Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another grab off of the free book swap heap. Snappily written in cop tongue; without a few seasons of The Wire under my belt I probably would have been lost. Kept up with it for a few days, as it paints a sharp picture of 1950s L.A. - the cops shoot surrendering criminals, the the African American part of the city is referred to as "Darktown" and the word "fruits" disparagingly flies around so often I finally understand why that is my grandmother's go-to word for gay people (it always just sounded so silly to me).
I've always been real hesitant to stop reading a book in the middle, but now I'm reaching a point where I find myself thinking, "I just don't have time for this - there are too many other good books out there I want to read." It was fine, it was a crime novel, but that was it. No real grab, no philosophy, no social commentary, nothing that really made it stick. Didn't help that all sorts of terrible things were happening; I also hit a point much faster now where, if it doesn't serve a purpose for me to rove my mind on the dirty and depressing, I won't do it. I never understood the point of hurting other people, and even less the fascination with reading or writing about it. Too much shlock I'd rather not have to stew my mind in (and common enough on the news these days), and too little residual value.
You want gritty crime solving with sharp-tongued policemen, go watch The Wire.
I've always been real hesitant to stop reading a book in the middle, but now I'm reaching a point where I find myself thinking, "I just don't have time for this - there are too many other good books out there I want to read." It was fine, it was a crime novel, but that was it. No real grab, no philosophy, no social commentary, nothing that really made it stick. Didn't help that all sorts of terrible things were happening; I also hit a point much faster now where, if it doesn't serve a purpose for me to rove my mind on the dirty and depressing, I won't do it. I never understood the point of hurting other people, and even less the fascination with reading or writing about it. Too much shlock I'd rather not have to stew my mind in (and common enough on the news these days), and too little residual value.
You want gritty crime solving with sharp-tongued policemen, go watch The Wire.
dark
mysterious
tense
LA Confidential was Ellroy going into overdrive. Stylistically clipped, allergic to the definite article, psychologically compressed to the point of claustrophobia and psychosis, it has a massively complex plot that's tightly controlled under all the fireworks, but those fireworks to spray the story wide and loud. Ugly violence, characters that are near-universally loathesome (softened considerably in the iconic adaptaion) with the exceptions being largely compromised and/or weak and ineffectual. The Bloody Christmas beatings and the Nite Owl Massacre unleash consequences and investigations that tear at the underbelly of LA like the wolverines in The Big Nowhere. Jack, Ed and Bud are an unholy unheroic trinity enmeshed in violence, corruption and cowardice, united, eventually, only by a destire to solve the case, whatever the cost. Toxic masculinity rules - literally, it's everywhere and it's in charge - occasionally they feel bad about something horrific they've done, and while the book doesn't exonerate, it sure as hell isn't interested in the victims. Buzz Meeks checks out early, probably for the best. Still compelling and propulsive, though.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ho iniziato questo libro con tanto entusiasmo. Volevo leggerlo e volevo amarlo. Le prime 80 pagine però sono state lente, cruente e troppo reali. Non l'avrei abbandonato perché leggo anche i libri che non mi piacciono.
Poi il libro si è aperto, si è approfondito ed è diventato il libro che volevo leggere. La trama è meravigliosa, i personaggi sono crudelmente reali: Bud con i suoi problemi con gli uomini che picchiano le donne, Ed che cerca in tutti i modi di emulare il padre e poi Jack che si è disintossicato dalla droga.
Lo stile di Ellroy è pulito e il contesto che crea è valido. Dalle sue parole traspare perfettamente il razzismo degli anni '50 e la crudeltà degli uomini.
L.A. Confidential è un libro bello, le ultime cento pagine si leggono veloci veloci e non ci si riesce a staccare. Vuoi sempre chiederti "perché?". Le risposte arrivano solo alla fine, con un finale straziante. L.A. Confidential è bello, profondo e racconta la perfetta corruzione di una città americana degli anni '50.
Poi il libro si è aperto, si è approfondito ed è diventato il libro che volevo leggere. La trama è meravigliosa, i personaggi sono crudelmente reali: Bud con i suoi problemi con gli uomini che picchiano le donne, Ed che cerca in tutti i modi di emulare il padre e poi Jack che si è disintossicato dalla droga.
Lo stile di Ellroy è pulito e il contesto che crea è valido. Dalle sue parole traspare perfettamente il razzismo degli anni '50 e la crudeltà degli uomini.
L.A. Confidential è un libro bello, le ultime cento pagine si leggono veloci veloci e non ci si riesce a staccare. Vuoi sempre chiederti "perché?". Le risposte arrivano solo alla fine, con un finale straziante. L.A. Confidential è bello, profondo e racconta la perfetta corruzione di una città americana degli anni '50.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
In the aftermath of the Bloody Christmas, the lives of three cops are forever entwined; Ed Exley, the by the book cop who is forever in his father's shadow, glory hound Jack Vincennes, and Bud White, the man forever avenging his dead mother. After six people are killed in the Nite Owl Massacre, can the three men co-exist working the same case or will they all go down in flames?
L.A. Confidential is an epic crime tale spanning nearly a decade, a tale of corruption, greed, drugs, pornography, and murder upon murder upon murder. In many ways, it's [b:The Big Nowhere|36058|The Big Nowhere (L.A. Quartet, #2)|James Ellroy|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1348561244s/36058.jpg|972626] 2.0. Ellroy once again uses the hell's trinity of three cops with varying degrees of dirtiness to explore Hollywood's filthy and infected underbelly.
