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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A cut above most crime novels - for me it had a surprisingly literary approach for 50s crime fiction, especially when it considers morality, and the "science of luck".
Plus atmospheric descriptions of post-war London, even if I couldn't place exactly where in the capital it was supposed to be. Not sure that matters though.
Plus atmospheric descriptions of post-war London, even if I couldn't place exactly where in the capital it was supposed to be. Not sure that matters though.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Started off very strongly with vivid descriptions, well-painted characters and quotable dialogue. But then began to show its age later on, and to me lost some of its glamour.
My two favourite quotes: “It was a cordiality based, apparently, on complete non-comprehension cemented by a deep mutual respect for the utterly unknown.” And “She’ll open her mouth, of course, but if you don’t talk right in you may be able to sort out something”
My two favourite quotes: “It was a cordiality based, apparently, on complete non-comprehension cemented by a deep mutual respect for the utterly unknown.” And “She’ll open her mouth, of course, but if you don’t talk right in you may be able to sort out something”
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Beautifully written. Given it was published in 1956, it definitely has some politically incorrect points of view.
adventurous
challenging
I found this to be a really difficult read. The language - both vocabulary and sentence structure - is often old-fashioned, and there are some philosophical ideas being grappled with that obscure a lot of what's actually happening. It is interesting to read a book written after the Second World War in which the war looms large, (indeed events that happened during the war precipitate the plot of the book), but the interesting points do not outweigh the problems I had getting through this.
See my review here:
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/tag/the-tiger-in-the-smoke
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/tag/the-tiger-in-the-smoke
This is more of a why-dunnit than a who-dunnit but nonetheless it is very gripping. London's fog is menacing and almost a character in its own right (it also sounds pretty full-on, glad we don't have anything quite like that any more), and this is a period piece in many ways. It rise above it's own particular time though too with a Miltonian struggle between good and evil (Susan Hill's words) which make for some thrilling set pieces.