tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post1316185971301193870..comments2024-03-28T16:17:20.965-05:00Comments on Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: FFB: Ross Macdonald's Inward Journey -- Ralph B. Sipper, Editormybillcriderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-15677205580668248172017-07-23T20:11:52.021-05:002017-07-23T20:11:52.021-05:00I am not among those who rank MacDonald among the ...I am not among those who rank MacDonald among the greats. I have enjoyed his books and read them since around high school. My favorite, perversely, is THE BLUE HAMMER, because it allowed Archer to be a character and not a conduit. I like the early ones better, before they got repetitive. I agree with Chandler's (bitchy) assessment that he tried too hard, that the metaphors are strained. Still, I'm not a detractor -- he was good, and significant.<br /><br />Max Allan Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00867456003618637948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-36498749158314965832017-07-23T02:11:44.704-05:002017-07-23T02:11:44.704-05:00I read most of the Archer novels in the 1970s and ...I read most of the Archer novels in the 1970s and loved every one. Thomas Millernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-69083609819115324172017-07-22T15:52:21.134-05:002017-07-22T15:52:21.134-05:00...and so... thirty five pages into THE GALTON CAS......and so... thirty five pages into THE GALTON CASE. (It's in the omnibus ARCHER AT LARGE)Rick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07978136287154214297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-44600194355276248622017-07-22T13:07:00.125-05:002017-07-22T13:07:00.125-05:00Soooo long ago I don't remember which ones I r...Soooo long ago I don't remember which ones I read, and too inexperienced to appreciate what I did read. Time to get back to Archer! Thanks, Bill.Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-46932033104553055552017-07-21T20:30:59.399-05:002017-07-21T20:30:59.399-05:00Macdonald is one of the greats. If anything, the r...Macdonald is one of the greats. If anything, the recently completed three-volume Library of America set was overdue.Brian Busbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-39141240870877403802017-07-21T15:48:52.687-05:002017-07-21T15:48:52.687-05:00I read most of Macdonald's Archer books, I thi...I read most of Macdonald's Archer books, I think, pretty much in a big gulp beginning in the late 1960s (a "big gulp" means it took me almost a decade; I had grad school and getting started in my career to contend with). I certainly saw their virtues, but he was never a writer I returned to. I couldn't even say why, but having read them once, I have never had the urge to read them again.Don Coffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07198988872512792834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-56876113390527361992017-07-21T13:41:53.077-05:002017-07-21T13:41:53.077-05:00I'd start at the beginning with The Moving Tar...I'd start at the beginning with The Moving Target. Otherwise, read The Chill or The Galton Case.Jeff Meyersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00093411926030586355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-2739739186557092892017-07-21T12:29:07.151-05:002017-07-21T12:29:07.151-05:00Every time I see mention of Macdonald, I pledge to...Every time I see mention of Macdonald, I pledge to read one of the Archer novels I haven't yet gotten to. Then I forget... (how could I"). I've read about a third of them. So much good stuff waiting for me. I started reading them in order too, and ended up with the first three or four, then re-reading MOVING TARGET, then ZEBRA-STRIPED HEARSE, and a couple others. Must...get...caught...up.Rick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07978136287154214297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-6129789744245360942017-07-21T10:03:53.236-05:002017-07-21T10:03:53.236-05:00Thank you, Mr. West, Mr. Crider. I have a thing fo...Thank you, Mr. West, Mr. Crider. I have a thing for writers, too. As I say, I'm not much to look at, but I don't have any STDs.Janis Gorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11656703722929026827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-65597400940480062452017-07-21T10:02:13.991-05:002017-07-21T10:02:13.991-05:00I don't think he gets credit for how smoothly ...I don't think he gets credit for how smoothly he uses first-person narration. Archer can only know so much of what is happening in a given situation; McDonald does an excellent job of showing how Archer acquires information or logically pieces together what is happening without making it read like an info dump.Debnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-18196525837351997952017-07-21T09:28:13.437-05:002017-07-21T09:28:13.437-05:00My favorite is The Instant Enemy.My favorite is The Instant Enemy.August Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-56961235921900991242017-07-21T09:07:14.839-05:002017-07-21T09:07:14.839-05:00I'm a pretty good student when I'm not dis...I'm a pretty good student when I'm not distracted by interesting, handsome men. That Heathcliff-inspired, Saab-driving pianist in study hall blew my biology grade all to hell and back.Janis Gorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11656703722929026827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-8180551949008701092017-07-21T09:06:44.821-05:002017-07-21T09:06:44.821-05:00If you want to start with the best, I recommend TH...If you want to start with the best, I recommend THE CHILL. mybillcriderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-10778030648180489252017-07-21T08:55:18.187-05:002017-07-21T08:55:18.187-05:00Y'all, which one would be best to begin with?Y'all, which one would be best to begin with?Janis Gorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11656703722929026827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-46396359600186740392017-07-21T07:49:05.542-05:002017-07-21T07:49:05.542-05:00That's auto-correct, deciding my not quite col...That's auto-correct, deciding my not quite collections should've been collecting.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-42634990418178617612017-07-21T07:48:10.521-05:002017-07-21T07:48:10.521-05:00And I started with THE BLUE HAMMER, and wondered w...And I started with THE BLUE HAMMER, and wondered what the hell the people who were going on about what a disappointment it was even in the 1980s were thinking. (I read it in the late '80s, a chunk of it while waiting outside the 9:30 Club in DC because I was too tired to go into the punk rock concert my womanfirend Donna was attending, and the old, original 9:30 was kind of a small toilet, vs. the pleasantly cavernous new 9:30 of the last two decades, that one can see on the public broadcasting syndicated series, while there still are public broadcasters.<br /><br />The old club stank, but the novel sure didn't. It was a whole lot of what Raymond Chandler didn't quite achieve, and is given credit for anyway, not least by Macdonald himself. Millar himself. <br /><br />I'd say the short story collecting will do very nicely, as well.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-63319609063684920952017-07-21T06:24:30.966-05:002017-07-21T06:24:30.966-05:00I started reading the Archer novels in the early 7...I started reading the Archer novels in the early 70s. Later in the 90s I read them all in order The Moving Target - The Blue Hammer one after another. I use to sneak into the bathroom at work with the paperback in my back pocket to get another chapter down.August Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-38401182335644605552017-07-21T06:07:55.954-05:002017-07-21T06:07:55.954-05:00I guess I missed this one when it came out, becaus...I guess I missed this one when it came out, because it is not familiar at all.Jeff Meyersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00093411926030586355noreply@blogger.com