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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
This was a really fascinating book with a compelling story line. Much like Capote's "In Cold Blood," The Onion Field gives us a look into the lives and minds of two killers while also leaving space for us to get to know the victims. Parts of the book get a little slow or boring at times, but it is definitely a worthwhile and fascinating read.
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
A compassionate and captivating read. (The only problem with non-fiction is that instead of fictional characters there are very real people in this book I'd 100% punch in the face if given the opportunity.)
I started off enjoying it and there were lots of interesting parts, but by halfway through it was really dragging for me.
I'll start with my complaint because it pertains to the whole book: the author stays on storylines too long. (The background material on Ian Campbell, Karl Hettinger, Gregory Powell and Jimmy Smith and the scenes with John Moore and Irving Kanarek would have greatly benefited from more aggressive editing.)
The great strength of the book is the incredible detail of the crime followed by its aftermath on the participants. The clearly did his research and possibly had a professional connection to the story (see last paragraph below).
There's an oddness to the book and the people that inhabit it that had me unsure of my reactions at times. The unspoken thoughts of Jimmy Smith towards Greg Powell before the crime were occasionally hilarious to me but somehow that seems out of place. There seemed to be something unusual about almost every main participant that had me wondering if it was a stylistic issue or if the author did a great job of capturing their quirks. Some parts made me laugh while several others made me want to vomit. I suppose that's life. (The oddness of the people isn't a value judgment about the book, just an observation that stayed with me throughout.)
After the crime there's a section devoted to the reaction by the brass at the LAPD and I kept wondering if the young red-faced vice detective was Wambaugh himself. There was something unusual about the way the story unfolded that had me thinking he included himself in the narrative.
The great strength of the book is the incredible detail of the crime followed by its aftermath on the participants. The clearly did his research and possibly had a professional connection to the story (see last paragraph below).
There's an oddness to the book and the people that inhabit it that had me unsure of my reactions at times. The unspoken thoughts of Jimmy Smith towards Greg Powell before the crime were occasionally hilarious to me but somehow that seems out of place. There seemed to be something unusual about almost every main participant that had me wondering if it was a stylistic issue or if the author did a great job of capturing their quirks. Some parts made me laugh while several others made me want to vomit. I suppose that's life. (The oddness of the people isn't a value judgment about the book, just an observation that stayed with me throughout.)
After the crime there's a section devoted to the reaction by the brass at the LAPD and I kept wondering if the young red-faced vice detective was Wambaugh himself. There was something unusual about the way the story unfolded that had me thinking he included himself in the narrative.
Joseph Wambaugh was a cop, not an experienced nonfiction author and it shows in the "The Onion Field." The book isn't artfully written -- I found the structure (opening with backgrounds on the four principle people involved in the crime) to be a bit off-putting.
Fortunately for Wambaugh, he has plenty of great material to draw from in his telling of the murder of police officer Ian Campbell. It was one of California's longest cases court cases and he does make effective use of all of the information available to him. The story was interesting, but not super compelling.
That said, I enjoyed the book much more than the movie.
Fortunately for Wambaugh, he has plenty of great material to draw from in his telling of the murder of police officer Ian Campbell. It was one of California's longest cases court cases and he does make effective use of all of the information available to him. The story was interesting, but not super compelling.
That said, I enjoyed the book much more than the movie.
This is an exhaustive account of a 1963 kidnapping of two Los Angeles police officers and the eventual murder of one of them. Published in 1973, the book may be showing some signs of age with what feels at times like an over-abundance of detail, particularly in the legal blow-by-blow that dominates the latter half of the book. Still, the author does a fine job of humanizing the participants and illustrating the terrible and lasting after-effects of a crime like this. I’m curious now to see the movie they made out of it, with James Woods and Ted Danson.
I have read some of Joseph Wambaugh's fiction before ("Floaters" is especially good) and enjoyed it, but I've attempted to read this book maybe a half a dozen times and just CANNOT get into it. It is written extremely well, I truly don't understand why it's so hard for me to get into it- too dry, I suppose, and a bit too long getting to the point. Maybe I'll try again one day; maybe I'll just watch the movie.
Taking a tragedy, or brutal murder and making a story worth the time to read is an achievement all in itself. What Wambaugh did in distilling the characters involved, both before the incident in the Onion Field, and afterwards was nothing short of fascinating. Loaded with enough bizarre or disgusting characters to keep the pages turning, the author managed to make most, but not all, characters seem sympathetic at times even if they were complete loons and deserving of little more than contempt.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.