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Lew Archer #8
The Galton Case
Une vieille dame richissime demande à Lew Archer de retrouver son héritier, disparu deux décennies plus tôt en compagnie d'une femme peu recommandable.
Sans illusions, Archer se lance sur cette piste refroidie lorsqu'un meurtre surprenant l'en détourne.
À défaut d'héritier, Archer débusque un squelette sans tête, un malfrat malin et une blonde terrorisée. Et découvre une combine particulièrement inventive, même pour la Californie.
Sans illusions, Archer se lance sur cette piste refroidie lorsqu'un meurtre surprenant l'en détourne.
À défaut d'héritier, Archer débusque un squelette sans tête, un malfrat malin et une blonde terrorisée. Et découvre une combine particulièrement inventive, même pour la Californie.
276 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
156 people are currently reading
2805 people want to read
About the author
Ross Macdonald
159 books809 followersRoss Macdonald is the pseudonym of the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar. He is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in southern California and featuring private detective Lew Archer.
Millar was born in Los Gatos, California, and raised in his parents' native Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, where he started college. When his father abandoned his family unexpectedly, Macdonald lived with his mother and various relatives, moving several times by his sixteenth year. The prominence of broken homes and domestic problems in his fiction has its roots in his youth.
In Canada, he met and married Margaret Sturm (Margaret Millar)in 1938. They had a daughter, Linda, who died in 1970.
He began his career writing stories for pulp magazines. Millar attended the University of Michigan, where he earned a Phi Beta Kappa key and a Ph.D. in literature. While doing graduate study, he completed his first novel, The Dark Tunnel, in 1944. At this time, he wrote under the name John Macdonald, in order to avoid confusion with his wife, who was achieving her own success writing as Margaret Millar. He then changed briefly to John Ross Macdonald before settling on Ross Macdonald, in order to avoid mixups with contemporary John D. MacDonald. After serving at sea as a naval communications officer from 1944 to 1946, he returned to Michigan, where he obtained his Ph.D. degree.
Macdonald's popular detective Lew Archer derives his name from Sam Spade's partner, Miles Archer, and from Lew Wallace, author of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Macdonald first introduced the tough but humane private eye in the 1946 short story Find the Woman. A full-length novel, The Moving Target, followed in 1949. This novel (the first in a series of eighteen) would become the basis for the 1966 Paul Newman film Harper. In the early 1950s, he returned to California, settling for some thirty years in Santa Barbara, the area where most of his books were set. The very successful Lew Archer series, including bestsellers The Goodbye Look, The Underground Man, and Sleeping Beauty, concluded with The Blue Hammer in 1976.
Macdonald died of Alzheimer's disease in Santa Barbara, California.
Macdonald is the primary heir to Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler as the master of American hardboiled mysteries. His writing built on the pithy style of his predecessors by adding psychological depth and insights into the motivations of his characters. Macdonald's plots were complicated, and often turned on Archer's unearthing family secrets of his clients and of the criminals who victimized them. Lost or wayward sons and daughters were a theme common to many of the novels. Macdonald deftly combined the two sides of the mystery genre, the "whodunit" and the psychological thriller. Even his regular readers seldom saw a Macdonald denouement coming.
Millar was born in Los Gatos, California, and raised in his parents' native Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, where he started college. When his father abandoned his family unexpectedly, Macdonald lived with his mother and various relatives, moving several times by his sixteenth year. The prominence of broken homes and domestic problems in his fiction has its roots in his youth.
In Canada, he met and married Margaret Sturm (Margaret Millar)in 1938. They had a daughter, Linda, who died in 1970.
He began his career writing stories for pulp magazines. Millar attended the University of Michigan, where he earned a Phi Beta Kappa key and a Ph.D. in literature. While doing graduate study, he completed his first novel, The Dark Tunnel, in 1944. At this time, he wrote under the name John Macdonald, in order to avoid confusion with his wife, who was achieving her own success writing as Margaret Millar. He then changed briefly to John Ross Macdonald before settling on Ross Macdonald, in order to avoid mixups with contemporary John D. MacDonald. After serving at sea as a naval communications officer from 1944 to 1946, he returned to Michigan, where he obtained his Ph.D. degree.
Macdonald's popular detective Lew Archer derives his name from Sam Spade's partner, Miles Archer, and from Lew Wallace, author of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Macdonald first introduced the tough but humane private eye in the 1946 short story Find the Woman. A full-length novel, The Moving Target, followed in 1949. This novel (the first in a series of eighteen) would become the basis for the 1966 Paul Newman film Harper. In the early 1950s, he returned to California, settling for some thirty years in Santa Barbara, the area where most of his books were set. The very successful Lew Archer series, including bestsellers The Goodbye Look, The Underground Man, and Sleeping Beauty, concluded with The Blue Hammer in 1976.
Macdonald died of Alzheimer's disease in Santa Barbara, California.
Macdonald is the primary heir to Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler as the master of American hardboiled mysteries. His writing built on the pithy style of his predecessors by adding psychological depth and insights into the motivations of his characters. Macdonald's plots were complicated, and often turned on Archer's unearthing family secrets of his clients and of the criminals who victimized them. Lost or wayward sons and daughters were a theme common to many of the novels. Macdonald deftly combined the two sides of the mystery genre, the "whodunit" and the psychological thriller. Even his regular readers seldom saw a Macdonald denouement coming.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 388 reviews
August 9, 2020
This is the first great Lew Archer novel, and it has all the important Ross Macdonald themes: money, family betrayal, a masquerade, and a crime in the present linked to a crime in the past.
There are two things that make this novel great. The first is that, in diction, style and plot structure, it is as carefully realized as any poem. Every line of dialogue, every bit of description, contributes to the beauty of the whole. It is almost without flaw: for me, the only memorable blot is a slightly clunky last line. (Although there may also be a weird breast metaphor or two. I wouldn't be surprised. I have long since trained myself to ignore these typical Macdonald lapses.)
The second thing that makes this book great is the ending, unusual for any mystery novel but particularly surprising for Macdonald. After all the tragic events, it ends with joy. And the result is not a cheap melodrama with a crowd-pleasing conclusion, but a genuine tragi-comedy, like Shakespeare used to make.
Do not miss it. This is a classic of the genre.
February 17, 2024
'The Galton Case' follows the missing person investigation conducted by a private eye on behalf of a wealthy family. It is an enjoyable read with the unexpected ending.
August 30, 2018
When detective Lew Archer is hired to find the long-missing son of a wealthy dying woman, the case seems simple enough . . . but before you know it, there's a juicy murder, a headless skeleton, and plenty of dames in tight-fitting clothing. Things become pretty convoluted, but Macdonald keeps it all darned entertaining.
This was a highly enjoyable outing in a series that demands further investigation.
This was a highly enjoyable outing in a series that demands further investigation.
February 4, 2020
Es una novela bien escrita. Ross Macdonald nos quiere atraer con una trama donde nadie ni nada es lo que parece y lo que empieza de una manera acaba de otra. Pero,... Pero a mi no me ha atrapado. Demasiados personajes en una trama demasiado compleja y, sinceramente, poco creíble. Creo que ni el mismo autor sabe muy bien cómo ha transcurrido la novela y, aunque las descripciones son maravillosas, yo (y es algo personal) sí le doy importancia al desarrollo de la trama. Hay demasiadas cosas en esta novela que no me cuadran y muchos temas inconclusos.
Me ha gustado, pero me esperaba algo más.
