What do you think?
Rate this book
Crumley Mysteries #1
小屑械褉褌褜 鈥� 写褨谢芯 褋邪屑芯褌薪褦
校 薪芯胁芯屑褍 褉芯屑邪薪褨 袪. 袘褉械写斜械褉褨 锌芯褉褍褕褍褦褌褜褋褟 芯写胁褨褔薪邪 褌械屑邪 斜芯褉芯褌褜斜懈 袛芯斜褉邪 蟹褨 袟谢芯屑, 小胁褨褌谢邪 蟹 袦芯褉芯泻芯屑, 胁懈泻谢邪写械薪邪 胁 写芯褋懈褌褜 薪械蟹胁懈褔薪褨泄 写谢褟 锌懈褋褜屑械薪薪懈泻邪 写械褌械泻褌懈胁薪褨泄 褎芯褉屑褨. 袗褌屑芯褋褎械褉邪, 胁 褟泻褍 锌芯褉懈薪邪褦 褔懈褌邪褔, 胁褨写褉邪蟹褍 卸 锌褉懈谐芯谢芯屑褕褍褦 褋胁芯褦褞 锌芯薪褍褉褨褋褌褞 褌邪 褋褌褉邪褏芯屑. 孝褍褌 褍褋械 锌褉芯褋褟泻薪褍褌械 胁屑懈褉邪薪薪褟屑, 褨 蟹写邪褦褌褜褋褟, 褖芯 褋邪屑邪 小屑械褉褌褜 褍卸械 写懈褏邪褦 褌芯斜褨 胁 褋锌懈薪褍 褍 锌芯褕褍泻邪褏 小邪屑芯褌薪褨褏 写褍褕. 袗谢械 锌褉邪谐薪械薪薪褟 卸懈褌懈 锌械褉械胁械褉褕褍褦 褑械泄 褋屑褍褌芯泻 褨 蟹薪械胁褨褉褍, 邪 锌邪屑鈥櫻徰傃� 锌褉芯 屑懈薪褍谢械 写芯锌芯屑邪谐邪褞褌褜 蟹斜械褉械谐褌懈 褔懈褋谢械薪薪褨 锌芯斜褍褌芯胁褨 写褉褨斜薪懈褔泻懈, 褟泻褨 芯褌芯褔褍褞褌褜 薪邪褋 褍褋褨褏, 邪谢械 薪邪 褟泻褨 屑邪谢芯 褏褌芯 锌芯-褋锌褉邪胁卸薪褜芯屑褍 蟹胁邪卸邪褦: 褋褌邪褉褨 谐邪蟹械褌懈, 泻芯褌褉懈屑懈 胁褋褌械谢械薪褨 锌褌邪褕懈薪褨 泻谢褨褌泻懈, 泻芯薪褎械褌褨 蟹 胁懈泻芯褉懈褋褌邪薪懈褏 褌褉邪屑胁邪泄薪懈褏 泻胁懈褌泻褨胁 褔懈 薪邪胁褨褌褜 锌谢邪褌褨胁泻懈 蟹 谐芯谢芯褋芯屑 袣邪褉褍蟹芯.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
323 people are currently reading
5994 people want to read
About the author
Ray Bradbury
2,504听books24.4k听followersRay Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.
Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming of age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry which has been published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).
The New York Times called Bradbury "An author whose fanciful imagination, poetic prose, and mature understanding of human character have won him an international reputation" and "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".
Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming of age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted into television and film productions as well as comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry which has been published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).
The New York Times called Bradbury "An author whose fanciful imagination, poetic prose, and mature understanding of human character have won him an international reputation" and "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream".
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 513 reviews
November 25, 2019
Death is a Lonely Business is Ray Bradbury鈥檚 addition to the noir mystery genre.
Told with all the requisite intrigue and catchy simile and metaphor, Bradbury nevertheless cannot be mistaken as anyone but himself. Like an actor who is cast in an odd role, Bradbury remains the sentimental, kooky writer, and that is a part of this novel鈥檚 charm.
Set in an aging and decrepit Venice California in 1949, the unnamed protagonist is an overweight, clumsy, near sighted writer who bears a great resemblance to Ray. All the more fun is the frequent allusions to stories he has published that are unmistakably actual Bradbury creations. Like many of this works, Bradbury fills this with a funhouse cornucopia of colorful characters.
