Treasure of the Rubbermaids 5: The Underhill AccountThe on-going discoveries of priceless books and comics found in a stack of Rubbermaid containers previously stored and forgotten at my parent’s house and untouched for almost 20 years. Thanks to my father dumping them back on me, I now spend my spare time unearthing lost treasures from their plastic depths.I don’t know what it is in the DNA of American males that makes so many of us quote movies incessantly. There are certain friends of mine that I can have entire conversations with that consist of nothing but repeating lines from films like Animal House, Caddyshack, Ghostbusters and a hundred others. One of the all-time richest veins of movie quotes is Fletch.After the movie came out in 1985, my friends and I watched it dozens of times on video and my fifteen year old self was delighted to learn that there was a whole series of books that the movie was based on. I found a movie tie-in copy that made me giggle with glee at the prospect of getting whole books of more Fletch stories. However, as is often the case, the book and the movie have some serious differences that threw me for a loop. As readers, we’ve all been disgusted when a movie version of a book we love made stupid changes that ruined what we liked about it. Very rarely, a movie may make some changes that improve the story. But Fletch is an odd case because in some ways the movie is very much like the book, but at the same time it isn’t. Yet both ended up being remarkably good. Weird, huh?The main plot of both remains the same. Irwin Fletcher is a smart ass investigative reporter who has gone undercover as a junkie to find the source of a drug epidemic at the beach. In his role as an addict, Fletch is approached by a wealthy man named Alan Stanwyk who makes him an incredible offer. Stanwyk claims to be dying of cancer and has set up an elaborate plot to have someone murder him so that his insurance won’t be nullified by suicide. The offer to kill him comes with a large sum of money and an elaborate escape plan.Fletch plays along and agrees to kill Stanwyk. Then he embarks on a clandestine investigation to find out if the man really is dying of cancer while still trying to figure out the source of the drugs on the beach as his editor demands that he print what he already knows.Sounds like the movie, right? Yes and no. Because while the main plot is the same, it’s Chevy Chase’s portrayal of Fletch that changes the tone. While this remains one of his best movies, Chase was essentially doing what he always did; acting like Chevy Chase. He’s a quick witted smart ass who occasionally behaves like a complete doofus. The running gag of him pretending to be various people let him act like a dumbass while still being the smug guy who is playing everyone.The Fletch of the book is also a quick witted smart ass, but he isn’t a goofball. While he frequently lies about his identity to get information, there’s no silly disguises or acting the fool. This Fletch is also a Vietnam vet with more problems than the Chevy Chase version. His fights with his incompetent editor are more serious and not playful, and the alimony of two failed marriages is a real problem and not just a joke.And to be blunt, the book version of Fletch is kind of a prick. (From what I’ve read about Chevy Chase, he is also kind of prick, but he didn’t showcase that in this movie.) Fletch is the kind of guy who threw his ex-wife’s cat out a seventh story window when he got sick of the cat smell and doesn’t apologize for it. He’s funny but mean to most of the people he deals with. Granted, many of them are assholes, but book Fletch is a bit nastier than Chevy Fletch.And this Fletch does things like shack up with a fifteen year runaway prostitute. The book never makes it clear that he was having sex with her, but they are sharing a sleeping bag so while there is a feeling that maybe he was trying to protect her and his cover, it’s still pretty damn creepy. The book also ends differently with a much darker twist than the movie version did. All in all, it seems like Hollywood took a good mystery with some funny lines and a dark undercurrent to it, including a flawed main character, then they sanded off the rough edges and brought in Chevy Chase, who did what worked for him rather than making an effort to portray it as written in the book.What we got was a movie that concentrated on the humor and became a comedy classic while the book remains a good crime story that will probably leave fans of the movie who read it slightly unsettled at some of it’s darker plot twists.