It is a well written novel. Ross Macdonald wants to attract us with a plot where no one or nothing is what it seems and what begins in one way just ends in another. But, ... But it hasn't caught me. Too many characters in a too complex plot and, honestly, unbelievable. I think that the same author does not know very well how the novel has happened and, although the descriptions are wonderful, I (and it is something personal) give importance to the development of the plot. There are too many things in this novel that do not add up to me and many unfinished themes.
I liked it, but I expected more.
Me ha gustado, pero me esperaba algo más.
It is a well written novel. Ross Macdonald wants to attract us with a plot where no one or nothing is what it seems and what begins in one way just ends in another. But, ... But it hasn't caught me. Too many characters in a too complex plot and, honestly, unbelievable. I think that the same author does not know very well how the novel has happened and, although the descriptions are wonderful, I (and it is something personal) give importance to the development of the plot. There are too many things in this novel that do not add up to me and many unfinished themes.
I liked it, but I expected more.
May 31, 2016
“The apparent facts, if you like. I'm not a philosopher. We lawyers don't deal in ultimate realities. Who knows what they are? We deal in appearances.”
― Ross Macdonald, The Galton Case
Ross Macdonald definitely dances down the same literary streets as Hammett and Chandler. This hardboiled detective novel, the 8th in the Lew Archer series, feels like it was written in one continuous sitting (that is a good thing).
'The Galton Case' has a naked narrative intensity that is well-supported by its witty dialogue and California Noir setting. Macdonald is one of those authors who is so spare, bare, and muscular with his prose that it is hard NOT to be impressed by the clean, minimalist architecture of his writing. If Proust was edited by Hemingway, liked bad girls (well OK, sometimes Proust liked bad girls) and wrote hardboiled novels, he'd be Ross Macdonald.
― Ross Macdonald, The Galton Case
Ross Macdonald definitely dances down the same literary streets as Hammett and Chandler. This hardboiled detective novel, the 8th in the Lew Archer series, feels like it was written in one continuous sitting (that is a good thing).
'The Galton Case' has a naked narrative intensity that is well-supported by its witty dialogue and California Noir setting. Macdonald is one of those authors who is so spare, bare, and muscular with his prose that it is hard NOT to be impressed by the clean, minimalist architecture of his writing. If Proust was edited by Hemingway, liked bad girls (well OK, sometimes Proust liked bad girls) and wrote hardboiled novels, he'd be Ross Macdonald.
June 7, 2023
01/2022
From 1959
This really is a great and involved mystery. I didn't find it predictable at all.
It might be my favorite of the Lew Archer series, maybe even better than The Chill, but there are still five I haven't read.
May 2011
I love Ross Macdonald.
From 1959
This really is a great and involved mystery. I didn't find it predictable at all.
It might be my favorite of the Lew Archer series, maybe even better than The Chill, but there are still five I haven't read.
May 2011
I love Ross Macdonald.
August 3, 2018
The first half of the book is terrific, and the twist in the middle is good, just what you'd expect from a top detective story.
Unfortunately, the pacing slides and as we approach the conclusion, the writing becomes almost a laundry list of rushed explanations, as if MacDonald were bored with this book.
And I was not surprised by the ending at all, sadly.
Update: His book "Find a Victim" is worse, but with some moments of brilliant prose.
Unfortunately, the pacing slides and as we approach the conclusion, the writing becomes almost a laundry list of rushed explanations, as if MacDonald were bored with this book.
And I was not surprised by the ending at all, sadly.
Update: His book "Find a Victim" is worse, but with some moments of brilliant prose.
January 18, 2025
Ίσως, το καλύτερο μυθιστόρημα του McDonald με 'δυνατούς' διαλόγους και στοιχειωτική ατμόσφαιρα - Μια έξυπνη παρουσίαση της 'σκοτεινής' πλευράς της Αμερικής των τελών της δεκαετίας του '50 - Το πιο γρήγορο σε ροή και στην εξέλιξη της πλοκής βιβλίο του MacDonald (1959).
Το στοιχείο που κάνει εντύπωση από την αρχή είναι οι έξυπνοι και δημιουργικοί διάλογοι μεταξύ των ηρώων. Ο αναγνώστης έρχεται αντιμέτωπος με την στοιχειωτική ατμόσφαιρα που κυριαρχεί στα σπίτια των χαρακτήρων και, ειδικά, στη μυστηριώδη έπαυλη της κυρίας Γκάλτον. Μπορεί συχνά να αναρωτηθεί αν οι άνθρωποι στοιχειώνουν τα σπίτια ή αν τα σπίτια στοιχειώνουν τους ανθρώπους.
Κάνουν εντύπωση τα 3 βασικά θέματα με τα οποία καταπιάνεται ο MacDonald εδώ, δηλ. με το φαινόμενο της πλαστοπροσωπίας, την αποξένωση των ζευγαριών στις μεγαλουπόλεις, και τη δράση επικίνδυνων συμμοριών στις Η.Π.Α., κυρίως, τη δεκαετία του '50.
Γίνεται ένας μοναδικά αποτελεσματικός συνδυασμός hard-boiled στοιχείων με στοιχεία αστυνομικού μυστηρίου, το οποίο προσδίδει μια ιδιαίτερη γοητεία στο ανατρεπτικό φινάλε. Μεγάλο ατού στην πλοκή αποτελούν και οι ενίοτε 'σκοτεινές' περιγραφές της θέας και των εξοχικών περιοχών της Καλιφόρνια.
Ο ντετέκτιβ Λιού Άρτσερ ποτέ δεν ήταν πιο δραστήριος και αινιγματικός!
Πρόκειται για ένα 'διαμαντάκι' της Παγκόσμιας Αστυνομικής Λογοτεχνίας.
Βαθμολογία: 4,2/5 ή 8,4/10.
(Αν δεν μου θύμιζε σε 2-3 σημεία τη 'Γαλάζια Φλέβα' του ίδιου, η βαθμολογία θα ήταν υψηλότερη: 4,6/5 ή 9,2/10).
Το στοιχείο που κάνει εντύπωση από την αρχή είναι οι έξυπνοι και δημιουργικοί διάλογοι μεταξύ των ηρώων. Ο αναγνώστης έρχεται αντιμέτωπος με την στοιχειωτική ατμόσφαιρα που κυριαρχεί στα σπίτια των χαρακτήρων και, ειδικά, στη μυστηριώδη έπαυλη της κυρίας Γκάλτον. Μπορεί συχνά να αναρωτηθεί αν οι άνθρωποι στοιχειώνουν τα σπίτια ή αν τα σπίτια στοιχειώνουν τους ανθρώπους.
Κάνουν εντύπωση τα 3 βασικά θέματα με τα οποία καταπιάνεται ο MacDonald εδώ, δηλ. με το φαινόμενο της πλαστοπροσωπίας, την αποξένωση των ζευγαριών στις μεγαλουπόλεις, και τη δράση επικίνδυνων συμμοριών στις Η.Π.Α., κυρίως, τη δεκαετία του '50.
Γίνεται ένας μοναδικά αποτελεσματικός συνδυασμός hard-boiled στοιχείων με στοιχεία αστυνομικού μυστηρίου, το οποίο προσδίδει μια ιδιαίτερη γοητεία στο ανατρεπτικό φινάλε. Μεγάλο ατού στην πλοκή αποτελούν και οι ενίοτε 'σκοτεινές' περιγραφές της θέας και των εξοχικών περιοχών της Καλιφόρνια.
Ο ντετέκτιβ Λιού Άρτσερ ποτέ δεν ήταν πιο δραστήριος και αινιγματικός!
Πρόκειται για ένα 'διαμαντάκι' της Παγκόσμιας Αστυνομικής Λογοτεχνίας.
Βαθμολογία: 4,2/5 ή 8,4/10.
