Pulp Fiction discussion
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What was your first intro to crime fiction?
Dick Francis novels in the school library when I was about fourteen . Still reading his son's books now
I don't know how many of you will be interested but I've just finished The Boy Detective Fails which is a look at what happens to those child detectives when they reach adulthood. It's filled with references and playful extrapolations from those books some of us loved as a kid whilst being a wonderful piece of modern literature at the same time.
Awful to admit but I first read Ruth Rendell"Live Flesh" when my son first went to kindergarten.
I wanted something to get my mind off the trauma
of leaving him crying and clinging to my skirts!!
Of course as soon as I left he happily settled down
- at least that's what the teachers said and you
can always trust a teacher, right (empty silence)!!!
Oh yes that was about 22 years ago!!
Tfitoby wrote: "I don't know how many of you will be interested but I've just finished The Boy Detective Fails which is a look at what happens to those child detectives when they reach adulthood. It'..."Sounds like a very interesting book Tfitoby.
Are you still reading Ruth Rendell 22 years later Diane?
A local used bookstore, now long gone, had a shelves full of Ellery Queen, Nick Carter, Spillane, etc. I picked up The Roman Hat Mystery, and there was no turning back. While my reading tastes fluctuate frequently, I always enjoy a good crime/pulp fiction book.
Watching 'Who framed Rodger Rabbit' as a child.
Tfitoby wrote: "Are you still reading Ruth Rendell 22 years later Diane?"I am but her recent books are nowhere near the
quality of her older ones. There is a lot written
about the newer Wexford's and how, in different
parts, the writing is a bit sloppy.
Wow: that is a tuffer question than it first appears.I remember reading a conpendium of Damon Runyan stories on a long distant bus trip about 25 years ago.
Looking back (before then), as a teen, I recall reading,"Ringolevio"by Emmett Grogan, which - on reflection - was crime fiction (in a broad sese).
But when it really kicked in for me, was reading "American Tabloid" by James Ellroy, back in the early/mid 1990's. I then commenced to read all his books, and also read James Lee Burke and Elmore Leonard.
(Ironically, like a lot of folks, I find James Ellroy inpentrable now, and wasn't able to finish the last JLB . . .)
These modern authors were a gate way to the classic authors, and a pathway to second hand books and collecting . . .
Evangeline wrote: "Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie."Same here, Enid and Agatha! Still have very fond memories of both.
Full-scale intro for me, it was Ellroy's "L.A. Confidential", but I was into Sherlock Holmes and Poe as a kid.
For me it was Raymond Chandler. Movies might have nudged me some too. I'm wondering though--is there much of a market for hardboiled mystery/PI/Crime these days? My 8 novels in a series don't sell tons, just a slow trickle if that.
Bryan wrote: "Watching 'Who framed Rodger Rabbit' as a child."I like you Bryan...because of your comment. Great answer.
Still wrote: "When I was 11 I used to have to stay with my grandmother a lot.She was always reading these Mickey Spillane "Mike Hammer" novels. She'd make book covers out of grocery store bags in order to hide ..."
I love how your grandmother used to make covers
out of grocery bags.
Has anyone ever read James Hadley Chase? I canremember the first time I read one (it wasn't so
long ago). He was a British writer who started to
write crime fiction with what he thought was a
racy American style. So you got lots of slang,
plenty of place descriptions to place the scene
in Broadway or L.A., then he come out with meetings
in tea shops and expressions such as "O by gum" etc.
He also has the lurid covers.
Diane wrote: "Has anyone ever read James Hadley Chase? I canremember the first time I read one (it wasn't so
long ago). He was a British writer who started to
write crime fiction with what he thought was a
racy..."
Pretty funny, Diane. The "O by gum".
Diane wrote: "Still wrote: "When I was 11 I used to have to stay with my grandmother a lot.She was always reading these Mickey Spillane "Mike Hammer" novels. She'd make book covers out of grocery store bags in ..."
