Post 6/29

Chinatown has started off in a pattern that has become indicitive of the other detective stories we have examined. Furthermore, the character, Phillip Marlowe, from The Big Sleep seems to precede the design of Jack Nicholson's character. But the division between the two is slight. Nicholson plays a hardened private-eye who seems to share both Marlowe's recklessness and his lack of concern for making a positive impression on people. They also share a similar history of police work, and one gets the feeling that [Nicholson] too had a falling out with his former employers' methods. For both of these cahracters, tender moments are slighted in favor of obtaining pertinent information. They approach their work with a cold professionalism and logic that is indicitive of all the detectives we have studied thus far.

City of Glass, however, seems to have a different feel. I must admit that I am thrown right off the bat. Auster seems to be fond of vulgarities that make the reader feel slightly awkward. To me, if one is going to be vulgar in writing it should be to illustrate a particularly colorful point, not merely to embelish the story. I really don't need to hear about this guy's turds. I am also curious as to where Auster is going with the introduction of his own name into the story. I had to reread that passage and flip back to the cover several times before I was convinced that my brain wasn't playing tricks on me. So far, this book rubs me the wrong way.

-Jason