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C.W. Sughrue #3
Bordersnakes
Detective C. W. Sughrue joins forces with Detective Milo Milodragovich to search for two would-be assassins and a thief, in a journey that takes them across the American Southwest and into Mexico. Tour.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
40 people are currently reading
564 people want to read
About the author
James Crumley
61 books313 followersJames Arthur Crumley was the author of violent hardboiled crime novels and several volumes of short stories and essays, as well as published and unpublished screenplays. He has been described as "one of modern crime writing's best practitioners", who was "a patron saint of the post-Vietnam private eye novel"and a cross between Raymond Chandler and Hunter S. Thompson.His book The Last Good Kiss has been described as "the most influential crime novel of the last 50 years."
Crumley, who was born in Three Rivers, Texas, grew up in south Texas, where his father was an oil-field supervisor and his mother was a waitress.
Crumley was a grade-A student and a football player, an offensive lineman, in high school. He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology on a Navy ROTC scholarship, but left to serve in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1961 in the Philippines. He then attended the Texas College of Arts and Industries on a football scholarship, where he received his B.A. degree with a major in history in 1964. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at the University of Iowa in 1966. His master's thesis was later published as the Vietnam War novel One to Count Cadence in 1969.
Crumley had not read any detective fiction until prompted to by Montana poet Richard Hugo, who recommended the work of Raymond Chandler for the quality of his sentences. Crumley finally picked up a copy of one of Chandler's books in Guadalajara, Mexico. Impressed by Chandler's writing, and that of Ross Macdonald, Crumley began writing his first detective novel, The Wrong Case, which was published in 1975.
Crumley served on the English faculty of the University of Montana at Missoula, and as a visiting professor at a number of other colleges, including the University of Arkansas, Colorado State University, the University of Texas at El Paso, Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
From the mid-80s on he lived in Missoula, Montana, where he found inspiration for his novels at Charlie B's bar. A regular there, he had many longstanding friends who have been portrayed as characters in his books.
Crumley died at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana on September 17, 2008 of complications from kidney and pulmonary diseases after many years of health problems. He was survived by his wife of 16 years, Martha Elizabeth, a poet and artist who was his fifth wife. He had five children – three from his second marriage and two from his fourth – eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Crumley, who was born in Three Rivers, Texas, grew up in south Texas, where his father was an oil-field supervisor and his mother was a waitress.
Crumley was a grade-A student and a football player, an offensive lineman, in high school. He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology on a Navy ROTC scholarship, but left to serve in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1961 in the Philippines. He then attended the Texas College of Arts and Industries on a football scholarship, where he received his B.A. degree with a major in history in 1964. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at the University of Iowa in 1966. His master's thesis was later published as the Vietnam War novel One to Count Cadence in 1969.
Crumley had not read any detective fiction until prompted to by Montana poet Richard Hugo, who recommended the work of Raymond Chandler for the quality of his sentences. Crumley finally picked up a copy of one of Chandler's books in Guadalajara, Mexico. Impressed by Chandler's writing, and that of Ross Macdonald, Crumley began writing his first detective novel, The Wrong Case, which was published in 1975.
Crumley served on the English faculty of the University of Montana at Missoula, and as a visiting professor at a number of other colleges, including the University of Arkansas, Colorado State University, the University of Texas at El Paso, Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
From the mid-80s on he lived in Missoula, Montana, where he found inspiration for his novels at Charlie B's bar. A regular there, he had many longstanding friends who have been portrayed as characters in his books.
Crumley died at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana on September 17, 2008 of complications from kidney and pulmonary diseases after many years of health problems. He was survived by his wife of 16 years, Martha Elizabeth, a poet and artist who was his fifth wife. He had five children – three from his second marriage and two from his fourth – eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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September 6, 2024
SERPENTI DI CONFINE
I serpenti di confine, quelli nominati nel titolo originale (Bordersnakes), sono gente tosta, al di là della durezza, inclini alla crudeltà. Gente che si diverte a praticarla, a usare violenza:
Quando quei bordersnakes avranno finito con te, li implorerai di tagliarti la testa.
Il confine è quello tra Texas e Mexico.
Ovviamente si occupano di traffici loschi, primo tra tutti quello della droga: cocaina e erba. Ma è la prima che fa la differenza: moltiplica sia guadagni che violenza, elevando a potenza sconosciuta la crudeltà.
Sono messicani, sono texmex, sono un po’ l’uno e un po’ l’altro. Sono la paura che incutono. Don Winslow ci ha insegnato bene chi sono e cosa fanno.
Crumley ha messo insieme i due protagonisti di due serie di romanzi che ha sviluppato nel tempo: tre quelli con protagonista Milton “Milo” Milodragovitch III e quattro quelli con C.W.Sughrue (pronunciato sciugar+rùù). Sono entrambi detective privati in una cittadina del Montana, Meriwether, modellata su quella dove andò a vivere, e morire, lo stesso James Crumley, Missoula.
In questo romanzo, classico esempio di cross over, si uniscono per portare avanti la storia.
È subito chiaro che si conoscono da tanto – e come potrebbe essere altrimenti, due detective privati abbastanza simili (dediti accanitamente al piacere e al divertimento, che vuol dire alcol, tabacco, venere e droghe varie), disinvolti e senza regole in una città del Montana di sole cinquantamila anime?
Ma non solo si conoscono, e sono amiconi: sono stati anche partner, hanno diviso l’agenzia, si sono salvati la pelle a vicenda, raccontati e confidati l’uno con l’altro. Poi, ciascuno è andato per la sua strada.
Milo ha combattuto in Corea, Sughrue in Vietnam: e questo stabilisce la differenza d’età tra i due.
Sughrue è tornato a vivere in Texas, adottando stile di vita sempre più vicino a quello dei nativi. Qualcuno ha cercato di ucciderlo e ci è andato molto vicino: è stato un bordersnake.
