Tough Guys screw around

Tough Guys Don't Dance by Norman Mailer

Well, I was a Norman Mailer virgin until now. The lead character, Tim Madden, fins himself in a sticky situation when he wakes up "on the 24th day after his wife Patty left him" to a car full of blood, a small pot farm with a head in a footlocker, and a call from the chief of police (now married to Tim's ex-girlfriend). Mailer creates robust characters in Tim and Chief Regency, the despicable drunk and the psycho cop. The tale is supposed to be an exploration of machoism and homosexuality, but I found it quite tame by today's standards. The plot, while claiming to be fast-paced mystery, is more about Tim's awkward worship of his tough guy father than the murder mystery. The climax comes too late and is so muddled (described by Wardley Meeks III and Captain Regency) that I wound up reading it twice just to be sure I had really understood the resolution. While Mailer's writing is well worth plodding through the book and he broaches some interesting topics, I won't be diving into the huge tomb, Executioner's Song, anytime soon.

I dedicate this post to one of my favorite tough guy movie characters, Patrick Swayze as Dalton in the movie Roadhouse. Swayze was great in this classic 80s flick. Just try to flip past it when it's on TV - I bet you'll wind up sucked in once again. I hope you're doing well Swayze.

These Violet Eyes are smiling...

Through Violet Eyes by Stephen Woodworth

Woodworth paints an interesting picture in this race-to-the-finish novel.  The main character, Dan, is a typical divorced detective that lost his family because of his inner struggle with shooting the wrong guy on the job. In this book he's trying to find out who's killing 'the Violets', a group of unrelated people used by the government to witness murders because of their ability to channel the dead.  The reality built by Woodworth is hokey and 'the Violets' seem a bit too much like a gimmick at more than a few points in the story, but the plot keeps you turning the pages all the way to the unexpected ending.  While in retrospect the premise of the novel was a bit silly and the world Woodworth creates is hardly Star Wars quality, it was a fun book and it kept my mind occupied while pedaling away on our new stationary bike!  If you like action and need a break from a longwinded classic, this story will certainly provide some much needed procrastination and entertainment.

Here, There, Neverwhere

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman introduces a whole new context for the term 'London Underground' with his book Neverwhere.  The story is set in the tunnels and sewers below the London.  The book opens with Richard, a lawyer just beginning to make his mark, finding a scared and battered girl, Door, on the street.  Instead of ignoring the girl (much to the disdain of his girlfriend Jessica) he takes her home and eases her back to health with the help of characters from the underground.  Unfortunately after the incident he is no longer visible to the people of 'London Above'.  He joins a quest with Door, her friend des Cabras, and their bodyguard Hunter to find her parents' murder in hopes of going home to his reality.  The entire story was well written and fast paced.  We see growth in all of the characters, but a larger change is seen in Richard.  A common man with little passion for his life and scared of everything becomes a warrior.  One of the best scenes in the story involves Richard confronting himself to discover who he is and what reality he is living in.  Richard winds up talking to himself and one of the details like - he hears his friend Gary (that is really him) talking to him with the voice that is his own, and not the voice from answering machines, video cameras, or other electronic devices - the voice of what he sounds like inside his head, not outside.  This is a fantastic detail that everyone can relate to.  How many times have we heard ourselves recorded only to wonder - do I really sound like that?

One can't help wonder with this attention to London's homeless and poverty stricken, is Gaiman trying to push a more important agenda with this novel?  The story is fantastic on it's own, but it seems to have an obvious message to us of the 'London Above' world.  Maybe we should stop ignoring these people's voices in the streets and subways.  Maybe they have something interesting to tell us. What are you're ideas?