You'd would've loved her gin rickeys. She certainly did.
Diane wrote: "Has anyone ever read James Hadley Chase? I canremember the first time I read one (it wasn't so
long ago). He was a British writer who started to
write crime fiction with what he thought was a
racy..."
Yes, I still have quite a few of the ones you are talking about. They all have black covers with girls in lingerie.
Sherlock Holmes of course, but recently when I discovered the local library began carrying Hard Case Crime reprints of crime novels.
The Sherlock Holmes novels / stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Father Brown series by G K Chesterton, and various novels and stories by Agatha Christie. Oh, and the Nancy Drew detective stories of course!For all the Sherlock Holmes fans out there, Anthony Horowitz has written a brilliant new Sherlock Holmes novel called The House Of Silk and his second one is going to be published fairly soon.
In my early teens Dave Goodis garnered my initial attention. Jim Thompson choked me out like an mma fighter.
Like many here, Sherlock Holmes was my introduction to crime fiction. John Fowles 'The Collector' was my intro to psychological thriller/fiction, likewise Thomas Harris' 'Red Dragon'.However i think my introduction to Noir was lifelong. Watching old Bogie & Robert Mitchum movies on TV as a child. Raymond Chandler put me on a path that was to become a lifelong love affair.
"Can't get enough of those Warner Bros. gangster flicks.""Didja know they're mostly based on books?"
"Oh yeah?"
"You ever read 'The Maltese Falcon'"?
"Oh yeah?"
Ben wrote: ""Can't get enough of those Warner Bros. gangster flicks.""Didja know they're mostly based on books?"
"Oh yeah?"
"You ever read 'The Maltese Falcon'"?
"Oh yeah?""
Ashamed to say i haven't read 'The Maltese Falcon' Ben, but it's definitely on my TBR list. I have all of Hammett's novels now + some of his OPs shorts, all ready to load on the Kindle Fire i plan to buy soon. Been watching loads of old film adaptations of Noir books lately too. Chandler & James Cain, among others.
This one, its a really marvelous classic children's espionage tale..Emil and the Detectives
then, there was 'Encyclopedia Brown', Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Three Investigators'; 'Alvin Fernald'; 'The Man From UNCLE'...
This is one of those answers I swing baack and forth with because my answer is either "Hound Of The Baskervilles" (but my brain sometimes views stories from the Holmes cannon more as "mysteries" and less as "crime" ... weird as that is) or "Cotton Comes To Harlem" by Chester Himes. Eitherway, both books were game changers to me. Have a great week and happy reading, Everyone.
Ben wrote: "Paul, you're in for a treat."I think so too Ben. I'm a late-comer to Noir & Hard Case Crime, but i have an enormous eBook library of this genre, as well as a number of psychological thrillers. As soon as i get my Kindle, I'm gonna be 'persona non grata' for the foreseeable future.
Reading & writing... surely humanities' greatest gift to itself.
James Patterson and John Grisham got me started on fiction crime novels. Now I am addicted.... it is just hard to find new good crime authors besides the great originals. Recently I have found an unknown debut author that I am obsessed with his writing. Dark yet beautifully written in his prose.
First Night of Summer By Landon Parham. A chilling, emotional thriller never lacking in nail-biting suspense. It reads as though you are watching a movie reel in your mind. Disturbing and vivid, he dives deep into the mind of a sadistic killer and the father that must overcome the unthinkable when his twin girls become his next target. You have got to read this if you are into crime murder mysteries. WOW, have your tissues ready. This book brought my husband to tears. This book brought my husband to tears.
I think it must have been Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler. This was a long time ago. I was a kid. The language completely blew me away—so gritty and straight and realistic but contrived at the same time. Loved it.
Paul wrote: "Ben wrote: ""Can't get enough of those Warner Bros. gangster flicks.""Didja know they're mostly based on books?"