Milo arriva per tutt’altro motivo: sta inseguendo il banchiere che gli ha ripulito il conto personale, i tre milioni e mezzo di dollari d’eredità vincolati fino ai suoi cinquantatré anni. Ora, ha raggiunto quell’età e vorrebbe godersi la grana: ma in banca ha trovato solo un colossale buco.
Le due storie sono incredibilmente intrecciate, risolvere una vuol dire vendicare anche l’altra.
Texas, Messico del nord, New Mexico, California del nord e del sud, Seattle, Montana: i due saltano da un posto all’altro, guidano o volano fa poca differenza.
Anche Crumley fa salti nella trama, usa l’ellissi per andare avanti e indietro nel tempo, non è sempre immediato seguirlo nel suo percorso.
Nessuno è quello che sembra. O meglio, un minimo comune denominatore porta a un consistente livello generale di violenza, corruzione, rapacità, sesso usato per fini che non sono sempre e solo il piacere.
Alcol in quantità industriali, whiskey bourbon e tequila soprattutto. Cocaina, erba, anfetamine. Tutti i tipi di armi da fuoco immaginabili. Ma anche pugnali con trenta centimetri di lama, che quando tagliano la gola, decapitano la testa.
Donne fatali, donne toste, donne determinate. Uomini che picchiano altri uomini e da questi sono presi a botte.
La trama è ampia, ramificata, intrecciata, smodata, come se fosse la rete che può catturare Moby Dick. Sembra scritta durante un delirio alcolico: ma Crumley controlla bene la sua lingua e la sua scrittura.
Crumley disse dei suoi due eroi che Milo rappresentava la sua parte buona, C.W. quella cattiva. Non credo d’aver particolare disposizione per il male o la gente cattiva: ma la mia preferenza e la mia simpatia vanno a Sughrue, the bad side.
Era cominciata male la mia storia con Crumley: il suo primo romanzo che ho letto mi aveva lasciato l’amaro in bocca, insoddisfatto. Tanto più perché ne sentivo tessere lodi sperticate: un maestro unico del noir hard boiled, di quelli che tracciano una linea di confine tra il prima e il dopo di loro.
Ho insistito e sono stato ricompensato: questo è il terzo incontro e sono sempre più contento di quello che ho letto. Che Crumley ha scritto.
I serpenti di confine, quelli nominati nel titolo originale (Bordersnakes), sono gente tosta, al di là della durezza, inclini alla crudeltà. Gente che si diverte a praticarla, a usare violenza:
Quando quei bordersnakes avranno finito con te, li implorerai di tagliarti la testa.
Il confine è quello tra Texas e Mexico.
Ovviamente si occupano di traffici loschi, primo tra tutti quello della droga: cocaina e erba. Ma è la prima che fa la differenza: moltiplica sia guadagni che violenza, elevando a potenza sconosciuta la crudeltà.
Sono messicani, sono texmex, sono un po’ l’uno e un po’ l’altro. Sono la paura che incutono. Don Winslow ci ha insegnato bene chi sono e cosa fanno.
Crumley ha messo insieme i due protagonisti di due serie di romanzi che ha sviluppato nel tempo: tre quelli con protagonista Milton “Milo” Milodragovitch III e quattro quelli con C.W.Sughrue (pronunciato sciugar+rùù). Sono entrambi detective privati in una cittadina del Montana, Meriwether, modellata su quella dove andò a vivere, e morire, lo stesso James Crumley, Missoula.
In questo romanzo, classico esempio di cross over, si uniscono per portare avanti la storia.
È subito chiaro che si conoscono da tanto – e come potrebbe essere altrimenti, due detective privati abbastanza simili (dediti accanitamente al piacere e al divertimento, che vuol dire alcol, tabacco, venere e droghe varie), disinvolti e senza regole in una città del Montana di sole cinquantamila anime?
Ma non solo si conoscono, e sono amiconi: sono stati anche partner, hanno diviso l’agenzia, si sono salvati la pelle a vicenda, raccontati e confidati l’uno con l’altro. Poi, ciascuno è andato per la sua strada.
Milo ha combattuto in Corea, Sughrue in Vietnam: e questo stabilisce la differenza d’età tra i due.
Sughrue è tornato a vivere in Texas, adottando stile di vita sempre più vicino a quello dei nativi. Qualcuno ha cercato di ucciderlo e ci è andato molto vicino: è stato un bordersnake.
Milo arriva per tutt’altro motivo: sta inseguendo il banchiere che gli ha ripulito il conto personale, i tre milioni e mezzo di dollari d’eredità vincolati fino ai suoi cinquantatré anni. Ora, ha raggiunto quell’età e vorrebbe godersi la grana: ma in banca ha trovato solo un colossale buco.
Le due storie sono incredibilmente intrecciate, risolvere una vuol dire vendicare anche l’altra.
Texas, Messico del nord, New Mexico, California del nord e del sud, Seattle, Montana: i due saltano da un posto all’altro, guidano o volano fa poca differenza.
Anche Crumley fa salti nella trama, usa l’ellissi per andare avanti e indietro nel tempo, non è sempre immediato seguirlo nel suo percorso.
Nessuno è quello che sembra. O meglio, un minimo comune denominatore porta a un consistente livello generale di violenza, corruzione, rapacità, sesso usato per fini che non sono sempre e solo il piacere.
Alcol in quantità industriali, whiskey bourbon e tequila soprattutto. Cocaina, erba, anfetamine. Tutti i tipi di armi da fuoco immaginabili. Ma anche pugnali con trenta centimetri di lama, che quando tagliano la gola, decapitano la testa.
Donne fatali, donne toste, donne determinate. Uomini che picchiano altri uomini e da questi sono presi a botte.
La trama è ampia, ramificata, intrecciata, smodata, come se fosse la rete che può catturare Moby Dick. Sembra scritta durante un delirio alcolico: ma Crumley controlla bene la sua lingua e la sua scrittura.
