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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
For those who haven't read this book or seen the movie, the Black Dahlia is a mystery/crime novel based on fact. There was a real wannabe starlet nicknamed Black Dahlia who was brutally murdered in the mid-40s in Los Angeles. The novel takes liberties with the truth, though, adding characters including the narrator, a cop named Bucky Bleichert. In the afterword, James Ellroy explains that Bleichert is really an extension of himself. He also explains how closely he connects himself with the story, since his own mother also was murdered in LA a few years after the Dahlia.
While reading this, I found myself getting hung up on a lot of unfamiliar slang (and overuse of the n-word) and overwhelmed by a huge cast of characters. About halfway through, things got really interesting and I felt like the setup was over so I could sit back and watch the real story unfold. But by the end, I had forgotten a lot of the earlier parts. It's just like watching an entire season of a cop show like the Shield! Everything is related somehow, but you just can't remember all the details. It's also very mannish, this book. What I mean is, there are several scenes where Bleichert or his partner Blanchard assault someone or run off without explaining exactly why. He finds cash and burns it. Who does that? And there is also some confusion of love, lust, sex, aggression and desires to hurt. Ellroy even admits in his afterword how he both loved his mother and wanted her dead; he sort of lusted after her, too, but then substituted the Dahlia in her place. In the book, the narrator is a dopey crush-boy, a loving husband (sortof), a sleazy one-night stand, and a scary john with cruel fantasies all in one.
While reading this, I found myself getting hung up on a lot of unfamiliar slang (and overuse of the n-word) and overwhelmed by a huge cast of characters. About halfway through, things got really interesting and I felt like the setup was over so I could sit back and watch the real story unfold. But by the end, I had forgotten a lot of the earlier parts. It's just like watching an entire season of a cop show like the Shield! Everything is related somehow, but you just can't remember all the details. It's also very mannish, this book. What I mean is, there are several scenes where Bleichert or his partner Blanchard assault someone or run off without explaining exactly why. He finds cash and burns it. Who does that? And there is also some confusion of love, lust, sex, aggression and desires to hurt. Ellroy even admits in his afterword how he both loved his mother and wanted her dead; he sort of lusted after her, too, but then substituted the Dahlia in her place. In the book, the narrator is a dopey crush-boy, a loving husband (sortof), a sleazy one-night stand, and a scary john with cruel fantasies all in one.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to love this book. I finished almost hating it. I am thinking that I was hoping for a pure true story. In this particular scenario I am thinking that the true story would have been more interesting than delving into the lives of two shady police officers.
I am very disappointed and I will probably never read another James Ellroy book again. It takes almost 70 pages to get to the Elizabeth Short part and even then it is not that intriguing until you get to the end of the book. By then your desire and passion is spent and the book has you more frustrated than excited.
I feel conned by James Ellroy. The greatest mystery,crime story writer of all time? Far from it. I would pick any Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew mystery story over this drool.
I am very disappointed and I will probably never read another James Ellroy book again. It takes almost 70 pages to get to the Elizabeth Short part and even then it is not that intriguing until you get to the end of the book. By then your desire and passion is spent and the book has you more frustrated than excited.
I feel conned by James Ellroy. The greatest mystery,crime story writer of all time? Far from it. I would pick any Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew mystery story over this drool.
Top notch crime drama, more fiction than fact, though obviously based upon the real-life murder of Elizabeth Short, who in death became known as The Black Dahlia. The investigation moves fast, accumulating complexity and weight, and Ellroy never falters. This is assured, capable storytelling, full of compelling characters and raw, dark emotion.
You either like Ellroy or you don't, and I like him. I think he's got style.
This book may have turned many off because of the roundabout route Ellroy takes in getting to the hub of the story. God knows I was wondering what the whole thing was about around page 100. But hang in there!
This book may have turned many off because of the roundabout route Ellroy takes in getting to the hub of the story. God knows I was wondering what the whole thing was about around page 100. But hang in there!
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Violence
I decided to read this because I am entralled by the Root of Evil podcast and wanted to learn more about the Black Dahlia case. This was not the book for me. Too much gratuitous sex and violence. I realize that the topic of the Black Dahlia needs to have those things, but it was the sex and violence not related to the case that I found excessive.
This was a dark read. I like characters with shades of grey, but I need some light grey in with the blacker shades.
This book didn't have enough points of light for me. I didn't feel that the darkness brought any new perspectives to me, or that I learned from in. I just felt it was dark for the sake of being dark, and that just isn't my kind of book.
I did think the mystery was interesting, enough so to save it from being a 2 star book.
This book didn't have enough points of light for me. I didn't feel that the darkness brought any new perspectives to me, or that I learned from in. I just felt it was dark for the sake of being dark, and that just isn't my kind of book.
I did think the mystery was interesting, enough so to save it from being a 2 star book.
It was slow at parts, but eventually a well-woven story, filled with some truth (The Black Dahlia really did exist and was murdered as described) and very dark characters. There was not a single character I would like to have as a friend.