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I've had half a dozen books on the go so far this year, seemingly switiching between them for no very good reason - but as homage I started and finished:
I: Richard Stark, The Man with the Getaway Face (1964)
This is part of a Richard Stark omnibus, although it doesn't contain the first of the Parker books, The Hunter (1962), excellently filmed as Point Blank (1967) and (more faithfully?) filmed as Payback (1999), which I'd always assumed was the real title. Anyway, Parker has survived being left for dead, and has had plastic surgery to change his face. Caught up in a new burglary, he is not convinced that the waitress who thought up the job won't double cross him - and he realises his past is still catching up with him.
This clearly stands in a line of heritage between the Ripley novels of Patricia Highsmith and Garry Disher's Wyatt series, with barely a gram of spare fat on the prose. A real page-turner, and what you see is what you get.
II: John Costello, Science Fiction Films (2004)
A much-delayed entry in the Pocket Essentials series, benefiting from the relaxation of the 36,000 word limit (although ... no, let's not go there). And curious because, despite agreeing with virtually all of the value judgements made in the volume (although I think he's too tough on Alphaville and Flash Gordon), I don't really like the book. In most cases we have a necessarily brief plot summary, and then a brief sum-up, say five hundred words on most films. But the editorial guidance was for a light tone, even allowing the odd joke, and I'm not sure Costello was well-served by his editor in which he was allowed to keep. There's a line about AIDS, and a couple more that felt uncomfortable. In the end, not long enough to be useful (blame the format) and not contrary enough to challenge my tastes. A couple of good insights, but too vanilla.
I: Richard Stark, The Man with the Getaway Face (1964)
This is part of a Richard Stark omnibus, although it doesn't contain the first of the Parker books, The Hunter (1962), excellently filmed as Point Blank (1967) and (more faithfully?) filmed as Payback (1999), which I'd always assumed was the real title. Anyway, Parker has survived being left for dead, and has had plastic surgery to change his face. Caught up in a new burglary, he is not convinced that the waitress who thought up the job won't double cross him - and he realises his past is still catching up with him.
This clearly stands in a line of heritage between the Ripley novels of Patricia Highsmith and Garry Disher's Wyatt series, with barely a gram of spare fat on the prose. A real page-turner, and what you see is what you get.
II: John Costello, Science Fiction Films (2004)
A much-delayed entry in the Pocket Essentials series, benefiting from the relaxation of the 36,000 word limit (although ... no, let's not go there). And curious because, despite agreeing with virtually all of the value judgements made in the volume (although I think he's too tough on Alphaville and Flash Gordon), I don't really like the book. In most cases we have a necessarily brief plot summary, and then a brief sum-up, say five hundred words on most films. But the editorial guidance was for a light tone, even allowing the odd joke, and I'm not sure Costello was well-served by his editor in which he was allowed to keep. There's a line about AIDS, and a couple more that felt uncomfortable. In the end, not long enough to be useful (blame the format) and not contrary enough to challenge my tastes. A couple of good insights, but too vanilla.
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