Crumley disse dei suoi due eroi che Milo rappresentava la sua parte buona, C.W. quella cattiva. Non credo d’aver particolare disposizione per il male o la gente cattiva: ma la mia preferenza e la mia simpatia vanno a Sughrue, the bad side.
Era cominciata male la mia storia con Crumley: il suo primo romanzo che ho letto mi aveva lasciato l’amaro in bocca, insoddisfatto. Tanto più perché ne sentivo tessere lodi sperticate: un maestro unico del noir hard boiled, di quelli che tracciano una linea di confine tra il prima e il dopo di loro.
Ho insistito e sono stato ricompensato: questo è il terzo incontro e sono sempre più contento di quello che ho letto. Che Crumley ha scritto.
April 1, 2020
Crumley essentially wrote the same book over and over again. Hard drinking, hard boiled PIs take road trips filled with crazy sex, crazier drug use and craziest drinking known to man. (At one point one of the leads drink 12 beers + 12 shots, I only do half of that and people think I have a tendency to binge!!) The plot is a series of absurd hijinks that barely matters. It is held together with prose that cuts to the chase giving you an impeccable sense of broken places and broken people without taking itself too seriously. His first three crime books (first 2 Milo + first Sughrue book) are brilliant. I consider them classics of the hard boiled genre. There was a decade long gap before he wrote his next crime book and he would never capture the magic again.
Bordersnakes is broadly similar to his earlier works, but it is not as good. The prose got relatively weaker and this feels more like a shameless male wish fulfillment fantasy. Both of his series protagonists - Milo and Sughrue team up for the first time. Sughrue is searching for the men who left him for dead, Milo is searching for people who stole his money. Chapter POV is split 70-30 in Milo's favor. However it does not really matter as they are basically the same character and there is almost no difference in their narrative voices.
The two separate narratives however will be hard to keep track off and frankly there is not much of a reason to care. Crumley is more about great individual scenes rather than big picture stuff, so I just enjoyed the journey without trying to think a lot about the coincidences and far-fetched stuff that kept it moving. Crumley's plotting is not so much as complex as it is just stacking up whatever he can think of. He doubles down on the kitchen sink approach as he has to keep two stories going. For example one of his characters is left for dead in the desert but he somehow finds buried beer in the middle of nowhere. Intentionally over the top plotting balanced by utterly gritty prose.
However for all of Crumley's stylistic excesses and his character's hedonistic excesses; his prose still serves as a reminder, why so many modern authors cite him as an inspiration. There were more good lines in his previous works but he still keeps churning them out here. His version of happy ending Then drink until I died in my sleep, peacefully strangled by my own vomit. A life lesson Old whores retire; crooked old bankers just get a change of venue. And an epiphany He'd given up his foolish dreams of living his life without occasionally shooting somebody. This testosterone fuelled ride will obviously appeal more to men but even then I will only suggest picking it up to dedicated fans of the genre and the author. Rating - 3/5
Bordersnakes is broadly similar to his earlier works, but it is not as good. The prose got relatively weaker and this feels more like a shameless male wish fulfillment fantasy. Both of his series protagonists - Milo and Sughrue team up for the first time. Sughrue is searching for the men who left him for dead, Milo is searching for people who stole his money. Chapter POV is split 70-30 in Milo's favor. However it does not really matter as they are basically the same character and there is almost no difference in their narrative voices.
The two separate narratives however will be hard to keep track off and frankly there is not much of a reason to care. Crumley is more about great individual scenes rather than big picture stuff, so I just enjoyed the journey without trying to think a lot about the coincidences and far-fetched stuff that kept it moving. Crumley's plotting is not so much as complex as it is just stacking up whatever he can think of. He doubles down on the kitchen sink approach as he has to keep two stories going. For example one of his characters is left for dead in the desert but he somehow finds buried beer in the middle of nowhere. Intentionally over the top plotting balanced by utterly gritty prose.
However for all of Crumley's stylistic excesses and his character's hedonistic excesses; his prose still serves as a reminder, why so many modern authors cite him as an inspiration. There were more good lines in his previous works but he still keeps churning them out here. His version of happy ending Then drink until I died in my sleep, peacefully strangled by my own vomit. A life lesson Old whores retire; crooked old bankers just get a change of venue. And an epiphany He'd given up his foolish dreams of living his life without occasionally shooting somebody. This testosterone fuelled ride will obviously appeal more to men but even then I will only suggest picking it up to dedicated fans of the genre and the author. Rating - 3/5
July 24, 2016
This one gets so over the top in its violence and vice that it almost turns into a satire of the blood 'n guts romance that guys over 50 really go for. As for a plot, there isn't one as much as a series of drinking, fighting and screwing episodes in the name of vengeance. Someone stole Milo's inheritance and someone left Sughrue gut-shot and left to die in the desert. The two detectives team up and go after the mofos responsible. Heads explode, guts explode, coke is snorted, tequila is consumed, fists are thrown and chicks are screwed. This is "Weasels-ripped-my-flesh" guy stuff with a capital T for testosterone. And the writing carries the hijinx all the way. Lines like "smiles as tentative as neon in the sunshine" light up each page of this bloody adventure. If you're new to Crumley don't start with this one. You'll wonder what the hell is going on the whole time and miss the fun. Go back to The Last Good Kiss or The Wrong Case instead.
May 28, 2017
This is my first James Crumley offering I've read. I will now need to read his earlier novels as I really enjoyed Bordersnakes. In this novel Crumley takes his characters, Milo and Sughrue, from earlier individual works and combines them in this novel. I felt myself waking up hungover after reading this book as an extraordinary amount of alcohol is consumed by these two, along with ample amounts of marijuana smoked and plenty of "primo" cocaine injested. But there was a good storyline to accompany the drinking and drugging. I'm definitely going to read Crumley's earlier works with Milo & Sughrue.
