chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Cheshire Chuqui) (11/20/84)
For the mystery/spy genre readers, you ought to track down a writer by the
name of Lawrence Block, finally out in paperback with Jove. I've read parts
of two of his series, and both are good, clean lighthearted books.
The first series of books to hit paperback was the burglar series, starring
Bernie Rhodenbarr, gentleman burglar. The titles tell you a lot-- 'The
Burglar in the Closet', 'The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling', 'The
Burglar who studied Spinoza'-- Bernie usually goes after some rather
esoteric object, someone gets killed (by someone else), and he is off
trying to keep his name out of it (or clear it) and keep the payoff at the
same time. Written in a rather silly vein, it's a great thing to relax
over.
The other series, of which I've only read one, is about Evan Tanner. Tanner
was injured in the Korean War and had his sleep center accidently
destroyed. He hasn't slept in 16 years, and uses the time in educating
himself. Through a series of accidents he has become a spy for some unnamed
supersecret organization of the Government and runs around doing spy type
things. The plotting is rather preposterous in retrospect, but I really
enjoyed it. The book I picked up was 'The Cancelled Czech' where Tanner has
to sneak into Prague, break into a prison, kidnap a Nazi that everyone
(including Tanner and tanners bosses) wants dead and rescue him long
enough to steal his secrets on an organization he controls. He does this
with the aid of a strange rag-tag group of beings including a group of
radical Jews who want to kidnap him from the Czechs (who are going to kill
him for war crimes) long enough so THEY can kill him for war crimes. It
moves rather quickly, and in reality it's an impossibly plot, but you don't
really seem to notice. Again, not a deep thinker like LeCarre, but good for
airport waiting areas...
chuq
--
From the Department of Bistromatics: Chuq Von Rospach
{cbosgd,decwrl,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!chuqui nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA
This plane is equipped with 4 emergency exits, at the front and back of
the plane and two above the wings. Please note that the plane will be
travelling at an average altitude of 31,000 feet, so any use of these
exits in an emergency situation will most likely be futile.rew@cbosgd.UUCP (Bob Warren) (11/22/84)
I would second the recommendation on Block (or Black, as our librarian insists on relabeling about half of his books). In addition to the Burglar series (good), there is also a series about an ex-cop in New York city who solves mysteries 'on commission'. One of the more recent of these was "Nine million ways to die". Bob Warren cbosgd!rew
moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (11/28/84)
I've only read two of the Bernie Rhodenbarr "burglar" series, and I'd like
to second the motion -- these really are very good, and are "mystery" novels
in the old standard sense, i.e. providing great characters and an
interesting plot with a healthy dose of the non-real world. Bernie has a
rather interesting moral code, and a pleasantly eccentric background, but he
avoids the "slick super-burglar" image surrounding other fictional burglars
(no Alexander Monday here, folks (Thank Nifflim)). One wonders where Block
got the background info on burglars; it certainly feels authentic, though I
haven't the slightest idea what a real burglar uses (The Napoleon of Crime
DIRECTS, you know... :-) ).
"There *are* standards. If you can't see one, you *make* one and
stick to it come Hell or high water -- until you see a BETTER one."
-John Gaunt
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
UUCP:
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ARPA:
fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPArl@ucsfcgl.UUCP (Robert Langridge%CGL) (12/28/84)
<-- I join the applause for Lawrence Block's stories. Well written, fun and relaxing to read. But my favorite book of his is non-fiction: "Telling Lies for Fun and Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers" (Arbor House, NY, 1981. $13.95). Even if you don't write fiction (are you sure--have you read your code recently? :-), chapters such as "Creative Plagiarism", "Do It Anyway" and "F U CN RD THS" are well worth the price of admission. Bob Langridge (UUCP: [...]!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!rl) Computer Graphics Laboratory (ARPA: rl@ucbvax 926 Medical Sciences or University of California langridge@sumex-aim) San Francisco CA 94143