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The Hidden Files
« Autant vous prévenir tout de suite. Ceci n'est pas une autobiographie. Enfin, pas au sens où on l'entend habituellement. Certes, vous y trouverez des dates, des anecdotes, certains des faits marquants de la vie d'un écrivain hors du commun, né dans l'Angleterre des lords et des ladies avec une cuiller en argent dans la bouche, et qui, dans un haut-le-coeur, vomit cuiller, lords, ladies et Angleterre pour endosser tour à tour la défroque de chauffeur de taxi, d'escroc immobilier, d'homme de main de la pègre londonienne, pour finir exilé en France dans un mas abandonné, à cultiver la vigne en écrivant quelques-uns des plus intenses romans noirs de ces vingt dernières années... Mais surtout, vous entendrez au fil de ces pages un écrivain parler de son amour de la littérature, du roman noir,
342 pages, Hardcover
First published March 8, 1999
3 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Derek Raymond
19 books137 followersAka Robin Cook.
Pen name for Robert William Arthur Cook. Born into privilege, Raymond attended Eton before completing his National Service. Raymond moved to France in the 50's before eventually returning to London in the 60's. His first book, 'Crust on its Uppers,' released in 1962 under his real name, was well-received but brought few sales. Moving through Italy he abandoned writing before returning to London. In 1984 he released the first of the Factory Series, 'He Died With His Eyes Open' under the name Derek Raymond. Following 'The Devil's Home On Leave' and 'How The Dead Live' he released his major work 'I Was Dora Suarez' in 1990. His memoirs were released as 'The Hidden Files'.
Pen name for Robert William Arthur Cook. Born into privilege, Raymond attended Eton before completing his National Service. Raymond moved to France in the 50's before eventually returning to London in the 60's. His first book, 'Crust on its Uppers,' released in 1962 under his real name, was well-received but brought few sales. Moving through Italy he abandoned writing before returning to London. In 1984 he released the first of the Factory Series, 'He Died With His Eyes Open' under the name Derek Raymond. Following 'The Devil's Home On Leave' and 'How The Dead Live' he released his major work 'I Was Dora Suarez' in 1990. His memoirs were released as 'The Hidden Files'.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 10, 2017
Derek Raymond is best known for his five noir crime Factory Novels series written in the 1980s, however before writing those novels, and around two decades earlier, he’d written as Robin Cook, his birth name, in the 1960s, before having to leave the UK for mainland Europe for a protracted period. This relocation reputedly linked to his criminal activities during that era.
Derek Raymond was born Robert William Arthur “Robin” Cook in 1931 and he died in London in 1994. He was the son of a textile magnate who dropped out of Eton, the famously expensive and elitist British public school, aged 16, and turned his back on his privileged background. After a period travelling and living in the US and Spain, he returned home to London and was variously employed as a pornographer, organiser of illegal gambling, money launderer, pig-slaughterer and minicab driver, who preferred to associate with criminals and con men.
'The Hidden Files' is his 1992 memoir and, having heard lots of good things about it, my expectations were fairly high. I now realise Derek Raymond's defining characteristic is his inconsistency. When he's good he's great, usually when he's at his most disciplined, however all too often his writing meanders around. 'The Hidden Files' illustrates this perfectly. It's a non-linear, scattershot memoir interspersed with Derek Raymond's musings on what he calls the black novel which, so far as I could glean, are those novels with metaphysical content.
A lot of 'The Hidden Files' is fairly tedious and the lack of any kind of structure is frustrating especially as there are very enjoyable sections For example how he met Veronica Hull, or descriptions of his early childhood during the war years, but all too often he muses over something completely unrelated, his neighbours in France in 1992, or the nature of evil, or the black novel. Here's an excerpt chosen at random to give an idea of some of the content...
That's fairly typical of a lot of what's in this book. However the bits that are pure memoir, and when Derek Raymond stick to a particular story or theme, are sporadically very interesting. Perhaps he was not really sure what he was seeking to achieve with this book, written towards the end of his life (though seemingly unaware quite how close to the end), either way I was more bored than interested or entranced.
2.5/5
* * * * *
And, whilst I’m here, the five books in Derek Raymond's Factory series are...