July 13, 2017
whoever said this guy writes like an angel on speed was wrong
May 19, 2010
Crumley takes his two favorite detective creations on a gonzo adventure, roadtrip, and revenge quest. Milo and Sughrue in car filled with cocaine and firearms travel the American West with the spirits of Chandler, Peckinpah, Hunter S Thompson, and Warren Zevon as guides and a soundtrack by Ely, Cowboy Junkies, Waits, Zevon, and Patsy Cline. Ridiculous, comic and brutally violent this is the book he probably meant to write with Mexican Tree Duck.
May 18, 2012
Bordersnakes by James Crumley, published in 1996 and this crime writer’s last novel, is all about bad men in a hostile world – a novel so macho and hard-boiled you will need to use your brains like a razor on a mirror to be able to snort up the insides of this crystalline, sick, turbo-paced ride through Texas.
Two out of control private eyes in search of money and revenge cruise through this beautifully written, vomit-inducing thriller, sliding from one unsavory moment of sex, drugs and ultra-violent carnage into the next.
Crumley reads like a head on-collision of Hunter S Thompson and Jim Thompson, with a few shards of Peter Matthiessen and early Thomas McGuabe thrown in. Never mind the daft plot which implodes half way through the proceedings, the prose is breath-taking, the political philosophizing comes down on the right side of the fence (and that’s the left side, one in which a Nixon will always remain a Nixon) and the antics of the protagonists are hair-raising. If I lived like these guys I wouldn't make it to next Saturday.
A beautiful, cruel text that explores the limits of true friendship and encourages even the most timid to throw their boring hum drum iPad lives away for a couple of lines of bump and a quick rough sex.
Life affirming stuff. I read it in two sittings. Get it while you can.
Two out of control private eyes in search of money and revenge cruise through this beautifully written, vomit-inducing thriller, sliding from one unsavory moment of sex, drugs and ultra-violent carnage into the next.
Crumley reads like a head on-collision of Hunter S Thompson and Jim Thompson, with a few shards of Peter Matthiessen and early Thomas McGuabe thrown in. Never mind the daft plot which implodes half way through the proceedings, the prose is breath-taking, the political philosophizing comes down on the right side of the fence (and that’s the left side, one in which a Nixon will always remain a Nixon) and the antics of the protagonists are hair-raising. If I lived like these guys I wouldn't make it to next Saturday.
A beautiful, cruel text that explores the limits of true friendship and encourages even the most timid to throw their boring hum drum iPad lives away for a couple of lines of bump and a quick rough sex.
Life affirming stuff. I read it in two sittings. Get it while you can.
November 10, 2018
More like 2.5 stars. Crumley writes in the so called “hardboiled” crime genre. I found it too over the top at times with the macho testosterone fueled violence, drinking, and drugs. The plot stretched the limits of credulity at times as well. The love and hate bromance between the two protagonists got old too quickly for me. It tries to be too cute and witty.
So we have two guys (Milo and Sughrue) who have been on both sides of the law and are now seeking vengeance and also a stolen inheritance. They wander all over Texas and California leaving a trail of bodies. And they are the good guys who always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time or a day late and a dollar short. Crumley alternates with each character telling the story. They are so much alike you find yourself checking “ who is the narrator again?” Milo is supposed to have lost his inheritance but he never seems to run out of money. Profligate spenders they would never think of staying in a Motel 6. It all ends in a violent, bizarre confrontation in Old Mexico. I’ll take Don Winslow’s narcoficante fiction any day over this hardboiled misadventure.
So we have two guys (Milo and Sughrue) who have been on both sides of the law and are now seeking vengeance and also a stolen inheritance. They wander all over Texas and California leaving a trail of bodies. And they are the good guys who always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time or a day late and a dollar short. Crumley alternates with each character telling the story. They are so much alike you find yourself checking “ who is the narrator again?” Milo is supposed to have lost his inheritance but he never seems to run out of money. Profligate spenders they would never think of staying in a Motel 6. It all ends in a violent, bizarre confrontation in Old Mexico. I’ll take Don Winslow’s narcoficante fiction any day over this hardboiled misadventure.
January 16, 2026
Real, raw, bloody, over sexed, drug fueled, cynical, harrowing, never boring, richly detailed, peopled with a cavalcade of quirky characters, this is a story about two badass men driving The Beast all over the country trying to help solve each other's problems and I don't know how Crumley does it. It's a pure sugar rush level of escapist fantasy that I couldn't put down, but it never quite dips below the line making it cartoonish wish fulfillment, because the heroes are written so well with actual human weaknesses and desires of finding a personal happiness.
Even the zig zagging nature of the plot is easy enough to keep in order, and the prose only occasionally lingers on descriptive settings to help you form the image in your mind. In fact, Crumley's inventiveness in descriptions or dialogue is not to be underestimated.
I think if Crumley had been a bit more prolific he would have become ridiculously famous and I am amazed and appalled that none of his work has ever been adapted. They adapted Pynchon for crying out loud. No justice in this world.
Even the zig zagging nature of the plot is easy enough to keep in order, and the prose only occasionally lingers on descriptive settings to help you form the image in your mind. In fact, Crumley's inventiveness in descriptions or dialogue is not to be underestimated.
I think if Crumley had been a bit more prolific he would have become ridiculously famous and I am amazed and appalled that none of his work has ever been adapted. They adapted Pynchon for crying out loud. No justice in this world.
July 29, 2017
I enjoy revenge stories,but this was almost too much.Lots of killing,mutilating,drug and alcohol overdose,fighting...Crumley was a really good writer and the dialogue was entertaining.I have cancelled my trip to west Texas.
February 1, 2019
James Crumley made his bones with his novel The Last Good Kiss. In between the publication of that and the publication of this, he wrote one Milo and one Shugrue book respectively over the course of 18 years. Aside from a short story collection, that’s it.