It is a little too slow getting started, but the ending is well worth it. Like so many of Bradbury鈥檚 works, most of the enjoyment in reading is simply his mastery of language and medium.
Told with all the requisite intrigue and catchy simile and metaphor, Bradbury nevertheless cannot be mistaken as anyone but himself. Like an actor who is cast in an odd role, Bradbury remains the sentimental, kooky writer, and that is a part of this novel鈥檚 charm.
Set in an aging and decrepit Venice California in 1949, the unnamed protagonist is an overweight, clumsy, near sighted writer who bears a great resemblance to Ray. All the more fun is the frequent allusions to stories he has published that are unmistakably actual Bradbury creations. Like many of this works, Bradbury fills this with a funhouse cornucopia of colorful characters.
It is a little too slow getting started, but the ending is well worth it. Like so many of Bradbury鈥檚 works, most of the enjoyment in reading is simply his mastery of language and medium.
March 16, 2008
I've read this book twice. It is written in a noire style, but with a feel of the fantastical running through it. The main character is a struggling writer (Bradbury himself) who is trying keep his art flowing but is lonely. His girlfriend is an ocean away and he seems so detached from everyone around him. But then a murder mystery unfolds and the writer must solve it. As the novel moves forward you find that Bradbury has many friends, some existing, some new, the relationships brought about through the events in the novel. He also loves each one's uniqueness. The weirder they are the more they are loved because they are themselves. The old, the discarded, the friendless are especially dear to him. They mystery is just the method for us to learn about Bradbury's heart.
September 20, 2021
孝邪泻邪 懈 薪械 褍褋锌褟褏 写邪 褋褌邪薪邪 谐芯谢褟屑 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 褎械薪, 薪芯 褌邪蟹懈 屑褍 械 芯褌 褋锌芯谢褍褔谢懈胁懈褌械 泻薪懈谐懈.
袠蟹谐褉邪卸写邪 褍斜械写懈褌械谢薪邪 邪褌屑芯褋褎械褉邪, 懈屑邪 懈薪褌褉懈谐邪, 懈屑邪 褋褌褉邪写邪褖 锌懈褋邪褌械谢 ... 胁褋懈褔泻芯 薪械芯斜褏芯写懈屑芯.
袠蟹谐褉邪卸写邪 褍斜械写懈褌械谢薪邪 邪褌屑芯褋褎械褉邪, 懈屑邪 懈薪褌褉懈谐邪, 懈屑邪 褋褌褉邪写邪褖 锌懈褋邪褌械谢 ... 胁褋懈褔泻芯 薪械芯斜褏芯写懈屑芯.
October 21, 2024
... and when October comes, it鈥檚 time to head out to Bradbury country, a place of cold fogs and whispering winds that will send a shiver down your spine and make you wonder what ghost from your past has come to haunt your dreams.
And it was in that time, in one of those lonely years when the fogs never ended and the winds never stopped their laments, that riding the old red trolley, the high-bucketing thunder, one night I met up with Death鈥檚 friend and didn鈥檛 know it.
A crime story that Bradbury dedicated to the masters who shaped his young imagination and inspired him to follow in their art and become a writer: Chandler, Hammett, Cain, MacDonald. James Crumley, a more recent author, gave for the story the name of the detective who will try to solve a series of suspect deaths around the derelict Venice pier in California, in the year 1949: Elmo Crumley.
If there was a city back there, and people, or one man and his terrible sadness, I could not see, nor hear.
The train was headed for the ocean.
I had this awful feeling it would plunge in.
But it is not the detective who takes us on this dark merry-go-round, but a young writer without a dime in his pocket, a sad man who misses his fiancee, gone to Mexico to study. A young author who feels the pain of the world in his bones every night as he goes around the city collecting the stories of the people who have been marooned on this empty shore: lost souls who have reached the end of their line. Another writer I tried for the first time this year, Nathanael West in The Day of the Locust , noticed that California is the place where people come to die. Ray Bradbury concurs ...
There are some people who live to be thirty-five or forty, but because no one ever notices, their lives are candle-brief, invisible small.
The prologue was one of the best set-up pieces I have read in a very long time. Ominous, poetic, disturbing. You feel like you have fallen off the edge of the world and into another place, a place where monstrous spiders lurk in the night and are waiting for you to fall into their web.
... and then the first dead body is found in the half-submerged cage of an abandoned circus.
We looked like a mob of miserable clowns abandoned on the bridge, looking down at our drowned circus.
