George Stroud is a hard-drinking, tough-talking, none-too-scrupulous writer for a New York media conglomerate that bears a striking resemblance to ...
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Mar 08, 2008
Matthew
rated it: 
What, exactly, is a mystery novel? From a distance the genre seems like an obvious one: it's about Sam Spade tracking down a murderer, or Phillip Marlowe lurking in the foggy shadows with a pistol in hand.
Examined more closely though, most of the obvious elements that seem to define a mystery fall away. There are mysteries that don't involve murders (a number of Sherlock Holmes stories come to mind), that don't feature detectives as protagonists (like most of Jim Thompson's novels), More...
Examined more closely though, most of the obvious elements that seem to define a mystery fall away. There are mysteries that don't involve murders (a number of Sherlock Holmes stories come to mind), that don't feature detectives as protagonists (like most of Jim Thompson's novels), More...
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Nov 18, 2011
lisa_emily
rated it: 
Have you ever started a book and wondered, how can this possibly end. The Big Clock ticks and the noose gets tighter, and the reader wonders, how will it end? I it read a number of months ago, but I still can recall the feeling of its grip. Truly great post WWII noir, although it only captures that aspect of America in subtle details. Odd nights passed in strange bars, drinks with shady women. Bad decisions based on desire. Main characters whom you want to win despite that he embodies so many m
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Jan 27, 2008
Caitlin
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I didn't dislike this book the way most of my fellow classmates seemed to. I think I have an easier time reading books and appreciating them for what they are, rather than what I want them to be. The ending was a bit rushed, but I think that was on purpose. The book was written to make a point about attempting to maintain your individuality and keep your head above water in the face of an emergingly powerful force - corporate america - and its takeover of the media. What I think it did, rath
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Dec 12, 2008
Sun
rated it:
A unique presentation gives an old story a new twist. Told in first-person from the view of main character George Stroud with additional chapters by peripheral players, the thriller (unusually) does not start until half way through. The first half is full of allusions to the big clock of time and to impending danger associated with Pauline Delos, i.e. the femme fatale.
Stroud, an editor, has an affair with Delos, who is actually the girlfriend of publishing magnate Earl Janoth or rat More...
Stroud, an editor, has an affair with Delos, who is actually the girlfriend of publishing magnate Earl Janoth or rat More...
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Dec 08, 2010
Fascinating twist on a noir thriller. After he has an affair with his boss's girlfriend, and after that girlfriend turns up dead in her apartment, George Stroud is put in charge of a manhunt--to find himself. He knows his boss committed the murder but to say so would reveal his presence near the scene of the crime, implicating himself, and would reveal the affair, destroying his marriage. This is a great premise that suffers from severe underdevelopment. The plot of the novel doesn't resolve
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May 05, 2010
Rhonda
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I read this book because I heard that it was the basis of the movie No Way Out which I adored, even with all its logical problems. It wasn't a popular book and so I had to order it, but at least it was still in print, perhaps receiving a resurgence in interest. It is certainly a delightful depiction of a very different era.
However, this book stands on its own as a gritty kind of dark venture into the underworld, thankfully coming out the other side in better shape. I was somewhat More...
However, this book stands on its own as a gritty kind of dark venture into the underworld, thankfully coming out the other side in better shape. I was somewhat More...
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Nov 22, 2008
Debbi
rated it:
THE BIG CLOCK has been called a "brilliant study in noir" (by The Globe and Mail) that has a plot "stretched tight as a drum" (according to the NY Times). I'll second those thoughts and add that in this short, well-crafted novel, Kenneth Fearing skillfully combines elements of the thriller, noir and social satire into a story that moves at a good clip and keeps you hooked--once the hook catches you, which really doesn't happen until nearly halfway through.
I'm not More...
I'm not More...
Jul 27, 2011
Matthew
rated it: 
When I read fiction, the last aspect I care about is plot, but I've been reading crime novels and mysteries to help me better teach plot to my students interested in writing genre and popular fiction. I tore through the book in less than 24-hours. I read very slowly and in spurts, so I suspect many would read the novel in one sitting. Although Fearing has some dynamic poems, he restrains himself from linguistic indulgences in his fiction. I would have tired of the story-line, despite its stra
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Jul 30, 2008
Caroline
rated it:
"The awfulness of Monday morning is the world's great common denominator. To the millionaire and the coolie it is the same, because there can be nothing worse."
It is lines like these peppering The Big Clock, a noir classic, that make it so damn much fun. If you're a fan of the genre, read this book. If you aren't, read it anyway. Be a sport.
It is lines like these peppering The Big Clock, a noir classic, that make it so damn much fun. If you're a fan of the genre, read this book. If you aren't, read it anyway. Be a sport.
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Jan 25, 2008
Andrew
rated it:
Terrific potboiler with a centripetal narrative, slow to unwind, and a sting at the end. Nice suggestive underweave about what it means to harbor art in quiet places.
Loved the setting in a 40s publishing brain trust, playing sleeper cell to social engineers and self-medicated, barely snookered legmen selling futurism a pulp prices.
Loved the setting in a 40s publishing brain trust, playing sleeper cell to social engineers and self-medicated, barely snookered legmen selling futurism a pulp prices.
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May 06, 2011
Jill
rated it:
This little noir book is right up there with some of the best of the era. Fearing didn't have much luck in the best seller arena and it took a while for this story to be recognized as special. Two films have been made of it........the original directed by John Farrow followed Fearing's story; the remake "No Way Out" changed much of the narrative but kept the same "the hunter is also the hunted" theme. And that theme is what makes this book so interesting......the main protag
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Mar 18, 2009
Walter
rated it:
Rashomon for America. Fearing is a rocking poet, too.
Did the guy writing the forward actually comprehend the book? What it was saying?
I’ve never read a forward that dissuades the reader to read a book as much as the one present in this book. The odd thing is the writer attacks Fearing in a manner of character assassination which is exactly what occurs in the coming pages when the main character tries to stand apart from conformity. So Fearing drank and wasn’t More...
Did the guy writing the forward actually comprehend the book? What it was saying?
I’ve never read a forward that dissuades the reader to read a book as much as the one present in this book. The odd thing is the writer attacks Fearing in a manner of character assassination which is exactly what occurs in the coming pages when the main character tries to stand apart from conformity. So Fearing drank and wasn’t More...
Mar 12, 2010
Isabelle
rated it:
A great example of roman noir from the 40's, "The Big Clock" is a compact novel that flows extremely well. While it has all it takes to hail of the genre, it is also very original in its voice and construction. The plot is interesting, the characters well drawn and the style brisk, incisive and plain "fun".
Plus I cannot resist a writer who can sketch a character thus: "Hagen was a hard, dark little man whose soul had been hit by lightning, which he'd liked. H More...
Plus I cannot resist a writer who can sketch a character thus: "Hagen was a hard, dark little man whose soul had been hit by lightning, which he'd liked. H More...
Apr 11, 2010
Gabriel
rated it:
Fearing's compression occasionally borders on the heroic, maybe just the manic. Let's face it, this book should have been twice as long; in the hands of most other writers, it would have been. So there's that.
For a story, there's not a lot of story here. Instead, this is maybe an excavation. Here are the artifacts, gentlemen. Do with them as you will.
Hell, I enjoyed it (the protagonist is named George Stroud, his wife, Georgette, and his daughter, Georgia. And they all More...
For a story, there's not a lot of story here. Instead, this is maybe an excavation. Here are the artifacts, gentlemen. Do with them as you will.
Hell, I enjoyed it (the protagonist is named George Stroud, his wife, Georgette, and his daughter, Georgia. And they all More...
May 12, 2011
Robert
rated it:
The Big Clock by poet Kenneth Fearing is one of those pieces of crime fiction that you can call literature and no one in the know would raise an eye brow. There is no wise cracking detective here, so if you are into those kinds of things, it would be classified as Noir. It is unusual in another way, and that is that we know who the murder is almost from the start. It’s been called a “whodunit” in reverse read the rest here: http://crimeways.wordpress.com/2011/03/2...
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Jun 19, 2011
Frank
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Oct 28, 2010
Maureen
rated it:
i have admired the john farrow film adaptation of this book for a long time, and i have to say it probably clouded my enjoyment of the novel. the big clock is an extended metaphor throughout the novel, of business and society controlling and overwhelming independent spirit which is reduced to a reality in the film: there actually *is* a big clock, and instead of ruminating on the big clock as it hustles people along, attention is paid to time and time pieces throughout: the murder weapon in the
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Aug 09, 2010
Ben
rated it:
Noir City Sentinel
A Publication of the Film Noir Foundation
Vol. 5, No.1
Winter 2010
Kenneth Fearing
The Poet of Noir
by Ben Terrall
The writer Kenneth Fearing is best known to fans of film noir and crime fiction for his novel The Big Clock. The 1948 film version, scripted by Jonathan Latimer and directed by John Farrow, is a classic of paranoid, walls-closing-in storytelling which Paul Shrader included in a list of pictures exemplifying wh More...
