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The Underground Man
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April 2022 Group Read (spoiler thread): The Underground Man by Ross Macdonald
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Randy
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Mar 28, 2022 10:48AM
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I may have limited time tomorrow and Saturday to post, so I thought I’d send something now.
I started The Underground Man a bit early since I’m not a fast reader and night-time reading doesn’t always work out for me. This is the fourth time I recall reading it (first time since 1999). For me it ranks up there with The Maltese Falcon and The Long Goodbye, so I’m a bit surprised at how much I’ve forgotten.
Macdonald was a fan of Raymond Chandler, and you get a feel for that in some of his use of analogies (from the first page, “The edges of the sky had a yellowish tinge like cheap paper darkening in the sunlight.”) But I feel like he focuses them on the long-term effect of the story more so than Chandler – note how he describes the fire that plays a central part in the book and the effect that has as you read.
Anyway, I hope everyone who joins this group read has had a chance to get the novel and we can get the discussion rolling more in the next couple of days.
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Anyway, as the Lew Archer novels continued, Macdonald focused more and more on the effects of California lifestyle and wealth on the younger generation. Much of what Macdonald wrote about seems to have some origin in what was going on in his own family; some of the events in this article seem eerily like events in this novel.
Again, the following is not happy reading, but if you're interested in what a writer draws from, this may partially answer that question for Macdonald.
https://crimereads.com/linda-interrup...
Finished it, I thought the ending was complex but I am left with a couple of nitpicks.1. Why would Mrs. Snow involve Fritz in the cover up? Was Macdonald trying to show her as a narcissist who pretends to love her son but use him when the situation called for it?
2. Lot of problems with the Leo Broadhurst murder. Why did Snow feel the need to hide the body? Was it because a piece of knife was stuck in him which could lead to her? She could have just kept the body lying where it was. There were lots of other obvious suspects. I thought her decision to hide the body was a mistake on the character's part to keep the plot moving.
I haven't read a lot of the hard-boiled detective genre, but this book packed quite a punch in a few pages. The atmosphere of the raging wildfires as the backdrop. Lew Archer, the understated hero, zipping from one place to the next to run down the next lead. Always a complicated cast of characters with tragic pasts. I needed a scorecard! Enjoyed the ride and how all was tied up nicely in the end. Appreciate the interesting back ground here too.
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Just to say I haven't missed your posts, and hope to have a response of some sort tomorrow. Sorry about the delay.
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I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the read, Karen. As Aditya points out, Macdonald produced a consistently good series with some entries better than good. I hope you feel like digging into some of the others; I don’t think order really matters, though you may find large differences in tone and concerns between early and late entries.
Aditya, as you may have gathered from my other posts, I at least partly disagree with your assessment. I think this one is at least on par with the others by Macdonald that I've read, though I’ll admit there may be some nostalgia coloring my view since it was the first Macdonald I read.
I agree Macdonald’s use of the fire isn’t subtle in much the same way that the disintegration of the house of Usher isn’t especially subtle. But it also pushes the story along providing direct danger to the young people, especially Ronnie, which creates some tension and gives impetus to hurry the investigation early on.
You’re right about the number of characters, many of whom are there to push the story along and not developed, although that doesn’t bother me much. There are characters he needs to home in on and Macdonald does that. I suspect in a real investigation that’s the norm – faces and names by the number, but not much depth in figuring out the interviewees since usually the (for instance) M.E’s crankiness stemming from long years of intermittent gout wouldn’t matter. This story covers so much ground that I think it was inevitable to have a number of such characters.
As for Freudian – pretty much the default for fiction for most of the 20th century. I like the ways in which the families reflect or refract each other, and the hope that at least one (maybe the least likely one) might take what’s happened and try to repair their relationships. Macdonald seemed interested in how money and California Dreamin’, the supposed chance to build a new identity, and the reality of doing so soured, and how the effect of wealth and the dream affected families. Again, I wonder how much of this is a reflection of his own family’s dysfunction.