I don’t know Crumley’s deal; I’ve only read a couple of interviews he’s done but my guess is he caught lightening in a bottle with TLGK and knew he couldn’t write it again, though he wanted to. He must’ve gotten to a point where he just said Screw It because this is basically The Last Good Kiss only if it involved his two private eye protagonists.
I’ve read the other two books in the Milo and Shugrue series respectively and despite liking the books, I’m not a fan of either character. Both function best as tour guides through the world Crumley creates rather than the hardened, tough talking, hard drinking, women screwing vets he wants us to empathize with. That’s what makes The Last Good Kiss such an effective book; it’s basically a road trip novel with a mystery tacked on.
And that’s firmly in Crumley’s wheelhouse. This one has another ungainly plot that’s difficult to follow but the gist of it is: our two heroes both have problems to deal with so they decide to team up and fight them together, only to find their problems may or may not be related. As he did with Dancing Bear, which is my personal favorite Crumley novel, he has meta moments where the protagonists wonder out loud why they’re doing what they’re doing and who they’re supposed to be chasing.
So while I normally don’t care for books like this, Crumley is Crumley and his road trips are so much fun. Southwest America comes alive through starry nights, long drives, dive bars, and quirky characters. And his dialogue and inner rumination are top notch as always. I didn’t really care how the book ended, I just enjoyed the trip getting there. Crumley has a way of making things feel vivid and lived in. It’s a great skill to have and it makes up for his inability to hold a plot.
I don’t really need more of these two men in my life and I’m kind of glad they only have one book each left but I’m also sad that there won’t be many more of these road trips.
I don’t know Crumley’s deal; I’ve only read a couple of interviews he’s done but my guess is he caught lightening in a bottle with TLGK and knew he couldn’t write it again, though he wanted to. He must’ve gotten to a point where he just said Screw It because this is basically The Last Good Kiss only if it involved his two private eye protagonists.
I’ve read the other two books in the Milo and Shugrue series respectively and despite liking the books, I’m not a fan of either character. Both function best as tour guides through the world Crumley creates rather than the hardened, tough talking, hard drinking, women screwing vets he wants us to empathize with. That’s what makes The Last Good Kiss such an effective book; it’s basically a road trip novel with a mystery tacked on.
And that’s firmly in Crumley’s wheelhouse. This one has another ungainly plot that’s difficult to follow but the gist of it is: our two heroes both have problems to deal with so they decide to team up and fight them together, only to find their problems may or may not be related. As he did with Dancing Bear, which is my personal favorite Crumley novel, he has meta moments where the protagonists wonder out loud why they’re doing what they’re doing and who they’re supposed to be chasing.
So while I normally don’t care for books like this, Crumley is Crumley and his road trips are so much fun. Southwest America comes alive through starry nights, long drives, dive bars, and quirky characters. And his dialogue and inner rumination are top notch as always. I didn’t really care how the book ended, I just enjoyed the trip getting there. Crumley has a way of making things feel vivid and lived in. It’s a great skill to have and it makes up for his inability to hold a plot.
I don’t really need more of these two men in my life and I’m kind of glad they only have one book each left but I’m also sad that there won’t be many more of these road trips.
January 21, 2015
Succede qualcosa quando si tocca il fondo roccioso della propria esistenza. Dalla melma viene a formarsi una certa chiarezza di vedute. La quale poi emerge e risorge, forse come la vita stessa.
Bordersnakes è un altro grande romanzo hard boiled di James Crumley, che vede insieme Milo Milodragovich e C.W. Sughrue, i due amici cinquantenni (protagonisti singoli di altri romanzi) alla ricerca della propria giustizia perché chiunque decide che la vendetta è una roba brutta non ha mai perduto nulla d'importante.
Linguaggio crudo e violento Rogelio mi gettò una pala dal manico lungo e indicò il centro di un punto sabbioso. — Non siamo degl'incivili. Ti abbiamo scelto addirittura un posto facile facile in cui scavare. — Non esiste nessun posto facile in cui scavare — dissi. — Così come non esiste nessuna fregna spiacevole. Nessuno di loro rise.
Vicende drammatiche in un susseguirsi di uccisioni, risse, scoperte, riscoperte, bevute e rari tratti di amore. Amore come lo può essere tra persone senza fissa umanità.
Bella età, la mezza età. C'è un solo problema: va sempre a finire che le donne spesso sfruttano la mia buona indole. È solo colpa mia. Me la prendo tutta - Supplente di giorno — disse lei. — Femme fatale di notte. — Fece una risata amara. — Intendiamoci, bell'uomo, nella mia vita non ci sono né innocenti né colpevoli. Solo un bel po' di vittime, e ben pochi sopravvissuti.
Una moltitudine di personaggi di contorno, in questa terra a cavallo del Messico, tutti con una loro identità , persone credibili che vorremmo esistessero solo nei libri e che, alla fine, ci convinciamo esistano solo nei libri sapendo in cuor nostro che la realtà può essere peggiore.
Povero Messico, troppo lontano dalla benedizione di Dio, troppo vicino alla dannazione del Texas!
Su è giù per quelle strade, tra continui cambi di scena, si intreccia la storia di una ricerca di soldi e di killer, conviene mettersi comodi e godersi lo spettacolo, mettere Beautiful Loser nello stereo e andare con tutta calma. La nostalgia di ciò che siamo stati è una belva feroce che dev'essere nutrita.
Tu lo hai mai mangiato un cavallo? — Non credo — rispondo. — Ma gli Apache li mangiavano in continuazione. Lo sai come vivono da queste parti: l'uomo bianco cavalca finché il cavallo non gli crolla sotto. Se arriva un messicano, lo fa rialzare, lo cavalca per altre venti miglia, poi si frega la sella. Se arriva un Apache, lo fa rialzare, lo cavalca fino a dove sta andando, poi se lo mangia.
Sughrue e Milodragovitch sono veterani di guerra, entrambi forti bevitori, entrambi pessimisti. Sono persone su cui si può contare, pieni di lealtà sino al midollo, generosi nel restituire dieci volte quanto hanno ricevuto.
Agiscono per un ineluttabile senso di giustizia, magari del tutto personale e non sempre coincidente con la legge, ma di certo coerente e sorretto da una personale e incrollabile etica. Alcune cose sono permesse, altre non si possono nemmeno pensare. Ci sono valori, come l'amicizia, che non si possono tradire, o non si è più uomini.
Come ogni storia lascia il suo segno anche questa incurva le spalle dei due amici Milo lascia andare un grugnito. So che cosa prova. Le sue spalle sono incurvate, la sua mascella è tesa. Anche lui, come quelle vecchie balene, sente che gli è stata data la caccia fino al limite dell'estinzione.
Ma per uomini così c'è sempre tempo per un altra buona lettura .... Avessi saputo che arrivavi — disse lei, senza battere ciglio — avrei preparato un po' di colazione. — Siamo ancora in tempo? Betty Porterfield aprì la cancellata. — Tutto il tempo del mondo, cow-boy.
Bordersnakes è un altro grande romanzo hard boiled di James Crumley, che vede insieme Milo Milodragovich e C.W. Sughrue, i due amici cinquantenni (protagonisti singoli di altri romanzi) alla ricerca della propria giustizia perché chiunque decide che la vendetta è una roba brutta non ha mai perduto nulla d'importante.
Linguaggio crudo e violento Rogelio mi gettò una pala dal manico lungo e indicò il centro di un punto sabbioso. — Non siamo degl'incivili. Ti abbiamo scelto addirittura un posto facile facile in cui scavare. — Non esiste nessun posto facile in cui scavare — dissi. — Così come non esiste nessuna fregna spiacevole. Nessuno di loro rise.
Vicende drammatiche in un susseguirsi di uccisioni, risse, scoperte, riscoperte, bevute e rari tratti di amore. Amore come lo può essere tra persone senza fissa umanità.
Bella età, la mezza età. C'è un solo problema: va sempre a finire che le donne spesso sfruttano la mia buona indole. È solo colpa mia. Me la prendo tutta - Supplente di giorno — disse lei. — Femme fatale di notte. — Fece una risata amara. — Intendiamoci, bell'uomo, nella mia vita non ci sono né innocenti né colpevoli. Solo un bel po' di vittime, e ben pochi sopravvissuti.
Una moltitudine di personaggi di contorno, in questa terra a cavallo del Messico, tutti con una loro identità , persone credibili che vorremmo esistessero solo nei libri e che, alla fine, ci convinciamo esistano solo nei libri sapendo in cuor nostro che la realtà può essere peggiore.
Povero Messico, troppo lontano dalla benedizione di Dio, troppo vicino alla dannazione del Texas!
Su è giù per quelle strade, tra continui cambi di scena, si intreccia la storia di una ricerca di soldi e di killer, conviene mettersi comodi e godersi lo spettacolo, mettere Beautiful Loser nello stereo e andare con tutta calma. La nostalgia di ciò che siamo stati è una belva feroce che dev'essere nutrita.
Tu lo hai mai mangiato un cavallo? — Non credo — rispondo. — Ma gli Apache li mangiavano in continuazione. Lo sai come vivono da queste parti: l'uomo bianco cavalca finché il cavallo non gli crolla sotto. Se arriva un messicano, lo fa rialzare, lo cavalca per altre venti miglia, poi si frega la sella. Se arriva un Apache, lo fa rialzare, lo cavalca fino a dove sta andando, poi se lo mangia.
Sughrue e Milodragovitch sono veterani di guerra, entrambi forti bevitori, entrambi pessimisti. Sono persone su cui si può contare, pieni di lealtà sino al midollo, generosi nel restituire dieci volte quanto hanno ricevuto.
Agiscono per un ineluttabile senso di giustizia, magari del tutto personale e non sempre coincidente con la legge, ma di certo coerente e sorretto da una personale e incrollabile etica. Alcune cose sono permesse, altre non si possono nemmeno pensare. Ci sono valori, come l'amicizia, che non si possono tradire, o non si è più uomini.
Come ogni storia lascia il suo segno anche questa incurva le spalle dei due amici Milo lascia andare un grugnito. So che cosa prova. Le sue spalle sono incurvate, la sua mascella è tesa. Anche lui, come quelle vecchie balene, sente che gli è stata data la caccia fino al limite dell'estinzione.
Ma per uomini così c'è sempre tempo per un altra buona lettura .... Avessi saputo che arrivavi — disse lei, senza battere ciglio — avrei preparato un po' di colazione. — Siamo ancora in tempo? Betty Porterfield aprì la cancellata. — Tutto il tempo del mondo, cow-boy.
September 3, 2024
A head-long rush back and forth across the Southwest, Los Angeles, West Texas, north to Seattle, and over the border into Mexico. Sex, drugs, a little rock-and-roll but plenty of firearms, violence, and foul language. When I finished I didn't know what I needed first - a hot shower with plenty of soap or a tetanus shot. I won't attempt to recap the tale but the excessive number of characters with their bizarre behaviors coupled with the POV switch between the main characters was exceedingly confusing. I'll give the other installments a pass. Two stars - not awful but not what I would classify as OK.
October 7, 2012
Perchè 5 le dai a "L'ultimo vero bacio" e nulla, tra quanto scritto da Crumley, lo eguaglia. Ma è solo questione dogmatica.
Perchè il primato vacilla davanti a questa storia che vede spalla a spalla e colpo su colpo (e che colpi, C. W. Sughrue e Milo Milodragovitch, i due self-distructive protagonisti dei suoi romanzi.
E non sai se ti coinvolge di più (pericolosamente) quello che fanno o quello che dicono.
Ma non è che importi poi tanto capirlo.
Perchè il primato vacilla davanti a questa storia che vede spalla a spalla e colpo su colpo (e che colpi, C. W. Sughrue e Milo Milodragovitch, i due self-distructive protagonisti dei suoi romanzi.