1. He Died With His Eyes Open (1984)
2. The Devil's Home on Leave (1985)
3. How the Dead Live (1986)
4. I Was Dora Suarez (1990)
5. Dead Man Upright (1993)
Click here to read my review of "He Died With His Eyes Open" (Factory 1) (1976)
Click here to read my review of "The Devil's Home on Leave" (Factory 2) (1985)
Click here to read my review of "How the Dead Live" (Factory 3) (1986)
Click here to read my review of "I Was Dora Suarez" (Factory 4) (1990)
Click here to read my review of "Dead Man Upright" (Factory 5) (1990)
* * * * *
Click here to read a discussion thread about Derek Raymond
* * * * *
Derek Raymond was born Robert William Arthur “Robin” Cook in 1931 and he died in London in 1994. He was the son of a textile magnate who dropped out of Eton, the famously expensive and elitist British public school, aged 16, and turned his back on his privileged background. After a period travelling and living in the US and Spain, he returned home to London and was variously employed as a pornographer, organiser of illegal gambling, money launderer, pig-slaughterer and minicab driver, who preferred to associate with criminals and con men.
'The Hidden Files' is his 1992 memoir and, having heard lots of good things about it, my expectations were fairly high. I now realise Derek Raymond's defining characteristic is his inconsistency. When he's good he's great, usually when he's at his most disciplined, however all too often his writing meanders around. 'The Hidden Files' illustrates this perfectly. It's a non-linear, scattershot memoir interspersed with Derek Raymond's musings on what he calls the black novel which, so far as I could glean, are those novels with metaphysical content.
A lot of 'The Hidden Files' is fairly tedious and the lack of any kind of structure is frustrating especially as there are very enjoyable sections For example how he met Veronica Hull, or descriptions of his early childhood during the war years, but all too often he muses over something completely unrelated, his neighbours in France in 1992, or the nature of evil, or the black novel. Here's an excerpt chosen at random to give an idea of some of the content...
The writer of the black novel must take despair as his lover because, like all desperate men his absence of future is all he has. Though negative, this absence is most likely the only areas he has ever known (worse still if he once knew others). I try to breathe life into despair; adjusting the bed of Procrustes to a shape proper for man is what writing meant so me.
That's fairly typical of a lot of what's in this book. However the bits that are pure memoir, and when Derek Raymond stick to a particular story or theme, are sporadically very interesting. Perhaps he was not really sure what he was seeking to achieve with this book, written towards the end of his life (though seemingly unaware quite how close to the end), either way I was more bored than interested or entranced.
2.5/5
* * * * *
And, whilst I’m here, the five books in Derek Raymond's Factory series are...
1. He Died With His Eyes Open (1984)
2. The Devil's Home on Leave (1985)
3. How the Dead Live (1986)
4. I Was Dora Suarez (1990)
5. Dead Man Upright (1993)
Click here to read my review of "He Died With His Eyes Open" (Factory 1) (1976)
Click here to read my review of "The Devil's Home on Leave" (Factory 2) (1985)
Click here to read my review of "How the Dead Live" (Factory 3) (1986)
Click here to read my review of "I Was Dora Suarez" (Factory 4) (1990)
Click here to read my review of "Dead Man Upright" (Factory 5) (1990)
* * * * *
Click here to read a discussion thread about Derek Raymond
* * * * *
November 15, 2015
It probably isn't a five star book in reality but I enjoyed parts of it very much. What we have here is a mish-mash for Raymond's recollections of his childhood and youth mixed in with his thoughts on the 'black novel' and crime fiction, as well as letters to friends, ruminations, you name it. Oh, and the recollections aren't in any kind of chronological order after the first few chapters. The results are...interesting. Toward the back I found myself skipping passages that bored me (mainly the memoir parts), but Raymond's thoughts on the black novel and literature more broadly are fascinating.
On a personal note, this is one of the most expensive secondhand books I've bought recently, at $55, and yet I felt like it was worth it. It's just a shame that this is so unruly, because this is an important work by an important writer.
On a personal note, this is one of the most expensive secondhand books I've bought recently, at $55, and yet I felt like it was worth it. It's just a shame that this is so unruly, because this is an important work by an important writer.
January 4, 2025
One of the finest memoirs ever written. If you're interested in noir author Derek Raymond, this is the book to get (if you can find it). Took me years. He goes into the writing of I Was Dora Suarez and the toll it took on his psyche.
Derek Raymond, as a crime/noir author is second to none. Read his Crime Factory series, starring his no-name UK police detective. RIP.
Derek Raymond, as a crime/noir author is second to none. Read his Crime Factory series, starring his no-name UK police detective. RIP.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews