I think anyone who likes good writing should read Macdonald. Like Chandler, in particular, it really doesn't matter "who dunnit" as the interaction of his characters within their milieu.This novel is fairly early Macdonald where he was still developing his style. His later works are considered more "literary" or some such nonsense. I suppose the thing from The Galton Case and after may be better but for all intents and purposes I liked this book a lot. A good solid plot with a nice twist I saw coming but could still admire the way he worked it out. Virtually all of his books grab you early and keep you engrossed and this did so just like them all. Anyone who likes Hammett or Chandler should read Macdonald and see if you think he is as good or perhaps better than either of them. Here are a couple of quotes regarding Macdonald:I should like to venture that Ross Macdonald is a better novelist than either... Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler."- Anthony Boucher, The New York Times Book Review"A more serious and complex writer than Chandler and Hammett ever were."- Eudora WeltyOf course Ms Welty came to have a deeply felt relationship with him which was intimate albeit not physically. Here is another quote from a biography on Welty: "in the 1970s and '80s, Welty shared, through letters and occasional visits, a deep emotional union with Santa Barbara author Ross Macdonald (real name, Kenneth Millar) -- "an opening of the heart," he called it -- that affected her life and even her art in crucial ways." MacDonald's (Millar) life is probably more interesting than his novels. He went from being a young hood and thief to a man earning a Phi Beta Kappa Key and PhD in literature at the University of Michigan. Fascinating man who had his creative juices killed off by Alzheimer's years before his death.
MacDonald makes ample use of metaphor and personification that cause his lackluster plot to slide the reader's literary canal and allows his story to digest much like a Thanksgiving dinner. Archer is drawn into this mystery through a chance meeting on a road. A severely wounded man rises up from the highway's shoulder and flags the private eye down. Soon, Archer is working on a missing, hijacked truck, a murder spree, and the wife of the local sheriff.Through it all, Archer gets beat up, knocked around, threatened, and keeps coming back for more in his typical bulldog manner. By the end, I had solved parts of the mystery and was appreciative of the author dropping a few real clues among the red herrings. At the end I had a shock when I learned the identity of the killer and how it happened. But the thing that kept turning pages was the writing. For example, in describing an elongated shadow, the author describes it rearing up to the ceiling and breaking it's neck. A neat way of describing the way a shadow might bend and turn, and this novel was full of such neat phrases. Another time the author refers to a gun giving a person cold comfort. A neat way to speak of the cold iron as well as the chill a person might feel at the prospect of using a gun and taking a life.
What do You think about Find A Victim (2001)?
basic problem is i like almost everything ross macdonald did: this one counted is because it has such a bittersweet resolution, when indeed you follow the title. it is more the web and weave of emotional connections of past and present, child and parent, than just a mystery to solve. i like how arbitrary, how inevitably, lew archer is drawn into this case. and when the motives of the suspect, of family, of other characters, emerge, it is not so much a revealed plot but the latent plot that resolves like the title. hard so hard to live in this world.http://www.michaelkamakana.com/favori...
—the gift
Oddly enough, what I like most about this book is probably the relationship dynamics: they're extremely realistic. Somehow, Ross Macdonald was even able to get inside the heads of women, which is usually difficult for men to do with much accuracy. I could completely believe that his female characters in this book were real people with real motives. (view spoiler)[I really just felt bad for the killer, she was clearly messed up, and everyone around her just made it worse. (hide spoiler)]
—Ubiquitousbastard
I hadn't read any Ross Macdonald before, but he reminds me quite a bit of Raymond Chandler. The writing is stripped down, without the bloat a lot of more modern novels have. But Macdonald manages to use some very strong language--it the midst of a straight forward description, he'll throw in a clever and unexpected turn of phrase or description, which grabbed me. Lew Archer is quite firmly in the mold of Philip Marlowe, and the story, while containing some twists and turns, is merely strong. The combination of well-done characters and story, along with some great writing, kept me reading and has me looking for more Lew Archer.
—Ben