E non sai se ti coinvolge di più (pericolosamente) quello che fanno o quello che dicono.
Ma non è che importi poi tanto capirlo.
December 12, 2016
Way over the top. Well-written as are all Crumley books, but I found this one less enjoyable. Read the all-time classic "The Last Good Kiss" instead.
August 25, 2022
Plot too complicated. I like Sonny better than Milo.
January 14, 2019
This was an entertaining detective novel. It was written in 1996, and set in 1996. It features former cop Milo Milodragovitch and desert-rat hippie Sonny Sughrue, two private investigators who reunite after a long time to work on a case that turns out to be two cases. Milo is looking for the corrupt banker who stole his multimillion-dollar inheritance through computer-abetted bank fraud, and Sonny wants to track down the guy who tried to kill him some years ago.
Milo drives around in his new dark cherry Cadillac as the team gathers clues in the investigation that have them traipsing from El Paso to Austin, Texas, and into New Mexico, Los Angeles, northern California, and Seattle. These hard-living guys in their 50s see a lot of alcohol, cocaine, sex, and gun violence.
It's a decent book, but I'm not sure how well it will have aged. It caught on to coming technological changes like laptops and cell phones, and the author shows that he understands them well. That's satisfying. The attitude toward women and guns might seem a little throwback-y in spots. For the most part, his female characters are independent people who think for themselves, and who are believable. But the frequent, loose sex does try the imagination. (At the risk of revealing too much about myself, maybe it just tries my imagination!)
In Bordersnakes, life is full of kicks and sex, and the open road is an invitation to another thrill. Fights happen all the time, and while you nearly get killed, you'll survive. It's a manly fantasy, with flawed men and flawed women, pulling off schemes that sometimes don't have enough flaws in them to be believable. But it's a fantasy, so if you keep that in mind, you'll be all right.
The book has an intoxicating poetry about it. Crumley describes emotions and landscapes and weather with a richness that puts you right there. I don't know if this is a skill one can develop, or if you have to be born with it, but Crumley has it. The poetry of this book is a very large part of its appeal. I was originally given this book as a Christmas present from my sister Janine in 1996. I can't remember why she gave it to me, and I'm trying to remember if she said something about the poetry of it being the reason. That certainly seems possible. I wish I could ask her.
I drove across Texas in 2010 with my wife, from the border north of El Paso through Beaumont and into Louisiana. The western part of that state has a lot of empty and desolate parts, and this book captures that. It made me yearn to go back and drive around a bit. Crumley is that good a poet.
Milo drives around in his new dark cherry Cadillac as the team gathers clues in the investigation that have them traipsing from El Paso to Austin, Texas, and into New Mexico, Los Angeles, northern California, and Seattle. These hard-living guys in their 50s see a lot of alcohol, cocaine, sex, and gun violence.
It's a decent book, but I'm not sure how well it will have aged. It caught on to coming technological changes like laptops and cell phones, and the author shows that he understands them well. That's satisfying. The attitude toward women and guns might seem a little throwback-y in spots. For the most part, his female characters are independent people who think for themselves, and who are believable. But the frequent, loose sex does try the imagination. (At the risk of revealing too much about myself, maybe it just tries my imagination!)
In Bordersnakes, life is full of kicks and sex, and the open road is an invitation to another thrill. Fights happen all the time, and while you nearly get killed, you'll survive. It's a manly fantasy, with flawed men and flawed women, pulling off schemes that sometimes don't have enough flaws in them to be believable. But it's a fantasy, so if you keep that in mind, you'll be all right.
The book has an intoxicating poetry about it. Crumley describes emotions and landscapes and weather with a richness that puts you right there. I don't know if this is a skill one can develop, or if you have to be born with it, but Crumley has it. The poetry of this book is a very large part of its appeal. I was originally given this book as a Christmas present from my sister Janine in 1996. I can't remember why she gave it to me, and I'm trying to remember if she said something about the poetry of it being the reason. That certainly seems possible. I wish I could ask her.
I drove across Texas in 2010 with my wife, from the border north of El Paso through Beaumont and into Louisiana. The western part of that state has a lot of empty and desolate parts, and this book captures that. It made me yearn to go back and drive around a bit. Crumley is that good a poet.
January 14, 2022
Très heureuse de retrouver nos deux détectives privés qui cette fois, vont officier ensemble. Milo Milodragovitch et C. W. Sughrue réunis pour une nouvelle aventure périlleuse et palpitante. Sughrue a été laissé pour mort avec une balle dans le ventre et on a dépouillé Milo de son héritage, comme ils ne sont pas prêts à laisser tomber l'affaire et que l'union fait la force, préparez-vous ! Leur vengeance sera terrible.
Encore une fois je n'ai pas résister aux dialogues percutants et qui m'ont semblé plus vrais que nature. Les pensées intimes des personnages valent leur pesant d'or. L'intrigue en elle-même est toujours complexe et il faut un temps pour comprendre qui est qui et les enjeux qu'il y a derrière. Un roman qui mêle sexe, drogue, alcool et action forte sans toutefois cacher l'essentiel des valeurs de nos deux héros. Tout prend une autre ampleur à la lumière des bars, des motels, des longs trajets dans d'énormes 4X4 chargés de cocaïne et d'armes.
On suit ainsi deux récits, deux points de vue avec Milo qui s'exprime majoritairement. Pas toujours facile de les suivre mais au final, j'ai juste aimé voir le scénario se dérouler sans m'attacher aux invraisemblances ou aux coïncidences hasardeuses qu'empruntent l'auteur. Parce que ce qui fait le charme de ce roman ce sont les excès de ses personnages mais aussi son style inimitable ( merci pour la superbe traduction). L' Amérique semble être un vrai nid de serpents, violente au delà de tout, en lutte contre les trafiquants de drogues sans jamais parvenir à un résultat. On pourrait penser qu'avec un taux de testostérone si élevé, seuls les hommes apprécient le genre mais pas du tout, je reste captivée par ce road trip, cette folie ambiante et ce duo improbables complètement déjanté. Bonne lecture.
http://latelierdelitote.canalblog.com...
