Lehane's first 3: What am I missing here?

[Sufferingbruin]

New member of the group here. I'm looking forward to participating, discovering new books to read, reading recommendations, etc.

My first subject: Dennis Lehane's first three books: A Drink Before the War, Darkness, Take My Hand and Sacred. I'm sorry to say I'm less than impressed and I'm wondering what I'm missing here. Lehane receives wonderful reviews but I don't see anything extraordinary here or even that good. "A Drink" used virtually every cliche imaginable but for a first effort, that's to be expected. "Darkness" had violence that was comically over the top and frankly unrealistic--difficult for this reader to make a connection there and some of the prose was, IMHO, just silly. So I gave "Sacred" a try and, again, the bad guys were so evil, it was surreal (though not quite as surreal as the resolution). Surreality--maybe that's the point. I guess I was looking for something akin to Elmore Leonard, whose bad guys are memorable because of their humanity whereas Lehane seems to think a bad guy needs to do the worst things possible in order to engage the reader's interest.

My wife asked a pretty good question: if you don't like him, why do you keep reading him? I want to know what the big deal is. Perhaps someone can tell me. It's not a challenge I'm making; I really feel like I'm missing something here. Leonard loves Lehane and he's not alone.

In short: do you like Lehane and why? Do you dislike his work and why? Are his later, more famous works, better or worse than his earlier efforts? Let's talk a little Dennis Lehane, if you don't mind. And not for nothing but another reason I keep reading Lehane is that by virtually all accounts, he is a helluva nice guy; generous with beginning writers, students and fans.

Any and all feedback appreciated. For those of you who take the tack of, "Fer Chrissakes, figure out for yourself!", I certainly respect that as well. Cheers.

[paul]

i have Mystic River and Shutter Island to go on. i believe that completes my Lehane travels. both were interest-compelling and told unusual stories. i recall liking both for their distinctive writing/plotting.

no reason why i haven't continued on with the author. fact is your message jostled a thought to look at other Lehanes in the town library.

[Donna, Co-Moderator]

Not sure if this would make a difference to your question but Shutter Island and Mystic River are stand alones while A Drink Before the War, Darkness, Take My Hand, and Sacred are the first 3 books in the Kenzie/Gennaro series. So maybe it's just the series you are having trouble with and some of Lehane's other works would be more to your liking.

I personally found the Kenzie/Gennaro series intense and compelling with nuanced charaters and plot but I will agree with you the violence is not for everyone and I did skim a few pages here and there.

[Gatorman]

I read Gone, Baby, Gone, Prayers for Rain and Moonlight Mile in the Gennaro/ Kenzie series and liked them all (the former two more so than than Mile) because of his writing style, the engaging plots and the enjoyable interaction of the main characters. His books seem to have an edge that others in the same genre are missing. I also read Mystic River and Shutter Island as stand-alones and loved them, too. Maybe you should try one of these since, as Donna said, it could be the series you don't like.

[Sufferingbruin]

Many thanks for the comments. Based on the recs, I hit a used bookstore and got Mystic, Shutter and GBG (75 cents for three books--not bad!). :) I have to admit that all are waiting behind Elmore Leonard's Unknown Man #89.

FWIW, I have two friends of mine--mystery readers both--who think there's something wrong with me for not liking Lehane but both said I needed to read Gone, Baby, Gone and the stand alone novels.

[Dorie]

I first read his series and although I enjoyed them, I wasn't bowled over by Lehane until I read his standalones, the previously mentioned Shutter Island and Mystic River. I consider Mystic River his best novel, and I would encourage you to read it before giving up on him.

[[deleted user]]

Just to add the dissenting voice here, I'm one of the few who did not totally enjoy Mystic River. I was underwhelmed. Here's my review. Haven't read Shutter Island.

[Patrick]

I'll echo the recs on Mystic River, Shutter Island, and Gone, Baby, Gone. His latest, Moonlight Mile, is another Kenzie/Gennaro and a direct sequel to GBG. It was fine but not as good as the others.

Where Lehane's concerned, I always recommend a short story - "Until Gwen" - above other things, and I'll repeat that here. You can find it in Coronado: Stories.

But it's also free in an online copy of The Atlantic, right here:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/p...

[Jan C]

I've really enjoyed the first three books in the Kenzie-Gennaro series. I'm waiting to get the movie of Gone, Baby, Gone before I get back to the book.

I do know people who just thought the series got too violent. But I thought it fit the situation, the time, the place, etc. I love the characters.

I've usually found Leonard pretty humorous. I can't think of one of his books that I haven't laughed a lot at. But Leonard is not Lehane. I guess there is more to laugh about in Detroit than in Boston. So maybe if you started reading Lehane looking for something like Leonard that could be why you were disappointed. Just because Leonard likes Lehane doesn't mean they write anything alike. (Have to admit I don't why Leonard likes Lehane other than maybe he just spins a good story.)