"Oh yeah?"
"You ever read 'The Maltese Falcon'"?
"Oh yeah?""
Ashamed to say i have..."
When you do read it you will notice right away how little of Hammett's dialogue was changed for the Bogart movie. A tribute to Hammett's mastery.
My first detective stories were Agatha Christie 25 cent Pocket Books: I think The Seven Dials Mystery and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
Steve wrote: "I think it must have been Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler. This was a long time ago. I was a kid. The language completely blew me away—so gritty and straight and realistic but contrived at the..."One thing I didn't read until very late was Hammett's Op stories. I was really surprised at how good they were, and what Hammett was able to make of an often lame Black Mask formula. Charlie Chan was also a late addition -- the five Biggers novels are very readable and have quite a different affect then the films. So that was two surprises.
For me, like others here, the Hardy Boys and the Dana Girls. However, the story that got me really interested in the Mystery genre as a whole was "Four and Twenty Blackbirds", a short story by Agatha Christie. We had to read it in school. I began reading noir school stuff several years later beginning with, I think, Dashiel Hammett.ETA: I see reading some of the threads here that the Travis McGee books are considered hard boiled. I started reading those in high school back in '71 or '72.
Not to be flippant but I think the reason crime fiction appealed to me is that I really liked the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit as a child, I think that is why I was drawn to hardboiled/private eye fiction later on.
Mod
An oft overlooked bit of crime fiction. Bob Hoskins was wonderful as a seedy toon-hating PI.
I was all about the kids' detective/mystery books (Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden) but once I got too old for them, mysteries were my introduction to adult fiction. Unfortunately my library didn't have many current offerings so my first adult crime book was an Ellery Queen. They were old then, I can't imagine reading one now.
Sherlock Holmes was my point of entry. I started with the short stories and ended up reading the novels, too. . .
Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators was my intro into mystery/series books as a kid. High School was Stephen King and then found Elmore Leonard and that was it.
Freddy the Pig. When I was a little older, Boucher's anthology. These books had as powerful a formative influence as Moby Dick, Ulysses, and Bleak House later did. They give me vertigo in my stomach when I remember them.
Agatha Christie's A Murder is Announced, but I wasn't thrilled.
Classic stuff; Brass Keys to Murder, written in 1935. From there, I got really into the pulps, then somehow into Michael Critchton.♥,
Cat at Galaxy Press
Sherlock, Poirot & Miss Marple. Remain beloved up to today. After I read over 80% of Christie's novel, and could find the pattern more easily, I felt kinda 'betrayed' from crime literature. Then I read the "maltese falcon" and after that 'Farewell my lovely' and my faith was restored. I remain loyal up to today.
Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera. I'd never been interested in crime fiction at all until then. I then moved onto the Maltese Falcon and Hard Case Crime. Thankfully, I've never looked back.
The Three Investigators books, for me, as a child.My first taste of adult crime fiction was probably The Hunter by Richard Stark, or maybe the novelisation of Dirty Harry. I read so many during my teenage years (always had a paberback in my school bag) it's hard to remember which was first.
When I was a kid I would stay up late and read Hardy Boys mysteries by flashlight under the sheets. I read all fifty that had been published before I moved on to other books such as Agatha Christie and The Three Investigators.
I only started getting into crime fiction in recent years. And, well, do comics count? Because my big introduction was CRIMINAL, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Pulp Fiction
Books mentioned in this topic
Dirty Harry (other topics)The Hunter (other topics)
Brass Keys to Murder (Stories from the Golden Age) (other topics)
Tiger by the Tail (other topics)
First Night of Summer (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Richard Stark (other topics)Landon Parham (other topics)
Agatha Christie (other topics)
Agatha Christie (other topics)
Rex Stout (other topics)
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John's introduction was via a Catholic grammar school reading assignment of a Father Brown mystery. (He quickly graduated to tattered hand-me-downs of Black Mask magazine.)