Babylon Babies, Maurice G. Dantec, Semiotext(e)2005, Trans. Noura Wedell.
Babylon Babies is a cyber-punk novel on which the movie Babylon A.D. was very loosely based. The novel has Russian and Canadian mobsters, mercenaries, psuedo-religious groups, cyborg societies, genetic engineering, brain implants, psychic powers, killer robots, bio-enhancement and control drugs, ghosts and visions, solid historically - based stuff and science- fiction set in an alternate 2005. There is perhaps too much 'stuff' in the book. Some things are introduced which deserve more development then they receive, other things get more story time then they are worth. The early flashbacks are both effective and needed, but the later flashbacks take us away from the main action too often.
A cool, strange book.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
O' Donnell - Modesty Blaise
Peter O'Donnell. Modesty Blaise. Souvenir Press Ltd. 1965.
A rare book from its era that presents the female hero as competent and professional. Modesty is a believable female character, and believable as a skilled and highly trained operative. In this case a professional free-lance agent, or investigator, or just think of her as a professional adventurer. Her sidekick is Willie Garvin, also skilled and competent, a fellow who would be the hero in most books.
The pair are formal criminals, of the sort of 'moral criminal' that fiction allows. Modesty has given up her network, and lives in a sort of semi retirement, doing the occasional mission for the British Government. She and her adventures are closest in tone to the Simon Templar (The Saint) series.
In this adventure Modesty is called in to solve a case regarding a treasure and international political intrigue. She and Garvin move quickly around the globe, chasing down leads, seeking to contact their old network (which may have turned against them), and moving from danger to danger with skill and finesse.
The only flaw I can see is a lapse into a typical plot device of the sixties and seventies about two thirds way into the book. The characters, or writers, reached an apparent dead end and decided to let themselves be captured by their enemies. Once captured, they are left alone and unharmed and of course escape and are at large right in the heart of the enemy base. And of course while prisoners the enemy shared all their plans.
After this writing stumble - even in the sixties and seventies it was annoying - the book picks up quickly to an exciting conclusion.
A rare book from its era that presents the female hero as competent and professional. Modesty is a believable female character, and believable as a skilled and highly trained operative. In this case a professional free-lance agent, or investigator, or just think of her as a professional adventurer. Her sidekick is Willie Garvin, also skilled and competent, a fellow who would be the hero in most books.
The pair are formal criminals, of the sort of 'moral criminal' that fiction allows. Modesty has given up her network, and lives in a sort of semi retirement, doing the occasional mission for the British Government. She and her adventures are closest in tone to the Simon Templar (The Saint) series.
In this adventure Modesty is called in to solve a case regarding a treasure and international political intrigue. She and Garvin move quickly around the globe, chasing down leads, seeking to contact their old network (which may have turned against them), and moving from danger to danger with skill and finesse.
The only flaw I can see is a lapse into a typical plot device of the sixties and seventies about two thirds way into the book. The characters, or writers, reached an apparent dead end and decided to let themselves be captured by their enemies. Once captured, they are left alone and unharmed and of course escape and are at large right in the heart of the enemy base. And of course while prisoners the enemy shared all their plans.
After this writing stumble - even in the sixties and seventies it was annoying - the book picks up quickly to an exciting conclusion.
McPartland - The Face of Evil
The Face of Evil. John McPartland. Fawcett 1954, Linford 1991. McPartland was a hard-boiled thriller writer of the fifties. He is and was known for realistic portrayals of fighting. He reads like a guy who was in a few street fights in his time, and has put that knowledge into his books.
In Face of Evil, the main character is John Oxford, a fixer. Unlike some freelance fixers portrayed in movies who do what they want and demand large sums of money, Oxford gets the money but is still in debt, and he works for one company, that basically owns him. On a job to wreck a politician's career, Oxford meets two femme fatales, one a girl he wronged in the past. Oxford begins to have second doubts about his line of work. Soon he is in deep trouble with almost everyone, and almost without friends or allies.
The action and tension are constant, the fights very good, and most of the characters are nicely drawn. McPartland has some trouble with his portrayals of women, but the Ann character is good. And one or two minor co-incidences are too convenient, but most of the plot twists are believable enough. A very good book in the 'hard boiled tough guy' mold.
In Face of Evil, the main character is John Oxford, a fixer. Unlike some freelance fixers portrayed in movies who do what they want and demand large sums of money, Oxford gets the money but is still in debt, and he works for one company, that basically owns him. On a job to wreck a politician's career, Oxford meets two femme fatales, one a girl he wronged in the past. Oxford begins to have second doubts about his line of work. Soon he is in deep trouble with almost everyone, and almost without friends or allies.