Πάνω σε αυτό το βιβλίο βασίζεται και η κωμική ταινία μυστηρίου με τον ίδιο τίτλο, με πρωταγωνιστή τον Chevy Chase. Σίγουρα είναι το καλύτερο αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα που διάβασα φέτος, μαζί με το "Απόδραση στο Μαϊάμι" του Έλμορ Λέοναρντ και το "Φυγή" του Τζιμ Τόμσον, και σίγουρα είναι από τα καλύτερα αστυνομικά που έχω διαβάσει γενικά. Πως έχει σε γενικές γραμμές η ιστορία: Ο Ίρβιν Φλέτσερ είναι ένας αστυνομικός ρεπόρτερ με ανορθόδοξες μεθόδους. Στην ιστορία αυτή, διαμένει στην παραλία, ώστε να βρει την πηγή των ναρκωτικών που κυκλοφορούν στην παραλία. Αυτό το κάνει για να γράψει ένα ρεπορτάζ. Η προϊσταμένη του, Κλάρα Σνόου, που βρίσκεται στην θέση της λόγω της σχέσης της με τον διευθυντή της εφημερίδας, τον πιέζει συνεχώς για να ολοκληρώσει το ρεπορτάζ και να το παραδώσει προς δημοσίευση. Παράλληλα ο Φλετς πιέζεται εντόνως και από τους δικηγόρους των δυο πρώην συζύγων του, που θέλουν διατροφές, τις οποίες δεν πληρώνει γιατί δεν έχει να πληρώσει (ή δεν γουστάρει έτσι και αλλιώς). Και μια μέρα, δέχεται μια πρόταση. Ένας εκατομμυριούχος νέος, ή μάλλον ένας που έχει παντρευτεί την κόρη ενός πλούσιου επιχειρηματία και έχει γίνει διευθυντής της εταιρείας του πεθερού του, ο Άλαν Στάνγουικ, του ζητάει να... τον δολοφονήσει, έναντι 50.000 δολαρίων. Ο Φλετς δέχεται, αλλά φυσικά κάνει μια έρευνα εις βάθος, για να ανακαλύψει τον λόγο για τον οποίο ο Άλαν Στάνγουικ θέλει να δολοφονηθεί. Και ανακαλύπτει διάφορα περίεργα πράγματα. Το τέλος είναι εξαιρετικό κατά την γνώμη μου, και λυτρωτικό για τον Φλετς... Αυτό που κάνει ξεχωριστό το βιβλίο αυτό, πέρα από την πολύ καλή ιστορία, το μυστήριο, τις περιγραφές κλπ, είναι οι γαμάτοι διάλογοι, που είναι τόσο αληθοφανείς όσο και μέσα στο χιούμορ. Πραγματικά εξαιρετικοί διάλογοι. Και ο Φλετς είναι από τους πιο συμπαθείς, ξεχωριστούς και χιουμορίστες πρωταγωνιστές που έχω συναντήσει σε βιβλίο. Αν το βρείτε πουθενά, μην διστάσετε, αγοράστε το. Έχουν γραφεί και άλλα βιβλία με τον Φλετς πρωταγωνιστή, αλλά δεν έχουν κυκλοφορήσει στα ελληνικά. Κάποια στιγμή μπορεί να διαβάσω κάποιο στα εγγλέζικα.
What do You think about Fletch (2002)?
I recently caught the classic Chevy Chase movie version of "Fletch" on cable, which served to remind me that I'd never actually read the original source material. So, I rushed off to my local library and checked out "Fletch."The novel itself is pretty much the same basic plot as the film, though there are some differences. The big difference is how dialogue driven the novel is. Gregory Macdonald tells the story with minimal descriptive paragraphs and instead allows the reader to discover things through the use of various conversations taking place between Irwin Fletcher and whomever he's talking to. For the most part it works fairly well. Macdonald has a good ear for dialogue and most of the conversations have echoes of the wit of Fletch. (It's hard to read and not hear Chevy Chase delivering Fletch's dialogue). The story unfolds well enough and the central mystery is an intriguing one. I can see why the series has been so popular and well remembered by fans. I can also see why there's a passion for more big-screen exploits by Fletch himself. I may have to look for more of this series in 2010.
—Michael
"Fletch" is a quick read and completely satisfying as a mystery. Gregory Mcdonald skillfully juggles the novel's multiple plots and threads the two main ones together at the end without straining credulity. Even 35 years after its publication, "Fletch" still feels original: its main character is a newspaper reporter rather than the typical cop or private investigator, and the book never loses its sense of fun, a quality so often lacking in detective novels. Mcdonald's writing style is suitably terse for a story about a reporter, and Irwin Fletcher's own writing within the book is exactly right for newspapers of the time. Few if any of the book's words are wasted.It's a bit disappointing to know that "Fletch" is the first in a series. The book is so complete and ends so perfectly that I almost don't want to know how Mcdonald manages to bring Irwin Fletcher back in the first sequel. I've read that the sequels provide diminishing returns, and don't find that surprising given what a fantastic job Mcdonald did with the first book.So why four stars instead of five? Mostly because "Fletch" doesn't possess those extra qualities that make it rise beyond being a genre novel, such as the wonderful metaphors and moral weight that make Chandler's "The Big Sleep" and "Farewell, My Lovely" five-star books for me. Nevertheless, "Fletch" is about as good as a detective book can be without also being something more, and that's still pretty damned good.By the way, I can't really compare the book to the 1985 Chevy Chase movie. I saw it when it first came out and maybe again a couple years after that, but don't remember it that well. I do recall it being goofier and more of a straightforward comedy than the book is.
—Daniel
First, up untill yesterday I did not even know that this book existed....I was at one of my favorite local hotspots (Yes, it was the library...I know I am boring), disappointed that I could not locate Mosaic by Gayle Lynds...so to relieve my depression I discovered a book 2 shelves away by the name of Fletch...being a huge Chevy chase fan (I don't know why), and a product of the 70's I fondly remembered a movie that I have seen so many times I can recite half of it. I was like, wow, I didn't even know it was a book first and it rose to my must read and all other books can wait for a day or 2 list....2nd after reading it, I would say it has become one of 4 books that have had movies made afterwards where I say that the movie is better (The others are "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", "The Princess bride" & "Ella Enchanted").3rd I wished I had read the book first, so I could perhaps have a different perspective on this. It was a decent book, very quick paced. It did not give a lot of depth to the characters (Fletch included), and the dialouge was choppy and somewhat (Sorry) shallow.Not a bad book, but if you have seen the movie you have likely been more entertained than by this book. I don't want to be overly harsh, as it was still a decent read....but the movie is better!
—Mark Soone
