Terminalcoffee discussion

I'm currently reading Roberto Bolano's 2666: A Novel - believe what you've heard, this is a masterpiece. Some of the notes I've read about Bolano suggest he's read (and was quite fond of) both James Ellroy and Philip K. Dick.

Sadly, much to my shame, I've never read either Ellroy or Dick. I'm familiar with their works. I feel I should be reading them.

If anyone's read their works, can anyone recommend a few of their books? I know of Ellroy's The Black Dahlia and LA Confidential, and I'm not too keen on reading them; is My Dark Places as good as advertised?

Help a brother out, wontcha?

I like Ellroy a lot. If you don't want to read BD or LAC you could always try The Cold Six Thousand or American Tabloid. Why don't you want to read BD or LAC?

I thought My Dark Places was good, sure, it's autobiographical with the usual Ellroy tone. Destination Morgue includes short stories/essays/outtakes. If you don't want to make the full Ellroy commitment to a novel, that's a great place to start. My only complaint with Ellroy is the fact his work all starts to sound the same after a while. I have a hard time keeping the novels straight.

PKD...I've only read a few of his books but I liked them. A Scanner Darkly is brilliant, and I like Flow My Tears, The Policemen Said as well. I still haven't gotten around to The Man in the High Castle or Ubik, but I hear they're great, too.

I'm going to check now if my library has the Bolano...Gus, both you and Tadpole both raved about it...thanks for the tip.

I haven't read any Ellroy. Philip K. Dick is pretty interesting though. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and The Man in the High Castle are probably the most accessible of his novels. For a good sampling of PKD though, I'd recommend a short story collection, such as The Philip K. Dick Reader. PKD really excelled at short stories.

I'm hesitant to read The Black Dahlia and LA Confidential because I've seen the films, and I'm afraid I won't give the books the proper reading they're due. I've heard the same complaint about Ellroy, that his work starts to sound the same after a while. This is why I tend to avoid genre writing; for me, Stephen King started to repeat himself about 2 decades ago.

I'm very pro-genre writing.

I haven't read any Bolano, Dick, or Ellroy. I do intend to read The Man in the High Castle.

I'm going to weigh in on the side of not too keen on genre writing. I like to read good writing, with a unique story and/or fresh twist and great characters---regardless of genre. (Although, I can't get behind vampires, classical romance novels and am very selective about sci-fi). Other than that fiction, history, historical fiction, contemporary and pulp fiction, biographies (unless they are of people who are really uninteresting and only got a book deal because they were "famous")---if it's a good book, I'll give it a read.

Gus, I am right there with you on Stephen King. Love his first few stories then they all started to blend together. Can't imagine reading another one.

I don't read vampire novels, romance, or much sci-fi. Most of the genre stuff I read is mystery and thriller.

I don't think I've ever read Stephen King.

I definitely recommend My Dark Places. They don't get much more intense than that.

I don't think we know you well enough to explore your dark places, Aynge. It seems a bit icky.

Hee.

I used to love James Ellroy. I have two signed books by him, one is signed "Blood boils hot", and the other is "Slash". Although I quit reading him after American Tabloid, I think his earlier books are his best.

Aynge wrote: "I definitely recommend My Dark Places. They don't get much more intense than that."

Did you mean My Dark Places, or Dark Places? I haven't read My Dark Places, but did read Dark Places and it was a fresh face on the mystery genre. Or maybe I should say it was a dark face.

My Dark Places. I'd italicize it but my keyboard refuses to cooperate.

It's the story of his mother's murder, and how he reinvestigated it in the 90's with a homicide detective.

I haven't read any Stephen King and really have no plans to.

Aynge wrote: "My Dark Places. I'd italicize it but my keyboard refuses to cooperate.

It's the story of his mother's murder, and how he reinvestigated it in the 90's with a homicide detective."

Simply click on the "add book/author" option at the top of the comment box, and it will provide a link to the book.

My Dark Places and Dark Places sound similar in the story line. Dark Places is about a woman whose mother and two sisters were murdered when she was 7 years old. Twenty years later, she begins to search out the truth of what happened that night.

A major difference between the two is that My Dark Places is true life crime, while the other is purely fiction.

This is a recommendation for Louise, who is looking for I authors. Kazuo Ishiguro.

If you like Icelandic police procedurals, Arnaldur Indriðason.

Gabby wrote: "Jim wrote: "I haven't read any Stephen King and really have no plans to."

I hope you stay firm on this. I am still regretting for reading "The Duma Key"."

That's good to know-I had that on my "to read" list