(Αν δεν μου θύμιζε σε 2-3 σημεία τη 'Γαλάζια Φλέβα' του ίδιου, η βαθμολογία θα ήταν υψηλότερη: 4,6/5 ή 9,2/10).
March 23, 2016
For a writer, reading Ross MacDonald can be an intimidating experience destined to cause vast amounts of envy. The simplicity and yet stark beauty of his prose; the sheer perfect poetry of his descriptions; the way he can do so much with just a few lines of dialogue – like his one time friend and mentor, Raymond Chandler, MacDonald is able to lift genre fiction to a place where it becomes literature.
The Galton Case sees MacDonald’s private eye, Lew Archer, investigate a twenty year old missing person case. It’s not a perfect book by any means, the ending is too rushed with perhaps one twist too many; but for the most part, reading it is to marvel at a talent quite brilliant.
The Galton Case sees MacDonald’s private eye, Lew Archer, investigate a twenty year old missing person case. It’s not a perfect book by any means, the ending is too rushed with perhaps one twist too many; but for the most part, reading it is to marvel at a talent quite brilliant.
December 2, 2021
This -the 8th entry in the series- might be my favorite Lew Archer but I've said the same thing about three other previous entries.
This is another missing persons case. The going gets pretty brutal what with a couple of murders and a very violent beat-down but it's character rich. I genuinely enjoyed the way Macdonald/Millar developed his characters, giving them histories and unexpected motives.
Plenty of highly quotable passages but as I paused somewhere around chapter five to read another book (out of print at this time) by a different author at their request, I had to start the book all over.
This novel has paragraphs that flow like great poetry. Macdonald is at the top of his game here.
This is another missing persons case. The going gets pretty brutal what with a couple of murders and a very violent beat-down but it's character rich. I genuinely enjoyed the way Macdonald/Millar developed his characters, giving them histories and unexpected motives.
Plenty of highly quotable passages but as I paused somewhere around chapter five to read another book (out of print at this time) by a different author at their request, I had to start the book all over.
This novel has paragraphs that flow like great poetry. Macdonald is at the top of his game here.
...[her] emotion was like spontaneous combustion in an old hope chest.
August 30, 2020
Please be aware that this book is of its time (published first in 1959), so some phrases and characterizations won't match current expectations and practices.
I really liked the west coast setting, the noir atmosphere, and the interconnectedness of the characters. It was illuminating to see Stanford and San Francisco described as they were so many decades ago.
The plot contains surprising twists that make The Galton Case a satisfying read.
Recommended for mystery and suspense readers.
I really liked the west coast setting, the noir atmosphere, and the interconnectedness of the characters. It was illuminating to see Stanford and San Francisco described as they were so many decades ago.
The plot contains surprising twists that make The Galton Case a satisfying read.
Recommended for mystery and suspense readers.
January 26, 2020
The whole novel is like one big con job. On the reader. Ross Macdonald is a great con artist. He distracts the reader with over the top similes - "a blonde in a pink robe gleamed like a mirage" and hilarious tongue in cheek dialog "I am captain Nemo, I just came ashore from a hostile submarine" while he spins an utterly preposterous plot that would put some Bollywood screenwriters to shame.
A rich woman on her death bed wants to reconcile with her long lost son, a naive but talented writer who married a woman from a different class. World weary (she had blue white hair and a look on her face you don't see too often anymore, the look of a woman who hasn't been disappointed) detective Lew Archer is put on the case by Gordon Sable, the old woman's lawyer.
Archer the first person narrator is an intense observer of people and nothing escapes him - especially sadness and failure. He also has a roving eye for women and looks at them as nothing but objects of sex. The humor is a mix of the sarcastic and the subtle (face like an unfinished sculpture). I also liked the descriptions of small town American buildings, motels and landscapes. It is a great yarn that stumbles briefly when Archer is kidnapped and given a beating by thugs - it somehow came across as a token fistfight or action scene in a movie. Otherwise, this would have been a 5/5.
A rich woman on her death bed wants to reconcile with her long lost son, a naive but talented writer who married a woman from a different class. World weary (she had blue white hair and a look on her face you don't see too often anymore, the look of a woman who hasn't been disappointed) detective Lew Archer is put on the case by Gordon Sable, the old woman's lawyer.
Archer the first person narrator is an intense observer of people and nothing escapes him - especially sadness and failure. He also has a roving eye for women and looks at them as nothing but objects of sex. The humor is a mix of the sarcastic and the subtle (face like an unfinished sculpture). I also liked the descriptions of small town American buildings, motels and landscapes. It is a great yarn that stumbles briefly when Archer is kidnapped and given a beating by thugs - it somehow came across as a token fistfight or action scene in a movie. Otherwise, this would have been a 5/5.
March 20, 2024
An entertaining Archer story that sees the private detective searching for the missing heir to a family fortune, only to discover all is not what it seems. All the classic ingredients of a LA noir story - femme fatales, rich widows, desperate men and a hatful.of plot twists - brought together by an underrated master of the form.
June 19, 2020
A bit of a letdown as the wonderful seventh entry is followed by the underwhelming The Galton Case. MacDonald's use of pop psychology has been a hallmark of his writing. When it works it gives a certain depth to the proceedings, when it doesn't 60s obsession with Freudian theories appear myopic. Here it boils down to something as believable as the man grew up to be left leaning simply because he lived on the left side of the street. It is not only not deep but pretty stupid.
Old lady Galton with millions in fortune hires Archer to find her heir. Her son married beneath him and ran away 20 years ago. She is the kind that can persuade the most patient of people to leave tire marks on the gravel as they make their escape. Archer soon discovers her dead son and live grandson who might be an imposter. There are ties with organized crime, and another dead body soon drops with a passing connection to the case.
I have repeatedly praised MacDonald's plotting in my reviews. It is complex and twisted here too but this is the series' weakest so far. A lot of the decisions taken by the characters ring false. Macdonald uses sudden amnesia as a plot point. The amnesiac makes only one big appearance in the story in which she remembers everything after Archer's grilling. Another character is revealed to be living with a person she hates for almost two decades. She blames it on fear but it just seemed like a plotting excuse. A lot of these problems stem from MacDonald's desire to ensure no person in the narrative looks like a complete villain. His ability to distribute sympathy among characters who commit horrible deeds is actually one of the main reasons why his plots are so good. But it is a double edged sword here, he wants to reduce culpability in characters and in an attempt to do so makes the whole thing overtly melodramatic.
In the best books Archer also shows signs of character development. We get hints of his past and a bit more introspection. This is all action with Archer crisscrossing the country chasing after clues, so those introspective moments have gone missing. The prose shines every now and then, so fans of the genre or series will still find something here. It just fails to land the ending and that's a cardinal sin for a mystery book. Rating - 3/5
Quotes: I'd given up offering advice. Even when people asked for it, they resented getting it.
Like other performers, he had a public face and a private one. Each of them was slightly phony, but the private face suited him better.
Old lady Galton with millions in fortune hires Archer to find her heir. Her son married beneath him and ran away 20 years ago. She is the kind that can persuade the most patient of people to leave tire marks on the gravel as they make their escape. Archer soon discovers her dead son and live grandson who might be an imposter. There are ties with organized crime, and another dead body soon drops with a passing connection to the case.
