From my Dad:
Just finished two crime/mystery novels, which I like for the escapism. The two I read were, however, very different from each other. Nature Girl, by Carl Hiaasen, features his usual assortment of goofy characters. His books combine suspense with political satire (centered on Florida, but applicable everywhere) and off-beat people. And there is always cosmic--not necessarily legal--justice in the end. His books are always fun. My favorite is Stormy Weather, but this one is hilarious.
On the other hand, Tin Roof Blowdown, by James Lee Burke, is Burke's usual gloomy, brooding meditation on the injustice suffered by the poor and powerless at the hands of the rich and powerful. So what else is new? Good question. And in this book, Burke sets garden-variety crime in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, and it gets really depressing. Also, in every one of the Dave Robicheaux books--he's the police detective hero--Dave's family is threatened by thugs. Don't you think he'd learn his lesson? Still the books are entertaining, even if this one over-reaches in what it tries to do. I would recommend Bayou Cadillac and In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead.
Also just finished Across the River and Into the Trees, by Ernest Hemingway, which is proof that a great writer can produce an awful novel. Set in post-World War II Italy, it features a 50-year-old American soldier, veteran of both world wars, with an incurable disease, and his 19-year-old Italian girl friend. As a father of a young woman, I have trouble with the age difference in the relationship, but beyond that, this novel is tedious and pretentious. It was a relief to finish it.
Now reading: The Appeal, a novel by John Grisham, about a civil suit against an evil chemical company on behalf of cancer victims, and Broken Government, John Dean's case for never again allowing government-hating right-wingers to take over and trash our three government branches. I heard Dean (yes, the Watergate guy) speak a few weeks ago. Wow.
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