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greybeard49's review against another edition
5.0
Sallis never let’s you down. Great writing and an understated gentle delivery. Philosophy and a great storyline on the same page. Creates characters who sometimes just stop you in your tracks and his dialogue is masterful.
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
“Mostly what you lose with time, in memory, is the specificity of things, their exact sequence. It all runs together, becomes a watery soup. Portmanteau days, imploded years. Like a bad actor, memory always goes for effect, abjuring motivation, consistency, good sense. ”
I have been listening to James Sallis’ tales for several years. Just recently, I finished his series about Turner, a former cop, psychotherapist, and convict turned sheriff’s deputy. I am now halfway through his series about Lew Griffin. I am not sure what drew me to these books – they are not my usual fare. They are, however, short and excellent audio books.
I know I started the Griffin series because they are set in New Orleans, but that is not really the attraction. I listened to one of the series with my husband, who loves anything New Orleans and he could barely stand Lew Griffin.
Part of the appeal is that Sallis has invented some unusual characters. Griffin and Turner are not men that I would ever meet on my own. Since one of the reasons I read to encounter new worlds, Sallis gets an A+. His and his protagonists’ way of seeing the world are through very different lenses. I am not a black man like Lew Griffin or a white man convicted of a crime like Turner.
Ultimately, I think it is Sallis’ writing that keeps calling me back. He is such a good writer - his way with words is wonderful. I don’t think that Sallis is not writing his crime series for just for entertainment, but to write through different viewpoints about memory, life and love. I am glad I met him and the people he has invented. I wish I could meet them all in person.
I have been listening to James Sallis’ tales for several years. Just recently, I finished his series about Turner, a former cop, psychotherapist, and convict turned sheriff’s deputy. I am now halfway through his series about Lew Griffin. I am not sure what drew me to these books – they are not my usual fare. They are, however, short and excellent audio books.
I know I started the Griffin series because they are set in New Orleans, but that is not really the attraction. I listened to one of the series with my husband, who loves anything New Orleans and he could barely stand Lew Griffin.
Part of the appeal is that Sallis has invented some unusual characters. Griffin and Turner are not men that I would ever meet on my own. Since one of the reasons I read to encounter new worlds, Sallis gets an A+. His and his protagonists’ way of seeing the world are through very different lenses. I am not a black man like Lew Griffin or a white man convicted of a crime like Turner.
Ultimately, I think it is Sallis’ writing that keeps calling me back. He is such a good writer - his way with words is wonderful. I don’t think that Sallis is not writing his crime series for just for entertainment, but to write through different viewpoints about memory, life and love. I am glad I met him and the people he has invented. I wish I could meet them all in person.
andrew61's review against another edition
4.0
This is the third in the Lew Griffin series about a black private investigator in Louisiana. What is so interesting about this story is , being set in 1968 , it seems to have particular resonance given events that are occurring today in America as the country appears still to carry the weight of racial inequality on it's shoulders.
In this book Lew is in a bar and gets to talking to a woman reporter and as they step outside something shocking occurs which leads to Lew's arrest and being held in custody without charge and with appalling racial insult due to the colour of his skin by the Officers. When eventually release he starts to track down a killer in the city which has racial undertones in a country in which over those years has seen the assassination of Martin Luther King and Malcolm x.
For a very short book which I read very quickly it addresses in it's pulp style clothing a story which has deeper issues at it's heart and certainly left me wondering how little seems to have changed in a generation.
In this book Lew is in a bar and gets to talking to a woman reporter and as they step outside something shocking occurs which leads to Lew's arrest and being held in custody without charge and with appalling racial insult due to the colour of his skin by the Officers. When eventually release he starts to track down a killer in the city which has racial undertones in a country in which over those years has seen the assassination of Martin Luther King and Malcolm x.
For a very short book which I read very quickly it addresses in it's pulp style clothing a story which has deeper issues at it's heart and certainly left me wondering how little seems to have changed in a generation.
joepasaran's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
katspectre67's review against another edition
3.0
This is, what, my third Lew Griffin? I'm still chasing down the feeling that there is something special going on here...not quite sure what, apart from a smattering of clever clever self-reflexive narrative and some very impressive literary references. (Guess who's a lit teacher in his spare time..?)
I think the trick here is the writing is so well executed and the crime conventions sufficiently messed with for me to begin to expect things of Lew Griffin that I would usually be antithetical to main protagonist in a crime novel. I'm starting to expect him to...well...develop, when usually what you want of a series character (e.g. Holmes, Bond) is steadfastly NOT to change.
Heading straight to numbers four and five to find out if Lew (or maybe Sallis) has it in him...
I think the trick here is the writing is so well executed and the crime conventions sufficiently messed with for me to begin to expect things of Lew Griffin that I would usually be antithetical to main protagonist in a crime novel. I'm starting to expect him to...well...develop, when usually what you want of a series character (e.g. Holmes, Bond) is steadfastly NOT to change.
Heading straight to numbers four and five to find out if Lew (or maybe Sallis) has it in him...
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
“Mostly what you lose with time, in memory, is the specificity of things, their exact sequence. It all runs together, becomes a watery soup. Portmanteau days, imploded years. Like a bad actor, memory always goes for effect, abjuring motivation, consistency, good sense. ”
I have been listening to James Sallis’ tales for several years. Just recently, I finished his series about Turner, a former cop, psychotherapist, and convict turned sheriff’s deputy. I am now halfway through his series about Lew Griffin. I am not sure what drew me to these books – they are not my usual fare. They are, however, short and excellent audio books.
I know I started the Griffin series because they are set in New Orleans, but that is not really the attraction. I listened to one of the series with my husband, who loves anything New Orleans and he could barely stand Lew Griffin.
Part of the appeal is that Sallis has invented some unusual characters. Griffin and Turner are not men that I would ever meet on my own. Since one of the reasons I read to encounter new worlds, Sallis gets an A+. His and his protagonists’ way of seeing the world are through very different lenses. I am not a black man like Lew Griffin or a white man convicted of a crime like Turner.
Ultimately, I think it is Sallis’ writing that keeps calling me back. He is such a good writer - his way with words is wonderful. I don’t think that Sallis is not writing his crime series for just for entertainment, but to write through different viewpoints about memory, life and love. I am glad I met him and the people he has invented. I wish I could meet them all in person.
I have been listening to James Sallis’ tales for several years. Just recently, I finished his series about Turner, a former cop, psychotherapist, and convict turned sheriff’s deputy. I am now halfway through his series about Lew Griffin. I am not sure what drew me to these books – they are not my usual fare. They are, however, short and excellent audio books.
I know I started the Griffin series because they are set in New Orleans, but that is not really the attraction. I listened to one of the series with my husband, who loves anything New Orleans and he could barely stand Lew Griffin.
Part of the appeal is that Sallis has invented some unusual characters. Griffin and Turner are not men that I would ever meet on my own. Since one of the reasons I read to encounter new worlds, Sallis gets an A+. His and his protagonists’ way of seeing the world are through very different lenses. I am not a black man like Lew Griffin or a white man convicted of a crime like Turner.
Ultimately, I think it is Sallis’ writing that keeps calling me back. He is such a good writer - his way with words is wonderful. I don’t think that Sallis is not writing his crime series for just for entertainment, but to write through different viewpoints about memory, life and love. I am glad I met him and the people he has invented. I wish I could meet them all in person.
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