The story started simply enough. A bunch of cops got tanked at a Christmas party and beat the shit out of some prisoners. Ed Exley snitched, setting the tone for most of the rest of his role in the book, that of an overgrown kiss ass hall monitor. Well, that's unfair, I guess. He's a pretty good detective for a daddy's boy rat. As with previous Ellroy affairs, two of the cops are pretty dirty. Jack Vincennes sells dirt to tabloids and Bud White's a heavy handed guy with a never ending beef with wifebeaters.
Once the Nite Owl Massacre hits and the smut magazines rear their creepy masked heads, Ellroy shows just how dirty cops can be, with lots of withholding evidence and backstabbing. The three leads prove themselves to be multi-faceted characters, all three with likeable and deplorable traits. Structurally, it's very similar to The Big Nowhere, only richer, more nuanced, and grimier. James Ellroy's Los Angeles is a cesspool with a thousand decaying corpses bobbing just beneath the surface.
I had a feeling who the mastermind was but was in the dark about a lot of the rest of the dirty deed doers until the trinity finally got on the same page just before the pages were torn out for good. For most of the book, I was happy to be on Ellroy's sightseeing tour of Hollywood hell. His punchy use of language was something to behold, a machine gun of poetic yet brutal short sentences.
The ending was pretty hard. I knew the ending would be rough, considering the previous two books in the LA Quartet, but this one was a bloody train wreck. There were some great character moments in the final pages and it's left me ravenous for [b:White Jazz|101000|White Jazz (L.A. Quartet, #4)|James Ellroy|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1328662450s/101000.jpg|1122011].
I guess I can finally join the nearly 20 year old party and see the movie now. Five out of five stars.
L.A. Confidential is an epic crime tale spanning nearly a decade, a tale of corruption, greed, drugs, pornography, and murder upon murder upon murder. In many ways, it's [b:The Big Nowhere|36058|The Big Nowhere (L.A. Quartet, #2)|James Ellroy|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1348561244s/36058.jpg|972626] 2.0. Ellroy once again uses the hell's trinity of three cops with varying degrees of dirtiness to explore Hollywood's filthy and infected underbelly.
The story started simply enough. A bunch of cops got tanked at a Christmas party and beat the shit out of some prisoners. Ed Exley snitched, setting the tone for most of the rest of his role in the book, that of an overgrown kiss ass hall monitor. Well, that's unfair, I guess. He's a pretty good detective for a daddy's boy rat. As with previous Ellroy affairs, two of the cops are pretty dirty. Jack Vincennes sells dirt to tabloids and Bud White's a heavy handed guy with a never ending beef with wifebeaters.
Once the Nite Owl Massacre hits and the smut magazines rear their creepy masked heads, Ellroy shows just how dirty cops can be, with lots of withholding evidence and backstabbing. The three leads prove themselves to be multi-faceted characters, all three with likeable and deplorable traits. Structurally, it's very similar to The Big Nowhere, only richer, more nuanced, and grimier. James Ellroy's Los Angeles is a cesspool with a thousand decaying corpses bobbing just beneath the surface.
I had a feeling who the mastermind was but was in the dark about a lot of the rest of the dirty deed doers until the trinity finally got on the same page just before the pages were torn out for good. For most of the book, I was happy to be on Ellroy's sightseeing tour of Hollywood hell. His punchy use of language was something to behold, a machine gun of poetic yet brutal short sentences.
The ending was pretty hard. I knew the ending would be rough, considering the previous two books in the LA Quartet, but this one was a bloody train wreck. There were some great character moments in the final pages and it's left me ravenous for [b:White Jazz|101000|White Jazz (L.A. Quartet, #4)|James Ellroy|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1328662450s/101000.jpg|1122011].
I guess I can finally join the nearly 20 year old party and see the movie now. Five out of five stars.
I've read it before; I love reading it again. This book forever grabs me by the neck, and I will tell you why: I don't read it for the color (which is great), for the plots (which are labyrinthine and a touch confusing) or even the immersion into a world which Ellroy is a master at. I read for the characters, and this book has possibly my favourite character of all time: Edmund Jennings Exley. The man is an amalgam of everything real men are: at turns hard, calculating, crazy, desperate. He's a tough weakling terrified of disappointing his Titan father.
None of Ellroy's characters are choirboys, but Exley has the motive I empathize with most: trying to figure out who he is, and what he stands for, in a world where the slightest misstep will send one drowning. That search is very easy to empathize with, despite Exley's miserable qualities: he's calculating, ice cold and more than a bit of a coward. I'm on to reading [b:White Jazz|101000|White Jazz|James Ellroy|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171474663s/101000.jpg|1122011], the next book in the L.A. Quartet, and while I won't spoil if he's in it or not, the story is permeated with Exley's ghost on every page. Exley is a character among characters, and I desperately want to know more about him. I get the feeling, however, that Ellroy does resort to one common trick, despite his superior and brilliantly twisted gifts: always leave the reader wanting more.
None of Ellroy's characters are choirboys, but Exley has the motive I empathize with most: trying to figure out who he is, and what he stands for, in a world where the slightest misstep will send one drowning. That search is very easy to empathize with, despite Exley's miserable qualities: he's calculating, ice cold and more than a bit of a coward. I'm on to reading [b:White Jazz|101000|White Jazz|James Ellroy|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171474663s/101000.jpg|1122011], the next book in the L.A. Quartet, and while I won't spoil if he's in it or not, the story is permeated with Exley's ghost on every page. Exley is a character among characters, and I desperately want to know more about him. I get the feeling, however, that Ellroy does resort to one common trick, despite his superior and brilliantly twisted gifts: always leave the reader wanting more.