I have repeatedly praised MacDonald's plotting in my reviews. It is complex and twisted here too but this is the series' weakest so far. A lot of the decisions taken by the characters ring false. Macdonald uses sudden amnesia as a plot point. The amnesiac makes only one big appearance in the story in which she remembers everything after Archer's grilling. Another character is revealed to be living with a person she hates for almost two decades. She blames it on fear but it just seemed like a plotting excuse. A lot of these problems stem from MacDonald's desire to ensure no person in the narrative looks like a complete villain. His ability to distribute sympathy among characters who commit horrible deeds is actually one of the main reasons why his plots are so good. But it is a double edged sword here, he wants to reduce culpability in characters and in an attempt to do so makes the whole thing overtly melodramatic.
In the best books Archer also shows signs of character development. We get hints of his past and a bit more introspection. This is all action with Archer crisscrossing the country chasing after clues, so those introspective moments have gone missing. The prose shines every now and then, so fans of the genre or series will still find something here. It just fails to land the ending and that's a cardinal sin for a mystery book. Rating - 3/5
Quotes: I'd given up offering advice. Even when people asked for it, they resented getting it.
Like other performers, he had a public face and a private one. Each of them was slightly phony, but the private face suited him better.
June 7, 2012
Some authors I read for the plot. Some for the characters. Some for the atmosphere. And some for the prose. Simenon is for atmosphere. Ross is for prose. Like many others I'm reading the Archer books chronologically, starting with the first one. There are many signs in the first books that Ross Macdonald is a phenomenon, but generally it was like a more insecure Chandler, surrounding himself like an octopus with ink with too many strained metaphors and far too poetic descriptions. Not as much as say Koontz or Charles Grant, but still a bit throwing off.
And then comes the Galton Case. The year is 1959, the book is the eight installment in Lew Archer's saga, the author is 44, and has been a published novelist for 15 years. I started reading the first chapter and immediately a prose orgasm made me twitch in spasms of joy. Then again, a paragraph later. Then again, and again, and again. No false notes here. No insecurities. This is Fitzgerald at his best meets Hammett at his best, and the post-Freudian undercurrents are so well handled that they no longer distract but add to the prose punch. Only people more or less well read in the field catch the Reichian refrences now,otherwise they are just excellent literary devices.
What can I say? I understand now why Peter Straub has been trying for this prose level his whole career. And I'm gratified that before he grew too old, Straub managed to produce such a book - A Dark Matter. I'm also gratified that Ross Macdonal peaked far before reaching an old age. I intellectually know that chances are that every next Archer book will not be like the Galton Case, that there likely will be more dud installments, and maybe an overal post-peak decline by some point, but emotionally I hope very much that this impeccable prose-weaving level will come up many mnay more times in mr. Macdonald's books.
Quotes:
The Listening Ear was full of dark blue light and pale blue music. A combo made up of piano, bass fiddle, trumpet, and drums was playing something advanced. I didn't have my slide rule with me, but the four musicians seemed to understand each other. From time to time they smiled and nodded like space jockeys passing in the night. The man at the piano seemed to be the head technician. He smiled more distantly than the others, and when the melody had been done to death, he took the applause with more exquisite remoteness. Then he bent over his keyboard again like a mad scientist.
The tight-hipped waitress who brought my whisky-and-water was interchangeable with nightclub girls anywhere. Even her parts looked interchangeable. But the audience was different from other nightclub crowds. Most of them were young people with serious expressions on their faces. A high proportion of the girls had short straight hair through which they ran their fingers from time to time. Many of the boys had longer hair than the girls, but they didn't run their fingers through it so much. They stroked their beards instead.
Another tune failed to survive the operation, and then the lights went up. A frail-looking middle-aged man in a dark suit sidled through the blue curtains at the rear of the room. The pianist extended his hand and assisted him onto the bandstand. The audience applauded. The frail-looking man, by way of a bow, allowed his chin to subside on the big black bow tie which blossomed on his shirt front. The applause rose to a crescendo.
And then comes the Galton Case. The year is 1959, the book is the eight installment in Lew Archer's saga, the author is 44, and has been a published novelist for 15 years. I started reading the first chapter and immediately a prose orgasm made me twitch in spasms of joy. Then again, a paragraph later. Then again, and again, and again. No false notes here. No insecurities. This is Fitzgerald at his best meets Hammett at his best, and the post-Freudian undercurrents are so well handled that they no longer distract but add to the prose punch. Only people more or less well read in the field catch the Reichian refrences now,otherwise they are just excellent literary devices.
What can I say? I understand now why Peter Straub has been trying for this prose level his whole career. And I'm gratified that before he grew too old, Straub managed to produce such a book - A Dark Matter. I'm also gratified that Ross Macdonal peaked far before reaching an old age. I intellectually know that chances are that every next Archer book will not be like the Galton Case, that there likely will be more dud installments, and maybe an overal post-peak decline by some point, but emotionally I hope very much that this impeccable prose-weaving level will come up many mnay more times in mr. Macdonald's books.
Quotes:
The Listening Ear was full of dark blue light and pale blue music. A combo made up of piano, bass fiddle, trumpet, and drums was playing something advanced. I didn't have my slide rule with me, but the four musicians seemed to understand each other. From time to time they smiled and nodded like space jockeys passing in the night. The man at the piano seemed to be the head technician. He smiled more distantly than the others, and when the melody had been done to death, he took the applause with more exquisite remoteness. Then he bent over his keyboard again like a mad scientist.
The tight-hipped waitress who brought my whisky-and-water was interchangeable with nightclub girls anywhere. Even her parts looked interchangeable. But the audience was different from other nightclub crowds. Most of them were young people with serious expressions on their faces. A high proportion of the girls had short straight hair through which they ran their fingers from time to time. Many of the boys had longer hair than the girls, but they didn't run their fingers through it so much. They stroked their beards instead.
Another tune failed to survive the operation, and then the lights went up. A frail-looking middle-aged man in a dark suit sidled through the blue curtains at the rear of the room. The pianist extended his hand and assisted him onto the bandstand. The audience applauded. The frail-looking man, by way of a bow, allowed his chin to subside on the big black bow tie which blossomed on his shirt front. The applause rose to a crescendo.
September 7, 2020
The plot of The Galton Case reads like a finely designed, well oiled machine. This is evidenced, among other things, by the well timed buildup of suspense, as well as a number of well executed twists and reversals, many of which you may sense looming, but don't know exactly when or how they'll drop. This, plus finely honed dialogue and MacDonald's lean, smooth prose with sprinklings of wit made this a real treat and probably an ideal case study on how to structure the perfect detective novel in a lean 250 pages or less. Archer makes for a likable detective protagonist. Perceptive, straight laced and even keeled, though his character isn't really developed with much depth. A number of the tropes employed feel a bit outdated for a novel published in 1959, such as the hysterical woman with an unreliable memory after witnessing violence, or the old rich lady (all of 73) with a "weak" heart that couldn't possibly endure any bad news.
June 25, 2022
L.A Private eye Lew Archer takes on a case for the Galton family to try and find Anthony Galton missing for more than twenty years, he doesn't have high hopes and thinks it's a waste of time but follows through anyway on bits and pieces of information that first sends him to San Francisco to pick up a trail. Where we go from here is classic detective fiction territory with a complex plot to rival Chandler or Hammett, the mystery/suspense of a Hitchcock movie and a mixed bag of characters where nothing is ever as it seems. Call me old fashioned but it was also nice to be transported back to a time without the gizmo's and gadgets of the modern world where any investigating would have been a hell of a lot harder than the CSI generation of today. Riveting stuff!
August 3, 2018
Twisty little book, for sure, with an ending that I wasn't expecting. More when I get back on Monday.
July 14, 2019
COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK 93 (of 250)
My understanding is that this novel is on the auto-fiction side: apparently, the missing person in this novel represents Macdonald's missing father. That certainly adds an interesting dimension.
