nicanical
The Deep Blue Good-by moves swiftly and hits hard. John D. MacDonald's writing reminds me of Raymond Chandler's—much more than that other oft-recommended Macdonald, Ross Macdonald.
Writing for the pulps, John D. MacDonald understood, like Chandler, to let scenes outrank plot. Also like Chandler, MacDonald's metaphors and similes have an effortlessness to them:
The worst crimes of man against woman do not appear on the statues.
Nevertheless, Good-by doesn't rise up to a definite reread for me. It suffers from issues of composition like dialogue occasionally going on and on, and the climax is messy and hard to follow. It is also a bit too brutal to its female characters for me. Not gratuitous, but close.
I'd like to check out more of the series though.
The Deep Blue Good-by moves swiftly and hits hard. John D. MacDonald's writing reminds me of Raymond Chandler's—much more than that other oft-recommended Macdonald, Ross Macdonald.
Writing for the pulps, John D. MacDonald understood, like Chandler, to let scenes outrank plot. Also like Chandler, MacDonald's metaphors and similes have an effortlessness to them:
The worst crimes of man against woman do not appear on the statues.
Nevertheless, Good-by doesn't rise up to a definite reread for me. It suffers from issues of composition like dialogue occasionally going on and on, and the climax is messy and hard to follow. It is also a bit too brutal to its female characters for me. Not gratuitous, but close.
I'd like to check out more of the series though.