The action and tension are constant, the fights very good, and most of the characters are nicely drawn. McPartland has some trouble with his portrayals of women, but the Ann character is good. And one or two minor co-incidences are too convenient, but most of the plot twists are believable enough. A very good book in the 'hard boiled tough guy' mold.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Richler - Joshua Then And Now
Joshua Then And Now. Mordecai Richler. McClelland and Stewart. 1980. 'Joshua' was written about mid-way in Richler's career. It is one of his better books, unfortunately it is usually forgotten in favor of other 'big' books written before and after. The big three in Richler's opus, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, St. Urbain's Horseman, and Solomon Gursky Was Here, should be a big four, with Joshua Then And Now. Richler's last, lesser effort, Barney's Version, is over-praised - it was even given an award -out of respect for Richler's career rather than any merits the book might possess.
Joshua Then And Now opens with Joshua having suffered a serious injury. We are not told how or what. Almost immediately the book begins to jump back and forth through Joshua's life. We learn that his wife has had a traumatic experience, we learn something happened in Ibiza, Spain, which had a profound effect on their lives. We learn many other things, all of which are used as teasers to keep us reading for more detail. As the novel progresses we move through Joshua's entire life. Gradually more detail is provided, and other mysteries raised. For the most part this complex structure works brilliantly.
Joshua is both a mildly likeable and mildly unlikeable character, which is a Richler trademark. The mystery in Ibiza doesn't amount to very much, and so the sequences there could have been cut down drastically. We see how Joshua gradually, and unwittingly, sets himself up over many years for an eventual fall. Most of this is handled with finesse, but the LA events related to this are absurd. Otherwise, the LA scenes, and the Montreal and Paris scenes, are excellent.
There is much humor layered within the story, but at times Richler inserts an awkward 'comic scene', as though thinking random sequences of comic relief are needed to break up a story which has plenty of humor already. The mother character is prominent in the early sequences, but is used largely for comedy, and dismissed as 'loopy'. In two great scenes, we get the mother's point of view. There is excellent drama in these scenes, but their potential goes unused. She returns to brief 'comedy' references, and disappears for the last half of the book, excepting one brief mention. Also, given that Joshua is present in these dramatic scenes, it is absurd that he would, later in his life, dismiss her with the epitaph, 'my loopy mother'.
The Lake scenes, though good, sometimes try the reader's patience, largely because they are not up to the quality of the best scenes in the Montreal, Paris, and LA sequences. Toward the book's end, most remaining questions are answered, and the story finally returns to the 'present' of the opening. As the book ends, the hero, if not much wiser, is at least temporarily repentant.
Joshua Then And Now opens with Joshua having suffered a serious injury. We are not told how or what. Almost immediately the book begins to jump back and forth through Joshua's life. We learn that his wife has had a traumatic experience, we learn something happened in Ibiza, Spain, which had a profound effect on their lives. We learn many other things, all of which are used as teasers to keep us reading for more detail. As the novel progresses we move through Joshua's entire life. Gradually more detail is provided, and other mysteries raised. For the most part this complex structure works brilliantly.
Joshua is both a mildly likeable and mildly unlikeable character, which is a Richler trademark. The mystery in Ibiza doesn't amount to very much, and so the sequences there could have been cut down drastically. We see how Joshua gradually, and unwittingly, sets himself up over many years for an eventual fall. Most of this is handled with finesse, but the LA events related to this are absurd. Otherwise, the LA scenes, and the Montreal and Paris scenes, are excellent.
There is much humor layered within the story, but at times Richler inserts an awkward 'comic scene', as though thinking random sequences of comic relief are needed to break up a story which has plenty of humor already. The mother character is prominent in the early sequences, but is used largely for comedy, and dismissed as 'loopy'. In two great scenes, we get the mother's point of view. There is excellent drama in these scenes, but their potential goes unused. She returns to brief 'comedy' references, and disappears for the last half of the book, excepting one brief mention. Also, given that Joshua is present in these dramatic scenes, it is absurd that he would, later in his life, dismiss her with the epitaph, 'my loopy mother'.
The Lake scenes, though good, sometimes try the reader's patience, largely because they are not up to the quality of the best scenes in the Montreal, Paris, and LA sequences. Toward the book's end, most remaining questions are answered, and the story finally returns to the 'present' of the opening. As the book ends, the hero, if not much wiser, is at least temporarily repentant.
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