If you wanted to criticize that closing image of Archer, Jean and Ronnie in the car as being a bit on the nose, as though Archer has somehow gained the family he didn’t have, I wouldn’t blame you. In some ways it rounds off the story, but it’s hard to think of it as anything but momentary. Further for contemporary readers, the age difference between Archer and Jean is problematic, though it wasn’t that uncommon into the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Somewhat tangential: I smiled when I read that Archer doesn’t believe in coincidences, especially since I’ve seen Macdonald criticized for using coincidence too much. I noticed it here in the number of times Archer arrives someplace and one of the people he needs to talk to conveniently shows up, or is already there. I’ve seen coincidence in other writers and thought it was lazy, but don’t mind it in Macdonald because it’s an authorial convenience that gets him to his point in fewer pages, rather like faster-than-light travel or transporters in s.f. When you’re trying to write a novel around or under 300 pages, some short-cuts may be necessary.
Concerning Mrs. Snow, I hadn’t thought of it in the terms you did and you may be right. She clings to Fritz, both protecting him and smothering him. I think Macdonald is merely pointing to the kind of parental-love that’s tainted by neediness on the part of the parent. And that also seems reflected, if maybe a funhouse mirror reflection, by the Broadhursts. In spite of Stanley getting married and living away from his mother, he’s still tied to her -- or her money; more so, he can’t escape his need for his father.
About the cover up (literally) of Leo Broadhurst’s murder, I assume Mrs. Snow panicked which often leads to attempts to cover up a crime and the convenience of having a son with access to a bulldozer and maybe some prodding from Albert Sweetner led to the burial. It would be more convenient if Leo disappeared than if he was found murdered, especially since she couldn’t count on her son keeping quiet if interrogated.
Not sure I’ve answered your concerns. Mostly I’m still working out my own thoughts on the novel.
Randy wrote: "Hi, Aditya and Karen.I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the read, Karen. As Aditya points out, Macdonald produced a consistently good series with some entries better than good. I hope you feel like digging ..."
Thanks for the detailed reply Randy, I have not gotten the notification for some reason.
I thought the number of characters stood out for me because all of them were used for dumping exposition. My favorite Macdonald books remain the third and fourth one in the series - The Way Some People Die and The Ivory Grin. They were a bit tighter though I am looking forward to The Chill which is often considered his best.
Obviously you loved it more than me comparing it to The Long Goodbye and The Maltese Falcon which would put it among the best and the most influential books the genre has to offer. It did not reach those heights for me. Macdonald for me was the greatest Chandler imitator, forgotten Howard Browne was a good Chandler copycat you might want to give him a try, but Macdonald never is as good as Chandler or Hammett for me.
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But you're right. Different readers, different takes, and what I value in the later work that raises it to at least Chandler levels, you're not finding as impressive.
(Odd that you didn't get notification.)
My reading list just gets longer and longer...
Apologies for being so late to the party. I've read through the posts and what a lot of interesting observations they are, so thanks for that. I guess i've read and re-read all the Chandlers and Macdonalds (and some Hammetts) over the years, and of course the legacy and influence of Marlowe, Spade and Archer is unbelievable - Michael Connolly's Bosch as an example would be unthinkable with out them. I loved The Underground Man - it shares many of the themes and devices of Macdonald's books - primarily family secrets, bad parenting, lack of good role models for children, dysfunctional relationships and i think he is a more meticulous psychological plotter than Chandler, more prosaic compared to the former's delicious poetry, so not so many quotable lines or unforgettable characters. I'd never try to value one over the other - they are both brilliant and different. I'd really recommend Tom Nolan's biography - it does illuminate many of Millar's obsessions, guilty conscience etc - as Randy has already mentioned in the link about Linda Millar's car "accident" and other problems. Hard to believe that a 1975 TV series based on the books, starring Brian Keith, was cancelled after only 2 show !
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Of course, this is a 47 year old memory, so mileage may vary.
i really enjoy Paul Newman in The Moving Target but he's being Newman, not Lew Harper (Archer) and while Janet Leigh (Lew's estranged wife) is always a welcome sight, she doesn't feature in the book. Nice touch to have Lauren Bacall starring in a minor role. Apparently the ARcher role was first offered to Frank Sinatra !!
