"I remember moving toward him and I remember picking him up two-handed by the neck, wondering how hard you had to squeeze a dog's throat to make its eyeballs pop out."
I used to be a massive fan of film noir and love L.A. Confidential also based on an Ellroy novel. I have vague recollections of seeing the cinematic rendition of this novel and yet the plot seemed completely new to me as I read the book.Perhaps it was a little forgettable.
Unfortunately, the last few weeks and months have been a little fraught with drama of a non literary variety. That might be one of the reasons why it took me such a long time to finish this novel. Even the opportunity to tick off another 1001 list book wasn't enough to increase my speed of consumption.
Another reason, in these rather sombre times where the horrors of watching people die in a burning building in real time on the television is the new reality, the idea of reading about a violent murder, combined with a tonne of other violent acts and sad loveless couplings just wasn't the kind of thing I was inclined towards. Ellroy's stock in trade is grimy violence and lately, I'm not sure that's what I need.
Is it well crafted? Why, certainly. There were moments, particularly the seedy bars and sweaty boxing matches, where , as a reader, I felt completely immersed in the tale. There were other times where I felt like perhaps I needed a long, hot, bath and a course of antibiotics.
3 out of 5 cover ups are murder.
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