James Ellroy

A

Accumulator

Well-known member
Regulars here, especially those who roll their eyes over my, uhm...more strident sensibilities :o ....might find it odd that I simply *LOVE* reading his stuff. I`m currently pacing myself as I read through Perfidia, trying to *NOT* rip through it as fast as I did with Blood`s a Rover. Saved it up for over a year before I started it (another gift from Accumulatorette, who wouldn`t read his work if you held a gun to her head).

I will say that his stuff, which makes Jim Thompson read like nursery rhymes, sometimes makes me want to steam-clean my psyche :wacko: But at least his recent books aren`t as nasty as The Big Nowhere.

Offensive or not, IMO that guy can *write*. Strikes me as the literary equivalent of a Camel nonfilter in more ways than one, and unlike the Camels this is one indulgence I`m not giving up.

Anybody else here read him?
 
I`ve honestly never heard of the author, but your descriptions sound intriguing. I`ll have to google him and see what he is about.
 
nickclark08 said:
I`ve honestly never heard of the author, but your descriptions sound intriguing. I`ll have to google him and see what he is about.
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Heh heh, that google will bring up some, uhm...opinions, I`m certain.

The movie version of LA Confidential was so sanitized as to barely resemble the book IMO, but eh I`m being harsh and it did give the general gist of where he`s coming from.
 
No criticism intended, but I`m really surprised that he`s apparently not as well known as I`d have expected. I thought this would elicit numerous "oh man, he`s simply awful/wonderful" comments.

People say "if I were a Great Writer, I`d write like Dickens/Hemingway/Faulkner" but if *I* had The Gift, well...guess who ;)

Eh, I`m such a fanboy, even read/listen to all his interviews. And yeah, I know he`s occasionally a genuine nutjob, like..literally, though I gather he`s pretty together these days.
 
Only seen one movie that matches up anywhere close to a book.

Recognized him from L.A Confidential. He seems like a real character. Littleton, Colorado seems to be his home base now.

Any suggestions for a neophyte who`s yet to read one of his books?
 
Haven`t read him, but seen the movies LA Confidential and The Black Dahlia. Both I enjoyed.

Interesting reading about My Dark Places - seems like at least two other "story lines" bare some resemblance to that. The first was Michael Connelly`s Bosch character, the second being the character Det. Beckett from the show Castle


I`m going to add Ellroy to my list of MUST READS
 
I`d skip his earlier, stand-alone novels (some of which just aren`t that good IMO, a writer finding his voice) and start with the LA Quartet, so that`d mean The Black Dahlia. I kinda like the idea of reading his stuff in the order of their chronology (current series excepted as Perfidia is the first of a prequil LA Quartet) as it gives context and orientation into the characters and Ellroy`s worldview. But note that the writing style changes/varies as does the quality (as per *my* perception, YMMV).

For pure freaky blood-and-thunder as in, OMG how far can this guy go?!? there`s The Big Nowhere, which might be an acid-test of sorts (as per both common definitions of same).


JustJesus- You keep listening to me and you`re gonna have a stack of must-reads that reaches to the sky :o

And, yeah...Connelly`s another guy whose stuff I read and that "hooker/Loose Woman mom who got murdered" thing caught my attention too. Never saw Castle.. but the series Bosch is pretty good, at least they didn`t change the character so much as to not resemble the books.

My Dark Places was interesting to me, but by then I was a fan and I`ve always had a bit of interest in the Black Dahlia case so the parallels intrigued me.
 
I have also watched LA Confidential and Black Dahlia and enjoyed both.
A bit off topic but I enjoy Michael Connelly, I remember first picking up the Lincoln Lawyer back in the day when I was at a Chapters (Canadian bookstore lol) and reading the first few chapters and buying it. I also enjoyed the Gods of Guilt. I have not read any from his Bosch series but I do love the show on Amazon prime. I should really read more lol.
 
RaydiantDetail- For some reason I have zero interest in watching The Lincoln Lawyer...liked the novels but struck me as not likely to translate well to the screen for some reason. IMO the Bosch series is by far his best work.
 
Accumulator-FWIW The only Movie I`ve seen that measures up to a book was "Dead Zone".

Books seem to do what a movie can`t.

Will order The Black Dahlia. But my problem is Sometimes I read like I post:o. Always something calling my name on the to do list.
 
Marine Clerk said:
Accumulator-FWIW The only Movie I`ve seen that measures up to a book was "Dead Zone".

Books seem to do what a movie can`t.

Will order The Black Dahlia. But my problem is Sometimes I read like I post:o. Always something calling my name on the to do list.
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I agree that most times the book to movie adaptations are usually lacking. You can just do a lot more with a book than you can in 2+ hours with a movie. Also many times they have to change the story to fit into the Hollywood narrative/ what will sell to the majority. With that being said I think the Lincoln Lawyer movie wise was actually pretty decent and enjoyable. I think McConaughey does a pretty good job of portraying Hallers character as well.
 
Accumulator said:
JustJesus- You keep listening to me and you`re gonna have a stack of must-reads that reaches to the sky :o
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hehe... Maybe it could match the stack of waxes I have? Boy that Malms really surprised me. Water really hates that one!

Thanks for giving me a starting point with LA Quartet. Myself, if I find a new-to-me author and enjoy the book, I try and go back to where they started. Not always the case, but I try. For Ellroy, I`ll start with the Quartet. :)

Interesting note on The Big Nowhere. Really curious about that one. I`ve been reading John Locke`s Donovan Creed Series, and that guy is something else. Talk about fictional. Quite a bit of the stories are far fetched, but so different from the norm (at least IME) and can be quite entertaining. The one book I usually suggest to people is, The Wish List. People seem to enjoy that one. But like I said, entertainment.
 
JustJesus- Glad to hear the Malm`s is still so hydrophobic. It *NEVER* gets mentioned here..

Never heard about the Donovan Creed series, but to be honest if I have to actually work at the Supsension of Disbelief thing then these days it`s usually not for me.

Which reminds me, Ellroy still doesn`t seem to know from firearms all that well, but then hardly any modern authors really do (Stephen Hunter excepted).

If you never read that stuff by Robt. Solomon...[INSERT admonition here ;) ] Then you can move on to Nathaniel Branden and Edward de Bono...heh heh, no end to the stuff I think everybody oughta read :D
 
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