A Publication of the Film Noir Foundation
Vol. 5, No.1
Winter 2010
Kenneth Fearing
The Poet of Noir
by Ben Terrall
The writer Kenneth Fearing is best known to fans of film noir and crime fiction for his novel The Big Clock. The 1948 film version, scripted by Jonathan Latimer and directed by John Farrow, is a classic of paranoid, walls-closing-in storytelling which Paul Shrader included in a list of pictures exemplifying wh More...
Mar 06, 2008
Austin
rated it:
While not a well known as work by Chandler or Hammett, Kenneth Fearing has composed a Hard-Boiled masterpiece that manages to keep readers turning pages, and guessing up until the last chapter. Not only that, but the story is narrated from no less than seven different points of view, which seems to be as much the inspiration for scores of other non-noir writers (the "lattice of coincidence" coming together at the end seems echoed in Confederacy Of Dunces), but seems unmistakably a dir
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Dec 14, 2008
Sara
rated it:
My introduction to the American Noir genre. I'm taking a class. It's a fun read. Totally black and white, stogie smoking, behind a frosted glass, imagery. With fun descriptions like; "She was tall, ice-blonde, and splendid. The eye saw nothing but innocence, to the instincts she was undiluted sex, the brain said here was a perfect hell." I mean, come on! Although, I suppose I shouldn't give it three stars, since I only gave The Great Gatsby two. But I did finish this one! Ah w
Oct 13, 2008
Heather
rated it:
First impression--there is a family of 3 people (husband, wife, & daughter) all named George! Cute, but confusing. I really enjoyed this. It was part of a collection of 30s & 40s noir, but this was less disturbing than the 1930s selections that I read. It is a crime novel, and in a way it is a mystery, even though the crime is known to the reader, the mystery becomes who will discover what.
The chapters are narrated by different people, but in a continuous time line, which was unusual More...
The chapters are narrated by different people, but in a continuous time line, which was unusual More...
Aug 09, 2010
Dan
rated it:
The novel is reminiscent of Oedipus Rex: a group of people is looking for a certain person, and ask the protagonist to find this person, not realizing that the protagonist is the person they are seeking. The protagonist has to appear as if he is actively searching for this person, while keeping secret the fact that he is the object of the search. The narrative technique dramatizes the protagonist’s need to keep this secret: he is the narrator of many of the chapters, and frequently speculates
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May 14, 2009
Julia
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A rather bizarre noir novel - the wrong man is forced to hunt down himself. A bit of a dystopian element, interesting setting of the near-future. The structure of Janoth publishing is chillingly accurate to the Big Media we struggle with today. Pretty spooky, pretty easy to read, without feeling like an idiot.
Dec 24, 2008
Yulia
rated it:
I truly couldn't let go of this book till I was finished. It starts with one man's fascination with a beautiful and unattainable woman, but reveals how much more than sexual escapades he has to live for, from telling stories to his daughter to appreciating art and helping others realize their dreams. This breathless suspense novel also raises issues of the sacrifices people make for their corporate lives and their family lives, but how even these compromising institutions are necessary compone
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Aug 18, 2011
AJ
rated it:
A snappy and compelling thriller with a neat twist on standard noir plot mechanics. The detective in this case is hired to find himself, knowing his employer is a murderer seeking to frame him for the crime.
A lot of fun.
A lot of fun.
Jan 31, 2011
Todd
rated it:
A tight little gem of a book. I loved the whole big clock conceit and the judicious use of multiple narrators. In this age of Citizens United, The Big Clock continues to speak volumes about the dehumanizing power of large corporations.
Jan 02, 2010
Joan
rated it:
Probably 3 and a half. Very interesting protagonist. So self-centered. Lacking in self-awareness. I liked the rhythm of the book. The writing style.
Aug 03, 2009
The Big Clock - Kenneth Fearing
I really liked this. It's got some small problems, but it really wrapped me in. Funny too. Perhaps more a guy's book.
I really liked this. It's got some small problems, but it really wrapped me in. Funny too. Perhaps more a guy's book.
May 18, 2009
Aleighdavis
rated it:
I always love a good noir featuring a skyscraper as an insatiable God of Commerce. Especially one that begins with the moment that dame parts the crowd . . .
Dec 21, 2008
James
rated it:
"Mad Men" has got me reading mid-century American business office novels/movies. This is a bit earlier, and kind of spotty qua mystery novel.