HOOK - 3: P.I. Lew Archer is hired by a lawyer to find a missing Galton family member. Given the auto-fiction element, I kept thinking perhaps that Macdonald, through Archer, was working through his own emotions, perhaps putting it all on paper to resolve it once and for all. Still, this is a typical crime novel opener: a person goes missing.
PACE - 3: Macdonald keeps the pages turning, but I've read half dozen or so of this author's novels, and this one seems more on the thoughtful side with a little bit less action.
PLOT - 4: A Galton family member simply drops out of sight. Gordon Sable (of Wellesly and Sable law offices) hires Archer to investigate. Sable's own wife is a drunk and a mess and Gordon feels a responsibility to the Galtons: "I can't have Mrs. Galton's last days darkened by scandal." Sable's wife is suspicious that something else is going on besides just a missing person. And she's right. There is a huge inheritance involved, and people may not be related to each other in the way they've been raised to think. Macdonald's plot is, as usual, on the complicated side, but the author is able to wrap up various elements.
CHARACTERS - 4: Of all the hard-boiled P.I.s, Archer might be the smartest, the most logical in thinking through cases. Still, he is strong and often threatening. Maria Galton, in her 70s, has heart problems and asthma and at first seems kind and forgiving, but is she just the opposite? Anthony, the Galton family's son, disappears at the same time $2,000 and some expensive jewels go missing. A mob is involved in some way: "Shoulders" Nelson, Pete Culligan, and others. The cast is very good.
ATMOSPHERE - 3: The story moves back and forth from Canada to California, but I didn't get a sense of any difference of environment. Throughout the story, there are drugs, booze, and hookers so we're in a dark world with secrets. In this outing, though, the focus is on complicated, ill-defined relationships.
SUMMARY - 3.4, a good read, but not among my favorite of Ross Macdonald's novels. "The Galton Case", however, has received much praise, perhaps because of its auto-fiction element.
BOOK 93 (of 250)
My understanding is that this novel is on the auto-fiction side: apparently, the missing person in this novel represents Macdonald's missing father. That certainly adds an interesting dimension.
HOOK - 3: P.I. Lew Archer is hired by a lawyer to find a missing Galton family member. Given the auto-fiction element, I kept thinking perhaps that Macdonald, through Archer, was working through his own emotions, perhaps putting it all on paper to resolve it once and for all. Still, this is a typical crime novel opener: a person goes missing.
PACE - 3: Macdonald keeps the pages turning, but I've read half dozen or so of this author's novels, and this one seems more on the thoughtful side with a little bit less action.
PLOT - 4: A Galton family member simply drops out of sight. Gordon Sable (of Wellesly and Sable law offices) hires Archer to investigate. Sable's own wife is a drunk and a mess and Gordon feels a responsibility to the Galtons: "I can't have Mrs. Galton's last days darkened by scandal." Sable's wife is suspicious that something else is going on besides just a missing person. And she's right. There is a huge inheritance involved, and people may not be related to each other in the way they've been raised to think. Macdonald's plot is, as usual, on the complicated side, but the author is able to wrap up various elements.
CHARACTERS - 4: Of all the hard-boiled P.I.s, Archer might be the smartest, the most logical in thinking through cases. Still, he is strong and often threatening. Maria Galton, in her 70s, has heart problems and asthma and at first seems kind and forgiving, but is she just the opposite? Anthony, the Galton family's son, disappears at the same time $2,000 and some expensive jewels go missing. A mob is involved in some way: "Shoulders" Nelson, Pete Culligan, and others. The cast is very good.
ATMOSPHERE - 3: The story moves back and forth from Canada to California, but I didn't get a sense of any difference of environment. Throughout the story, there are drugs, booze, and hookers so we're in a dark world with secrets. In this outing, though, the focus is on complicated, ill-defined relationships.
SUMMARY - 3.4, a good read, but not among my favorite of Ross Macdonald's novels. "The Galton Case", however, has received much praise, perhaps because of its auto-fiction element.
October 3, 2018
“I hate coincidences.”—Lew Archer
This was my first read in the Lew Archer series, and I had heard positive comments about this and the series in general prior to my read. After finishing, I’m glad this series has been brought to my attention and I’ll definitely look into more in the series.
The Galton Case involves Archer being summoned to help an elderly woman track down her son (Anthony) who has been missing for some twenty years. It seems that, along with Anthony Galton, a sum of the family fortune also went missing around that same time. A family lawyer gives Archer the ins and outs of the family and the parameters for what he can and cannot reveal in his search. Archer seems to think, and with good reason, that there are quite a few secrets that are hidden under the surface of this investigation concerning many of the key principle characters. Suffice to say, the con game gets very thick about midway through, and the plot heads to quite a complex (and somewhat complicated) ending. As Archer learns more and more key clues, he takes a detour to what he believes will solve this riddle.
There much to admire about MacDonald’s work and writing. Within the scope of the plot, there is a subplot with a bit of psych0analysis, which I found rather interesting. At points, we definitely zoom in on several characters and examine them under the microscope for motives and reasons, and I thought that angle was particularly fascinating. MacDonald weaves a story with both complexity and attention to minimalist yet quality prose which makes for a fine reading experience, and Archer is there to lead the way.
I do believe that The Galton Case is a perfect way to start the Archer series if you haven’t started yet, but are interested.
This was my first read in the Lew Archer series, and I had heard positive comments about this and the series in general prior to my read. After finishing, I’m glad this series has been brought to my attention and I’ll definitely look into more in the series.
The Galton Case involves Archer being summoned to help an elderly woman track down her son (Anthony) who has been missing for some twenty years. It seems that, along with Anthony Galton, a sum of the family fortune also went missing around that same time. A family lawyer gives Archer the ins and outs of the family and the parameters for what he can and cannot reveal in his search. Archer seems to think, and with good reason, that there are quite a few secrets that are hidden under the surface of this investigation concerning many of the key principle characters. Suffice to say, the con game gets very thick about midway through, and the plot heads to quite a complex (and somewhat complicated) ending. As Archer learns more and more key clues, he takes a detour to what he believes will solve this riddle.
There much to admire about MacDonald’s work and writing. Within the scope of the plot, there is a subplot with a bit of psych0analysis, which I found rather interesting. At points, we definitely zoom in on several characters and examine them under the microscope for motives and reasons, and I thought that angle was particularly fascinating. MacDonald weaves a story with both complexity and attention to minimalist yet quality prose which makes for a fine reading experience, and Archer is there to lead the way.
I do believe that The Galton Case is a perfect way to start the Archer series if you haven’t started yet, but are interested.
July 29, 2021
Rasowy czarny kryminał. Gdybym nie wiedział kto napisał Sprawę Galtona, to dałbym sobie rękę uciąć, że to dzieło Raymonda Chandlera i ... bym teraz nie miał ręki. Nawet główny bohater Galtona, Lew Archer, to wykapany chandlerowski Marlowe, tyle, że parę lat młodszy i jeszcze nie do końca zdążył zgorzknieć.
Sama akcja jest wciągająca, intryga wzorowo przeprowadzona i obfitująca w zwroty fabularne, ale bez taniego efekciarstwa znanego z dzisiejszych kryminałów, postacie zaś, chociaż dość stereotypowe są dobrze napisane (do pełni szczęścia brakuje tylko klasycznej fame fatale).
Fabułę, jak to w czarnych kryminałach, pchają do przodu dialogi, Archer chodzi i węszy, pyta, przesłuchuje, przekupuje, perswaduje i dostaje po ryju. Jak to w czarnych kryminałach, narracja prowadzona jest pierwszoosobowo i, jak to w czarnych kryminałach, nie brakuje klimatu, wisielczego humoru i ironii.
Sama akcja jest wciągająca, intryga wzorowo przeprowadzona i obfitująca w zwroty fabularne, ale bez taniego efekciarstwa znanego z dzisiejszych kryminałów, postacie zaś, chociaż dość stereotypowe są dobrze napisane (do pełni szczęścia brakuje tylko klasycznej fame fatale).
Fabułę, jak to w czarnych kryminałach, pchają do przodu dialogi, Archer chodzi i węszy, pyta, przesłuchuje, przekupuje, perswaduje i dostaje po ryju. Jak to w czarnych kryminałach, narracja prowadzona jest pierwszoosobowo i, jak to w czarnych kryminałach, nie brakuje klimatu, wisielczego humoru i ironii.
March 4, 2023
As Wild As Life
"The Galton Case" (1959) is the eighth in a series of crime novels by Ross Macdonald featuring private detective Lew Archer and the third to be included in a compilation of the Library of America of four Macdonald novels from the 1950s. The LOA describes "The Galton Case" as --
"one of the standard masterpieces of the detective form, ... a mythically charged and deeply personal book that traces the calamitous consequences of a young man's claim to be the lost heir to a fortune."
The settings of the story range from the large mansions of the wealthy in southern California, to the gambling dens of Reno, to dismal, inexpensive boarding houses in Canada just over the Michigan border. The book is set in the mid-1950s as a wealthy, eccentric elderly widow, Mrs. Galton, and her attorney hire Lew Archer to find the widow's son who had disappeared twenty years earlier and who had been declared legally dead. Although understandably skeptical, Archer accepts the assignment. As he is about to begin his task, Archer is caught up in the murder of a rude and unlikely servant who has worked for the widow for several months. He immediately forms the hypothesis that the murder is somehow related to his assignment.
Archer follows his leads and is able to determine surprising quickly that the son is indeed dead and the victim of a brutal murder. The story picks up in earnest when Archer finds a young man just out of college claiming to be the victim's son. The novel tells the story of this young man, going by the name of John Galton, Jr., and of Archer's efforts to learn the truth about his identity.
Much of the book is taut, crime novel fare in resolving two murders and determining how, if at all, they might be related. But in Macdonald's hands, "The Galton Case" becomes far more. It is a reflection on the nature of self-identity across two countries, twenty years, and widely differing economic conditions. The story does not involve merely a clever detective following-up evidence but instead becomes "as wild as life" as one of the characters says late in the book in understanding the human condition and the difficult nature of the relationship between appearance and reality.
Born in California, Macdonald lived in Canada for much of his formative years going in and out of poverty when his father abandoned the family. He earned a PhD in English and wrote a dissertation on Samuel Taylor Coleridge. "The Galton Case" has strong overtones in Macdonald's experience. More importantly, it weaves together what are often regarded as the popular, formulaic elements of the detective story with the love and knowledge of romantic literature and the use of introspection and imagination. The book discusses familial tensions and individual growth from the standpoint of the Oedipus story, as developed both by Sophocles and by Freud. The result is a challenging integrated work of both crime fiction and literature.
I have been reading the four Lew Archer novels in the LOA compilation, and it is instructive to see how they develop. "The Galton Case" is a special work in the series. It shows how genre writing, such as the detective novel, can transcend its formulaic elements and become a vehicle for emotion and for self-understanding. The book makes rewarding reading both on its own and as part of a series showing increasing understanding of character and theme.
Robin Friedman
"The Galton Case" (1959) is the eighth in a series of crime novels by Ross Macdonald featuring private detective Lew Archer and the third to be included in a compilation of the Library of America of four Macdonald novels from the 1950s. The LOA describes "The Galton Case" as --
"one of the standard masterpieces of the detective form, ... a mythically charged and deeply personal book that traces the calamitous consequences of a young man's claim to be the lost heir to a fortune."
The settings of the story range from the large mansions of the wealthy in southern California, to the gambling dens of Reno, to dismal, inexpensive boarding houses in Canada just over the Michigan border. The book is set in the mid-1950s as a wealthy, eccentric elderly widow, Mrs. Galton, and her attorney hire Lew Archer to find the widow's son who had disappeared twenty years earlier and who had been declared legally dead. Although understandably skeptical, Archer accepts the assignment. As he is about to begin his task, Archer is caught up in the murder of a rude and unlikely servant who has worked for the widow for several months. He immediately forms the hypothesis that the murder is somehow related to his assignment.
Archer follows his leads and is able to determine surprising quickly that the son is indeed dead and the victim of a brutal murder. The story picks up in earnest when Archer finds a young man just out of college claiming to be the victim's son. The novel tells the story of this young man, going by the name of John Galton, Jr., and of Archer's efforts to learn the truth about his identity.
Much of the book is taut, crime novel fare in resolving two murders and determining how, if at all, they might be related. But in Macdonald's hands, "The Galton Case" becomes far more. It is a reflection on the nature of self-identity across two countries, twenty years, and widely differing economic conditions. The story does not involve merely a clever detective following-up evidence but instead becomes "as wild as life" as one of the characters says late in the book in understanding the human condition and the difficult nature of the relationship between appearance and reality.
Born in California, Macdonald lived in Canada for much of his formative years going in and out of poverty when his father abandoned the family. He earned a PhD in English and wrote a dissertation on Samuel Taylor Coleridge. "The Galton Case" has strong overtones in Macdonald's experience. More importantly, it weaves together what are often regarded as the popular, formulaic elements of the detective story with the love and knowledge of romantic literature and the use of introspection and imagination. The book discusses familial tensions and individual growth from the standpoint of the Oedipus story, as developed both by Sophocles and by Freud. The result is a challenging integrated work of both crime fiction and literature.
I have been reading the four Lew Archer novels in the LOA compilation, and it is instructive to see how they develop. "The Galton Case" is a special work in the series. It shows how genre writing, such as the detective novel, can transcend its formulaic elements and become a vehicle for emotion and for self-understanding. The book makes rewarding reading both on its own and as part of a series showing increasing understanding of character and theme.
Robin Friedman
September 12, 2023
if you like this review, i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com
later addition: crime fiction as comfort reading? well something like that, great plot, promises and cynicism both reversed, play the game. it has been some time since the first reading, but it definitely holds up. raymond chandler approvingly claims dashiell hammet brought crime out of the salon and down to the streets... i would suggest macdonald brought crime into the suburban living room..(i think i read that somewhere...)
??? 2000s first review: this is a bourgeois fairy tale, mistaken identity, mistaken childhood, of being a prince or a pauper, this is my favorite feel-good archer investigation. deceptive, absurd, extensive, years conspiracy and then cynicism of all good detectives strained, broken, revealing the improbable final twist, a resolution more psychological than criminal.
later addition: crime fiction as comfort reading? well something like that, great plot, promises and cynicism both reversed, play the game. it has been some time since the first reading, but it definitely holds up. raymond chandler approvingly claims dashiell hammet brought crime out of the salon and down to the streets... i would suggest macdonald brought crime into the suburban living room..(i think i read that somewhere...)
??? 2000s first review: this is a bourgeois fairy tale, mistaken identity, mistaken childhood, of being a prince or a pauper, this is my favorite feel-good archer investigation. deceptive, absurd, extensive, years conspiracy and then cynicism of all good detectives strained, broken, revealing the improbable final twist, a resolution more psychological than criminal.
August 30, 2011
I read my first Lew Archer novel just a couple of weeks ago and was very impressed. "The Galton Case" reinforces all of the good things that I said previously; "Ross Macdonald" could write extremely well. The prose is distinctive, powerful and sensuous. Where else does the detective get hired (page 9) because an old friend claims, "...I trust you to handle this affair with some degree of urbanity"? Urbanity! It wasn't a common expression in the 40s, 50s or any decade. And how about this lush paragraph, on page 12?
