Wednesday 8 October 2008

Ken Bruen - DBB Style


Peter Rozovsky from Detectives Beyond Borders has an unconventional approach to reviewing the books he reads. Usually, he writes short passages while reading the book, discussing whatever aspect tickles his fancy. For instance, Garbhan Downey's Running Mates inspired discussions on the limitations of traditional media and Ian Sansom's Mr Dixon Disappears gave cause to a discussion on 'cosies' in the mystery genre.

So, I thought I'd take a webpage out of his cyber book. Just for the hooley, like. The book that inspired this? Ken Bruen's American Skin.

I finished reading it yesterday, but I'll not be reviewing it until I've completed my review of David Peace's 1974. But so many things in American Skin are playing on my mind. What stands out most, and the subject of this post, is Bruen's ability to include a killer line or couplet of prose in every. Single. PAGE!

Seriously, this man's experience and talent is evident on every page of American Skin. And to prove it, I'm inviting challenges:
In a comment, pick a number between 7 and 281. I'll skim over the page and post an example of a knock-out Ken Bruen line for each number.

Now, just one thing. If you happen to pick a page that ends a chapter and has one paragraph of prose, I reserve the right to skip to the next full page. Just to be fair.

I'll start the ball rolling with one of my favourite sentence, found on page 254 of the Brandon Books hardcover (which I won off Crime Always Pays -- Cheers, Dec!).


The American dream, me in my car, top down, Highway 66, times I so wanted to get right under the skin of the very soil and then the Irish in me would whisper,

"The Marlboro man died of cancer."


Now, pick your number!

12 comments:

Michael Stone said...

OK, I'm game. As the opening pages are all important, I'll plump for... page 8.

adrian mckinty said...

Ger

You're posting like crazy these days. What happened you get fired? Someone finally paying you for this?

Gerard Brennan said...

Mike - Yay, a taker!

"On his left arm was a tattoo with the name 'Dade'. . . a souvenir of a time he'd been incarcerated in dade County; of all his jail time, it was the most fun, he got to kick the shit out of a drag queen and the food was fine: hash browns, gravy, grits and mashed potatoes, with pecan pie to follow."

It's a long sentence, but in it he conveys so much about the character: history, social background, psychology and a wee bit of physical description. Not bad, eh?

gb

Gerard Brennan said...

Adrian - Nope, not fired and certainly not getting paid. Just spending my lunch hours at my desk instead of moping around bookshops. I've way to many to read to justify buying more.

And the sheduling function helps too. You not picking a number, then?

gb

Mack said...

How about 42 that being the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

Gerard Brennan said...

Mack - Good number. You caught me just before lunch break ended.

"The only Republican [music] group worth the name, The Wolfe Tones, had broken up -- didn't that say it all?"

From a psychc ex-IRA man considering the decline in Irish interest in 'The Cause'.

gb

adrian mckinty said...

oops

113

Gerard Brennan said...

Adrian - Coffee break! Not a bad job this, at all.

"I'd clapped his arm, tried the Irish solution, asked,

'You want some Jameson?'"


From a scene during the 'maudlin' hour in a Dublin pub.

gb

Peter Rozovsky said...

44.
==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Peter Rozovsky said...

And no band has ever had a better name than the Wolfe Tones.
==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Gerard Brennan said...

Peter - There were no standalone lines on this page that had the right impact out of context, so here's an excerpt.

"'When Éire is free, when the last Brit is packing his arse out of the country, I'll start dating, having me some fun...'

He paused, letting venom leak over the word, then,

'Meantime, we have a job to do, a sacred duty, like the martyrs of '16, we don't have time for
personal lives. . . so shut your fucking mouth and get that pistol out of the bedroom, it won't do you a whole lot of good if the Paras come busting in, you think they'll give you a moment to fetch it?'

The guy was killed two weeks later on a botched job in Derry. Stapleton shed no tears, muttered,

'Let that be a lesson to yous.'"


He sounds like a barrel of laughs, right?

gb

Peter Rozovsky said...

A barrel of laughs, yes. And that first sentence would not be bad as a standalone, especially if you cut it off after "dating."

==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/