Also, I kind of went off Leonard after Pagan Babies. I was kind of going off him before, but that just seemed to be the last straw for me.

[T]

I've never stopped to analyze why, but I like Lehane - must be style or something, because the 2nd to the last one is somewhat baseball-related and I'm not a huge fan of baseball, yet I enjoyed the book.

The last one felt like closure on Kenzie & Gennaro...they grew up and have to be responsible now....

[Sufferingbruin]

Patrick wrote: "I'll echo the recs on Mystic River, Shutter Island, and Gone, Baby, Gone. His latest, Moonlight Mile, is another Kenzie/Gennaro and a direct sequel to GBG. It was fine but not as good as the others..."

Okay, now that was a terrific short story! Thanks very much for the recommendation.

[Sufferingbruin]

Jan C wrote: "I've really enjoyed the first three books in the Kenzie-Gennaro series. I'm waiting to get the movie of Gone, Baby, Gone before I get back to the book.

I do know people who just th..."

I like your comments about Leonard vs. Lehane, not least because I think it gets to the root of my problem with Lehane. Leonard's characters are very ordinary people involved in a series of sometimes deadly screw-ups and the characters are, IMHO, humane whereas Lehane's situations and characters are larger than life. A Drink Before the War had huge gang members fighting huge cops with huge politicians doing hugely evil things. Lehane upped the ante considerably in every respect with Darkness, Take My Hand with results that, I felt, were way over the top (I wrote a fairly long review of "Darkness" so feel free to flatter me and check it out). With Sacred, Lehane went for the femme fatale to end all femme fatale's.

Leonard would never do that, IMHO and that's to his credit. So I think you're quite right--I went into Lehane expecting something like Leonard because I love Leonard. What I got was dramatically different. That said, I'm not giving up on Lehane--his books read very fast and, I've been told, his later stuff is terrific.

Thanks for the thoughtful response.

[Patrick]

Sufferingbruin wrote: "Okay, now that was a terrific short story! Thanks very much for the recommendation...."

It is a terrific story. Second person is something you rarely see, and this piece is about as fine an example as I've ever come across. He also gets the rhythm of the words just perfect.

I've started to think Lehane is at his best in close quarters - the car and hotel and fairgrounds in "Until Gwen," the street the boys grew up on and the narrowly-shown lives they have as men in Mystic River, and the hospital for the insane in Shutter Island. His nuanced eye for characters and place shows best there.

Remove it to something broader - I'm thinking all of Boston during the police strike years, in The Given Day - and it's written just as well but doesn't seem to grab you as much. There were individual sentences and paragraphs in Given Day that made me think, I'll never write like this, but all of "Until Gwen" and Shutter Island make me think that!

[Afsana]

i liked shutter island- here is is my review

I really did enjoy reading this book and the surprise twist near the end was brilliant

Dennis lehane also left you wondering questioning what is the truth and I think this helps you keep the story in mind for a long while after you read it.

It is intricate and well thought out and at the end it allows the the reader to think back and connect whats happened throughout the book to what occurs at the end of the book

I didn't want to put it down and am still unsure what is the truth and what is make belief.



I didn't like mystic river

i got Moonlight mile and sacred and gone baby gone and the one with Rain in the title

[Jerold]

Dear Bruin: I've read most of Lehane's books, seen a few of the movies, and like the Kenzie-Gennaro series. I lived in Cambridge for three years, and my wife lived in Summerville and Medford for many years before that, so we both know the area and the culture he describes. Part of the appeal of the series is that Lehane makes South Boston and the surroundings a major character in his books. He captures the feel of the very idiosyncratic communities that surround Boston and the stereotypes of the people who live there exceedingly well.

I agree with almost all of the comments you've received thus far. Liking this series requires that you don't tune out because of the ultra-dark mood and the uber-violence, and that you accept the vigilante approach to justice.

[Vince]

I'm not sure what you're missing. The Kenzie Gennaro books are easily in my top three favorite mystery series of all time. Love the characters (all of them), the interactions between them, the flavor of Boston that he captures... love Bubba... think he's a great character that I'd love to see a novel with or at least a short story...

[Robin]

I saw this Dennis Lehane discussion when Vince posted (thanks, Vince!) – I really like Lehane's early novels. That first sentence in A Drink Before the War: “My earliest memories involve fire” hooked me. I would’ve come UN-hooked pretty quickly, but the writing is so good and evocative, I kept on reading. Have to say, though, while I like and admire the early three, I absolutely love Mystic River. It’s something special.