"Sable made a signal for a left turn. I followed him between stone gateposts in which the name Galton was cut. The majestic iron gates gave a portcullis effect. a serf who was cutting the lawn with a power-mower paused to tug at his forelock as we went by. the lawn was the color of the ink they use to print the serial numbers on banknotes, and it stretched in unbroken smoothness for a couple of hundred yards. The white facade of a pre-Mizener Spanish mansion glared in the green distance."
"The color of the ink they use to print the serial numbers on banknotes" - as soon as I read that phrase I knew that I would be including that paragraph in this review. Macdonald uses vocabulary and language to make his prose expressive in a way that puts most other writers to shame. (The next paragraph correctly employs the words, "porte-cochere" and "caduceus".)
And while both "The Wycherly Woman" and this book share much of the same process and "atmosphere", neither is a copycat of the other. Each offers a different emphasis on character motivation, psychology and the whole hard-boiled schtick. Lew Archer is an American, action-oriented, slogging-through-the-sewers type of detective, but he has instincts and flashes of brilliance that lift him above the twists and turns of the plot and the actors. Although understated, his powers of observation equal those of Holmes and often other characters notice how quick-witted and observant he is. More often than not it gets him in hot water with allies, officials and enemies. Showing that they are often as observant as he is.
These novels are not written so cryptically as to prevent the reader from stumbling along with Archer to the correct solution. One can figure out the true criminal before the puzzle is laid bare, but nothing is given away for free. Knowing exactly why the person acted is more deeply buried than who. Despite the well-turned phrases, these books are fast-paced and captivating. As I wrote in my previous review, I find it hard to believe that I had not read a novel by this man before. I am eagerly looking forward to my next "fix".
June 1, 2019
Ross Macdonald is one of the greatest mystery writers of all time. These days, Raymond Chandler seems to get all the credit for having defined the modern sensibility of the detective novel, but where Chandler brings high style and whiz-bang one-liners, Macdonald brings penetrating psychological insight and crystalline descriptions of tangled motives that will stay with you forever. There's also a certain compassion running through Macdonald's books that's not always found in hardboiled fiction. THE GALTON CASE is one of his finest, and that's saying something. He's written a lot of good ones.
(I'm an author who only posts reviews of books I like. If you want to find out about the ones I'd give less than four stars, get me alone and buy me a doughnut.)
(I'm an author who only posts reviews of books I like. If you want to find out about the ones I'd give less than four stars, get me alone and buy me a doughnut.)
January 11, 2014
If you don't especially like the Ross Macdonald novels you keep reading, don't give up because eventually you will find one you really enjoy! For me it was this.
While it wasn't at all the main point, a lot of this book seemed to be about how it sucks to be a woman. It did an amazing job of showing a changing California, and I loved seeing this view of my home state in a transitional stage before my own day. Plus an awesome plot that kept ahead of me without dirty tricks and Archer in top form. Good times.
While it wasn't at all the main point, a lot of this book seemed to be about how it sucks to be a woman. It did an amazing job of showing a changing California, and I loved seeing this view of my home state in a transitional stage before my own day. Plus an awesome plot that kept ahead of me without dirty tricks and Archer in top form. Good times.
July 8, 2024
Der Privatdetektiv Lew Archer wird vom Anwalt Gordon Sable im Namen von Maria Galton, Witwe eines Ölmillionärs, eingestellt. Er soll ihren Sohn Anthony zu finden, der vor zwanzig Jahren im Streit das Haus verlassen hatte und mit seiner schwangeren Frau verschwand. Archer verfolgt einen Hinweis in die Nähe von San Francisco und findet heraus, dass bei Bauarbeiten unter der ehemaligen Wohnhaus von Anthony Galton eine Leiche ohne Schädel gefunden wurde - Anthony Galton? Als dann noch der Diener von Anwalt Sable ermordet wird und ein junger Mann auftaucht, der sich als Sohn von Anthony Galton ausgibt, wird es zunehmend komplex.
Ross Macdonalds Privatermittler Lew Archer gehört zur klassischen Schule der amerikanischen Hardboiled Novel mit den bekannten Größen Sam Spade (Hammett) und Philip Marlowe (Chandler). Oft angesiedelt im bürgerlichen Milieu Kaliforniens der 1950er und 1960er drehen sich die Fälle regelmäßig um problematische familiäre Verhältnisse. „Der Fall Galton“ ist von 1959 und der achte Band der Reihe und besticht durch die psychologische Tiefe der Figuren und die lässig-hartnäckige Hauptfigur. Kann man immer noch gut lesen (obwohl sich in heutigen Zeiten Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse natürlich leichter klären lassen).
Ross Macdonalds Privatermittler Lew Archer gehört zur klassischen Schule der amerikanischen Hardboiled Novel mit den bekannten Größen Sam Spade (Hammett) und Philip Marlowe (Chandler). Oft angesiedelt im bürgerlichen Milieu Kaliforniens der 1950er und 1960er drehen sich die Fälle regelmäßig um problematische familiäre Verhältnisse. „Der Fall Galton“ ist von 1959 und der achte Band der Reihe und besticht durch die psychologische Tiefe der Figuren und die lässig-hartnäckige Hauptfigur. Kann man immer noch gut lesen (obwohl sich in heutigen Zeiten Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse natürlich leichter klären lassen).
May 17, 2016
Τελευταία φορά που διάβασα βιβλίο του Ρος Μακντόναλντ ήταν τον Μάρτιο του 2014, ενώ και γενικά Αμερικάνικα αστυνομικά νουάρ των δεκαετιών του '50 και του '60 είχα επίσης καιρό να διαβάσω. Όπως ήταν λογικό, μου έλειψε πολύ το εξαιρετικό και μοναδικό στιλ του συγγραφέα, που μπορώ να πω ότι είναι στο ίδιο επίπεδο με τον μαιτρ του είδους, Ρέιμοντ Τσάντλερ.
Η υπόθεση Γκάλτον είναι μια άκρως μπερδεμένη ιστορία απάτης και εγκλήματος, με τον ψύχραιμο και άνετο Λου Άρτσερ να αναλαμβάνει να βγάλει μια άκρη. Μια πλούσια ηλικιωμένη κυρία, με αρκετά προβλήματα υγείας, ψάχνει τον γιο της που χάθηκε σε νεαρή ηλικία πριν από είκοσι χρόνια. Κατά την έρευνα, ο Άρτσερ θα βρεθεί μπλεγμένος σε μια ιστορία με μοιχείες, φόνους, πάσης φύσεως εγκληματίες και, φυσικά, με ένα κάρο οικογενειακά μυστικά. Η ζωή του θα κινδυνέψει μια-δυο φορές, θα βαρεθεί να κάνει ταξίδια με αεροπλάνα, ενώ θα βρεθεί αντιμέτωπος και με πειστικούς ψεύτες...
Πολύ ωραία νουάρ ιστορία -από αυτές που με εξιτάρουν-, γεμάτη μυστήριο, ανατροπές και αποκαλύψεις. Καθώς η πλοκή του βιβλίου ξεδιπλώνεται, πολλά μυστικά βγαίνουν στην επιφάνεια και τα πράγματα γίνονται αρκετά μπερδεμένα, όμως στο τέλος όλα αποκαλύπτονται, ο συγγραφέας καταφέρνει να ενώσει όλες τις τελίτσες με μεγάλη επιτυχία και άνεση. Τα καλά του βιβλίου (και κάθε βιβλίου του Ρος Μακντόναλντ) δεν τα βρίσκεις μόνο στην πλοκή, αλλά και στην εξαιρετική γραφή. Τι να πω; Τρομερές περιγραφές καταστάσεων, ανθρώπων και τοπίων, σχετικά σύντομες και λιτές, αλλά απόλυτα παραστατικές και όμορφες, εξαιρετικοί διάλογοι, αληθοφανείς και πειστικοί, και φυσικά ωραίο λεπτό χιούμορ από πλευράς Λου Άρτσερ.
