is pretty much okay by me. I'm discovering it's a rare combination. MacDonald is also weirdly prescient (via McGee) in his little rants about society - he seems to foresee the downfall of the American middle class in this book, and [according to Wikipedia] he writes about ecological destruction of the Everglades in another, before most people thought about environmentalism at all.
And really, any book that combines page-turning plot with solid prose is pretty much okay by me. I'm discovering it's a rare combination. MacDonald is also weirdly prescient (via McGee) in his little rants about society - he seems to foresee the downfall of the American middle class in this book, and [according to Wikipedia] he writes about ecological destruction of the Everglades in another, before most people thought about environmentalism at all.
The original lone-wolf (non-superhero) vigilante? + the "Lost" McGee?
Review of the Audible Studios audiobook (2012) narrated by [a:Robert Petkoff|2889695|Robert Petkoff|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1574289888p2/2889695.jpg] of the original Fawcett Publications paperback (1964)
Normally I wouldn't go back to re-read popular fiction books from the 1960's. This is probably from a fear that what might have thrilled me then may seem trite and naïve now. The opportunity came up however through an Audible Daily Deal to hear the first of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series "The Deep Blue Good-By" (1964) at a bargain price and I was intrigued enough to revisit the old "salvage consultant."
Cover image of the original Fawcett Publications paperback (1964). Image sourced from Wikipedia.
It is interesting now in these days of well-established series characters such as Lee Child's Reacher & Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins or newcomers such as Sam Hawken's Camaro Espinoza who have no particular legal authority status or investigative licence, to think back and speculate that Travis McGee may have been the original lone wolf vigilante fictional character. I'm of course excluding superheroes from the comics whose powers or skills become their de facto 'licence.' Maybe I am forgetting someone here, but of the entire early detective/crime fiction mystery genre almost everyone was a member of the police or operating as a detective agent in some manner (Agatha Christie's Miss Marple probably is the exception to this rule come to think of it - but the exceptions prove the rule right?)
Travis McGee was also the precedent or inspiration for future writers such as Carl Hiassen with his environmental protection take on Florida's wilderness which McGee was known to comment on as well. The themed series of books by others have followed the trail blazed by MacDonald's title colour references (from No. 1's "The Deep Blue Good-By" to No. 21's "The Lonely Silver Rain"). The title colour theme is even continued in Mosley's Easy Rawlins series with titles ranging from "Devil in a Blue Dress" (1990) to "Charcoal Joe" (2016). Sue Grafton's alphabet-themed Kinsey Millhone books and Stieg Larsson/David Lagercrantz's "The Girl with/who..." series are obvious other recent examples of the themed title series.
In any case, although MacDonald's writing about female characters is dated and pretty thin character development-wise, his multi-faceted hero does have odd character moments in hindsight. There is a more cynical self-hating brooding that I never really picked up on decades ago, which makes it more in line with hard-boiled noir despite the sunny Florida background to most of the tales. I may even try a few more of them now 50-or-so years after the fact.
Trivia: The Lost McGee?
While googling around to refresh my memory of John D. MacDonald (1916-1986) and Travis McGee I chanced upon a short story/essay "[b:Reading For Survival|671475|Reading For Survival|John D. MacDonald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1239192374l/671475._SY75_.jpg|657506]" (1987) which is like a "lost" Travis McGee and possibly one of the final things that MacDonald wrote. It was written as a reading promotion for a library and consists of McGee and his friend Meyer discussing the importance of reading. It is not even listed (as of Sept 2017) in the McGee series page on Goodreads where the 21 novels and their various anthologies/collections are to be seen: https://www.goodreads.com/series/52264-travis-mcgee
Review of the Audible Studios audiobook (2012) narrated by [a:Robert Petkoff|2889695|Robert Petkoff|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1574289888p2/2889695.jpg] of the original Fawcett Publications paperback (1964)
Normally I wouldn't go back to re-read popular fiction books from the 1960's. This is probably from a fear that what might have thrilled me then may seem trite and naïve now. The opportunity came up however through an Audible Daily Deal to hear the first of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series "The Deep Blue Good-By" (1964) at a bargain price and I was intrigued enough to revisit the old "salvage consultant."
Cover image of the original Fawcett Publications paperback (1964). Image sourced from Wikipedia.
It is interesting now in these days of well-established series characters such as Lee Child's Reacher & Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins or newcomers such as Sam Hawken's Camaro Espinoza who have no particular legal authority status or investigative licence, to think back and speculate that Travis McGee may have been the original lone wolf vigilante fictional character. I'm of course excluding superheroes from the comics whose powers or skills become their de facto 'licence.' Maybe I am forgetting someone here, but of the entire early detective/crime fiction mystery genre almost everyone was a member of the police or operating as a detective agent in some manner (Agatha Christie's Miss Marple probably is the exception to this rule come to think of it - but the exceptions prove the rule right?)
Travis McGee was also the precedent or inspiration for future writers such as Carl Hiassen with his environmental protection take on Florida's wilderness which McGee was known to comment on as well. The themed series of books by others have followed the trail blazed by MacDonald's title colour references (from No. 1's "The Deep Blue Good-By" to No. 21's "The Lonely Silver Rain"). The title colour theme is even continued in Mosley's Easy Rawlins series with titles ranging from "Devil in a Blue Dress" (1990) to "Charcoal Joe" (2016). Sue Grafton's alphabet-themed Kinsey Millhone books and Stieg Larsson/David Lagercrantz's "The Girl with/who..." series are obvious other recent examples of the themed title series.
In any case, although MacDonald's writing about female characters is dated and pretty thin character development-wise, his multi-faceted hero does have odd character moments in hindsight. There is a more cynical self-hating brooding that I never really picked up on decades ago, which makes it more in line with hard-boiled noir despite the sunny Florida background to most of the tales. I may even try a few more of them now 50-or-so years after the fact.
Trivia: The Lost McGee?
While googling around to refresh my memory of John D. MacDonald (1916-1986) and Travis McGee I chanced upon a short story/essay "[b:Reading For Survival|671475|Reading For Survival|John D. MacDonald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1239192374l/671475._SY75_.jpg|657506]" (1987) which is like a "lost" Travis McGee and possibly one of the final things that MacDonald wrote. It was written as a reading promotion for a library and consists of McGee and his friend Meyer discussing the importance of reading. It is not even listed (as of Sept 2017) in the McGee series page on Goodreads where the 21 novels and their various anthologies/collections are to be seen: https://www.goodreads.com/series/52264-travis-mcgee