September 17, 2018
So I went back to the watering hole with another hard-boiled novel from Crumley. This is Crumley’s detectives’ first joint outing. It finds the two on a desperate quest of redemption. Milo is found forsaking a hard-fought sobriety after his $3 million inheritance vanishes from him. C.W is searching for extended revenge for his own near-murder in a dive bar. The plot that ensues is remarkable in craziness. The characters are in abundance and Crumley writes the hell out of them.
Crumley's message is that America has grown so violent and corrupt that good people are few and far to come by. A primary cause of this, he implies, is the war on drugs, as hopeless and brutal and wrongheaded as the Vietnam War.
Reading this novel was a joy. I've read about half of his novels this year, and I've yet to be disappointed in the kick they provide. Go America, Go Crumley!
Crumley's message is that America has grown so violent and corrupt that good people are few and far to come by. A primary cause of this, he implies, is the war on drugs, as hopeless and brutal and wrongheaded as the Vietnam War.
Reading this novel was a joy. I've read about half of his novels this year, and I've yet to be disappointed in the kick they provide. Go America, Go Crumley!
July 16, 2018
I love Crumley's work, and this was no exception. Great characterisation and some wonderful prose, along with the dark and seedy side of life you'd expect. I would, as I have with every other Crumbly I've read, have given it five stars, but for two factors. The first was the bringing together of his two protagonists in the one novel - it diluted the force of the characters for me. The second issue was the switching between narration in the past and present tenses, depending on which protagonist was holding forth. I find the present tense usage irritating at the best of times, and I found it detracted from the read here. Still, it was a really enjoyable read.
April 29, 2019
Much better on the border - including a deft eviscertion of American geo politics and the war on drugs - than Winslow’s bloated The Border. It’s a novel, not a tract. That said it is also kind of a throwback trip to the early writings of people like McGuane, Harrison, and Hunter Thompson - and Crumly himself since he got his start in the 70s too. I liked it but I bet I would have liked it more in my 20s. A time warp homage to guys on a road trip, getting revenge, doing drugs, drinking, screwing, getting in gun fights, and occasionally meeting a good woman. Isn’t it pretty to think so?
Also has one of the worst jokes I’ve ever heard - the one about the 🌶 chili - so bad it’s good.
Also has one of the worst jokes I’ve ever heard - the one about the 🌶 chili - so bad it’s good.
April 24, 2025
Milo and CW get together to try and resolve who shot CW and, if successful, who stole all of Milo's inheritance. The two seem to be one step behind someone that is killing off all their leads.
Once again, the action is alcohol and cocaine fueled as they run across the west. There is plenty to keep you guessing about the outcome clear to the end.
To anyone that tries to read this without reading the first 2 in each of the series, don't bother! You really need the background to understand what is going on.
Once again, the action is alcohol and cocaine fueled as they run across the west. There is plenty to keep you guessing about the outcome clear to the end.
To anyone that tries to read this without reading the first 2 in each of the series, don't bother! You really need the background to understand what is going on.
May 4, 2020
This was more intense and harder to follow than the other Crumleys I’ve read, in no small part, I’m sure, due to the inclusion of both Milodragovitch and Sughrue as first-person narrators switching off on telling the story. Every time I put it down for a few hours, I came back and found myself kinda lost in the twisting, turning plot. But the explosive, magnificent ending brought everything together in perfectly coherent dashion, making it all worth it. Great stuff.
April 15, 2018
This was rollicking good fun. The plot was nearly incomprehensible, but no more so than, say, "The Big Sleep." I read Crumley for the experience of going on an adventure with characters like Milo and Sughrue, seeing the world through their eyes, and hearing Crumley's incomparable voice. Not for plot.
September 11, 2018
After LOVING The Last Good Kiss and enjoying Mexican Tree Duck, One To Count Cadence, I got stuck into Bordersnakes. I enjoyed it, but I think I'm getting a bit bored of Milo and Sughrue, to be honest. The plot's a bit convoluted too, or maybe I just wasn't following closely enough. Either way, I'm taking some time off from Crumley, but if you've never read him... it's great.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2021
This Milo mystery is more Texas than Montana and as much Sughrue as Milo. Love the alternating POV that reveal more of the internal workings of each. Texas as a place is well defined and so is the desert, both places of beauty and danger. The miles they put on that car and the sleepless nights are impressive but the violence, sometimes restrained but often not, is frightening.
September 11, 2022
Sex, drugs, guns, revenge, tequila and a cool box of beer on the back seat. Glorious.
A ridiculously cracking shit storm of a book with some stupidly macho characters solving some stupid revenge schemes across Texas and Montana.
Peppered with some sharp shit talking and genuine moments of beauty - that was just good fun.
A ridiculously cracking shit storm of a book with some stupidly macho characters solving some stupid revenge schemes across Texas and Montana.
Peppered with some sharp shit talking and genuine moments of beauty - that was just good fun.
September 10, 2024
Fun read: the narrative POV alternates between Milo and Sugrue. This technique leads to a not altogether smooth timeline.
Confusion is only enhanced by the two leads non-stop drinking and drugging and the John Wickian levels of violence with an enjoyable but threads get tied up neatly enough at the end.
Recommended.
Confusion is only enhanced by the two leads non-stop drinking and drugging and the John Wickian levels of violence with an enjoyable but threads get tied up neatly enough at the end.
Recommended.
December 27, 2024
I wish I liked this series more than I do, because the first book was so strong, this one is closer to that than the last book, and I will finish, but it's just not grooving with me the way I want it to. The characters are certainly original, and interact well with each other, but the general sloppiness and drug addled aspects make me wonder if Hunter S Thompson wrote this.
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