Με λίγα λόγια, πρόκειται για ένα άκρως απολαυστικό, καλογραμμένο και ευκολοδιάβαστο αστυνομικό νουάρ, με όλα τα καλούδια του είδους. Όσοι λατρεύουν τέτοιες ιστορίες, δεν υπάρχει περίπτωση να μην μείνουν ικανοποιημένοι από την συγκεκριμένη ιστορία, ενώ σίγουρα θα απολαύσουν και το μοναδικό στιλ γραφής του συγγραφέα. Θα μπορούσα να του βάλω ακόμα και πέντε αστεράκια, αλλά μά��λον θα αδικούσα άλλα βιβλία, συν το ότι μπορεί να είμαι ενθουσιασμένος αυτή την στιγμή επειδή πέρασε αρκετός καιρός από τότε που διάβασα Ρος Μακντόναλντ. Όπως και να΄χει, το βιβλίο προτείνεται άνετα.
Η υπόθεση Γκάλτον είναι μια άκρως μπερδεμένη ιστορία απάτης και εγκλήματος, με τον ψύχραιμο και άνετο Λου Άρτσερ να αναλαμβάνει να βγάλει μια άκρη. Μια πλούσια ηλικιωμένη κυρία, με αρκετά προβλήματα υγείας, ψάχνει τον γιο της που χάθηκε σε νεαρή ηλικία πριν από είκοσι χρόνια. Κατά την έρευνα, ο Άρτσερ θα βρεθεί μπλεγμένος σε μια ιστορία με μοιχείες, φόνους, πάσης φύσεως εγκληματίες και, φυσικά, με ένα κάρο οικογενειακά μυστικά. Η ζωή του θα κινδυνέψει μια-δυο φορές, θα βαρεθεί να κάνει ταξίδια με αεροπλάνα, ενώ θα βρεθεί αντιμέτωπος και με πειστικούς ψεύτες...
Πολύ ωραία νουάρ ιστορία -από αυτές που με εξιτάρουν-, γεμάτη μυστήριο, ανατροπές και αποκαλύψεις. Καθώς η πλοκή του βιβλίου ξεδιπλώνεται, πολλά μυστικά βγαίνουν στην επιφάνεια και τα πράγματα γίνονται αρκετά μπερδεμένα, όμως στο τέλος όλα αποκαλύπτονται, ο συγγραφέας καταφέρνει να ενώσει όλες τις τελίτσες με μεγάλη επιτυχία και άνεση. Τα καλά του βιβλίου (και κάθε βιβλίου του Ρος Μακντόναλντ) δεν τα βρίσκεις μόνο στην πλοκή, αλλά και στην εξαιρετική γραφή. Τι να πω; Τρομερές περιγραφές καταστάσεων, ανθρώπων και τοπίων, σχετικά σύντομες και λιτές, αλλά απόλυτα παραστατικές και όμορφες, εξαιρετικοί διάλογοι, αληθοφανείς και πειστικοί, και φυσικά ωραίο λεπτό χιούμορ από πλευράς Λου Άρτσερ.
Με λίγα λόγια, πρόκειται για ένα άκρως απολαυστικό, καλογραμμένο και ευκολοδιάβαστο αστυνομικό νουάρ, με όλα τα καλούδια του είδους. Όσοι λατρεύουν τέτοιες ιστορίες, δεν υπάρχει περίπτωση να μην μείνουν ικανοποιημένοι από την συγκεκριμένη ιστορία, ενώ σίγουρα θα απολαύσουν και το μοναδικό στιλ γραφής του συγγραφέα. Θα μπορούσα να του βάλω ακόμα και πέντε αστεράκια, αλλά μά��λον θα αδικούσα άλλα βιβλία, συν το ότι μπορεί να είμαι ενθουσιασμένος αυτή την στιγμή επειδή πέρασε αρκετός καιρός από τότε που διάβασα Ρος Μακντόναλντ. Όπως και να΄χει, το βιβλίο προτείνεται άνετα.
September 25, 2023
Things move along confidently, smoothly and intriguingly in this (#8) Lew Archer series entry... that is, until they don't. The first half is certainly better than the second. Ultimately, while it's not terrible, it's not Macdonald at his best.
Hopes were high early on. The novel's construction seemed noticeably tight - and the dialogue seemed to jump out in such a particularly sharp way - that I had the passing thought that maybe Macdonald had done a little extra 'homework' prior to jumping in on his own. Maybe he had gone back to Raymond Chandler - perhaps a re-read of 'The Long Goodbye'? - for added inspiration?
Then I reached the midway point.
Halfway-through, Macdonald has concocted one of his best (and among his most harrowing) confrontation sequences, highlighting particularly horrific slimeballs in terrifying action. It's some of the author's best writing.
What follows heads downhill. First, there's a glaring error on the part of a major character; the kind that seems totally implausible, considering the person's shrewdness. Worse, the error becomes a major plot point.
~ and the plot itself is then cranked up in a series of moves so steadily stacked that the reader can't help but see Macdonald sweating for effect. Of course, Macdonald is not a stranger to seeming convoluted - it's part of his charm - but, elsewhere, he has handled the tendency with more finesse.
All that said... 'TGC' does (just) manage to stay afloat. But you don't really crack this case; it already has its own cracks.
Hopes were high early on. The novel's construction seemed noticeably tight - and the dialogue seemed to jump out in such a particularly sharp way - that I had the passing thought that maybe Macdonald had done a little extra 'homework' prior to jumping in on his own. Maybe he had gone back to Raymond Chandler - perhaps a re-read of 'The Long Goodbye'? - for added inspiration?
Then I reached the midway point.
Halfway-through, Macdonald has concocted one of his best (and among his most harrowing) confrontation sequences, highlighting particularly horrific slimeballs in terrifying action. It's some of the author's best writing.
What follows heads downhill. First, there's a glaring error on the part of a major character; the kind that seems totally implausible, considering the person's shrewdness. Worse, the error becomes a major plot point.
~ and the plot itself is then cranked up in a series of moves so steadily stacked that the reader can't help but see Macdonald sweating for effect. Of course, Macdonald is not a stranger to seeming convoluted - it's part of his charm - but, elsewhere, he has handled the tendency with more finesse.
All that said... 'TGC' does (just) manage to stay afloat. But you don't really crack this case; it already has its own cracks.
March 11, 2022
The Galton Case is like a delirium dream where you keep going in circles with the same people and the reason for doing this changes with each go around. Lew Archer is the detective on the case, and he is hired to solve the 20 year old disappearance of the scion of the wealthy Galton family. He follows the clues with apparent ease, but what seems simple gets more complicated with every turn. He finds a headless skeleton that may be the missing son, and a possible grandson, a young man who looks like the missing man, but whose own story does not add up. Is Archer investigating an elaborate scheme to defraud the wealthy matriarch of the Galton family? As he turns and turns in the widening gyre, Archer tries to make sense of a story where the parts are scattered carelessly over two decades, and nothing is as it seems. The Galton Case is considered to be one of the best of Ross Macdonald's impressive output, and it kept me up late over a few nights.
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