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A review by tazurrrnov
The Woman Who Married a Bear by John Straley
4.0
Summary for myself: Cecil Younger, a semi-functioning alcoholic/private detective (I repeat myself) is hired by an elderly woman to investigate the death of her son, a case which has already been solved.
This book perfectly matched all of the expectations that I had for it based on the summary and reviews, and even still, I was pleasantly surprised! It is not often -- in fact, exceedingly rare -- for the character of a male private detective to come across as not only inoffensive and unthreatening but also actively pleasant, and the first time we meet Cecil, he is reading poetry and noticing ravens. I love him! Even though he notices woman and longs after "the woman who used to love me," he never lingers or objectifies, and I was very, very entertained and endeared by his poetic view of life, how he never seems to descend into bitterness or cynicism, just continues paying quiet attention to nature and his own thoughts. Also, a pleasant lack of being racist or judgmental in general, something that I find tends to mar many male-led detective stories.
The writing itself is very, very good. As clear and cold as the Alaskan air, I imagine. And Alaska is so fascinatingly depicted; I've always had a mild interest in the place because it seems so unfamiliar, America-but-not, and Straley does a phenomenal job of introducing it to me, the colorful characters in the towns and the bears and other wildlife everywhere else. The story was very easy to follow but not simple, I really enjoyed all of the supporting characters (Hannah and Cecil's dynamic is very fresh, especially considering what a tired cliche the bitter ex-girlfriend or ex-wife of the alcoholic PI is), and there were quite a few genuinely hilarious lines peppering the otherwise lovely prose. An excellent crime novel, and a very good novel in general.
This book perfectly matched all of the expectations that I had for it based on the summary and reviews, and even still, I was pleasantly surprised! It is not often -- in fact, exceedingly rare -- for the character of a male private detective to come across as not only inoffensive and unthreatening but also actively pleasant, and the first time we meet Cecil, he is reading poetry and noticing ravens. I love him! Even though he notices woman and longs after "the woman who used to love me," he never lingers or objectifies, and I was very, very entertained and endeared by his poetic view of life, how he never seems to descend into bitterness or cynicism, just continues paying quiet attention to nature and his own thoughts. Also, a pleasant lack of being racist or judgmental in general, something that I find tends to mar many male-led detective stories.
The writing itself is very, very good. As clear and cold as the Alaskan air, I imagine. And Alaska is so fascinatingly depicted; I've always had a mild interest in the place because it seems so unfamiliar, America-but-not, and Straley does a phenomenal job of introducing it to me, the colorful characters in the towns and the bears and other wildlife everywhere else. The story was very easy to follow but not simple, I really enjoyed all of the supporting characters (Hannah and Cecil's dynamic is very fresh, especially considering what a tired cliche the bitter ex-girlfriend or ex-wife of the alcoholic PI is), and there were quite a few genuinely hilarious lines peppering the otherwise lovely prose. An excellent crime novel, and a very good novel in general.