Venice in 1949 was completely different from the sunny, young and hip place we see in recent movies. It鈥檚 days of glory are long past, all the tourists and all the money have gone elsewhere. The old arcade pier with its amusement attractions is about to be demolished, the last survivors of that age are now old and forgotten and about to be evicted. For the young writer this is the only place he can afford.
For Ray Bradbury, as for his unnamed narrator, writing is a deeply personal endeavour. Feel first, write later he says to the detective Crumley when they finally meet and discover that they both have the writing bug.
Empathy is the name of the game 鈥� this dreamer鈥檚 ability to put himself in the skin of the people he meets: the trio of old-timers who spend their day on a bench in the sun, the worst barber in town who still remembers meeting Scott Joplin in his youth, an ancient spinster who used to sell parrots, a former Hollywood diva from the days of the silent movies, an overweight soprano who cannot even leave her tenement apartment and who consumes huge quantities of mayonnaise, the patron of the last cinema hall on the pier, a gay body-builder, a blind man who refuses to use a cane, a clairvoyant with a large library filled only with books about depression, and so on.
The writer collects their lives, trying to keep their memory alive through his typewritten pages, before they fade into nothingness. But it appears as if somebody is hunting down the very same people he meets every day, who are now dying in suspect accidents and suicides. Elmo Crumley asks for hard evidence from the young writer, but this is hard to find for these people who live alone and forgotten.
... the pier was a great Titanic on its way to meet an iceberg in the night, with people busy rearranging the deck chairs, and some singing 鈥楴earer my God to Thee鈥� as he rammed the plunger on the TNT detonator.
This is not your typical crime novel, despite the style that emulates the masters of the pulp era. The pacing is very slow, the dialogues bizarre and filled with metaphors, the clues evident to the experienced reader: all the victims share in one trait: 鈥楾here鈥檚 something broken about all those people.鈥�. It鈥檚 right there in the title, even if the identity of the dark stranger who rides the tramway on a road to hell remains unclear until the very last pages.
鈥榊ou showed me the people you were collecting for your books. All the gravel on the path, chaff in the wind, empty shells on the shore, dice with no spots, cards with no pips. No past, no present. So I gave them no future.鈥�
Even the border between reality and dream, between fiction and fact is lost in the fog. Could the young writer be the hand that cuts the story of these lonely people short? Are they all figments of his imagination? Can all this be a case of supernatural forces that were awakened by the end-of-the-world destruction of the whole Venice shoreline?
Meaningless malignity. Don鈥檛 that have a ring? It means someone running around doing lousy things, a bastard, for no reason. Or none we can figure.鈥�
This is not my first Ray Bradbury book, so I could pinpoint some of his favorite imagery here: the circus, the rollercoaster, the old cinema on a boat, the shooting gallery, the magician鈥檚 booth, the darkness that whispers secrets in your ear. I know that he tries to use the elements of the classic gumshoe novel, but my own journey was more like an elegy to the lonely people [Eleanor Rigby?] he sees on his daily walks through the city. Because this story, like many others he has written, is anchored in auto-biographical elements, memories that are haunting him since childhood, friends he has lost, places that live now only in old, faded postcards.
It was the elephants鈥� graveyard, the pier at night, all dark bones and a lid of fog over it and the sea rushing in to bury, reveal, and bury again.
Now all that remained of the old parade had ended here. Some of the cage wagons stood upright in the deep waters of the canal, others were tilted flat over on their sides and buried in the tides that revealed them some dawns or covered them some midnights. Fish swam in and out of the bars. By day small boys came and danced about on the huge lost islands of steel and wood and sometimes popped inside and shook the bars and roared.
This sense of alienation may come directly from the young boy who left an enchanted childhood in Waukegan, Illinois and moved to Venice, California to become a writer. The book was published in 1985, so this pervasive nostalgia is understandable.
When I was fifteen one of them looked at me and said, 鈥榊ou going to grow up and change the world only for the best, boy?鈥�
鈥榊es, sir!鈥� I said.
鈥業 think you鈥檒l do it,鈥� he said. 鈥榃on鈥檛 he, gents?鈥�
You cannot really separate the author from his writing, at least in the case of Ray Bradbury, for whom honesty and hard work were the most important requirements for the artist.
Remember, Feel first, think later is what he tells Elmo Crumley, when the detective is complaining that inspiration fails to come when bidden.
As a side note, if I were to search for anything critical to say about the book, it would be the candor and the affectation of the dialogues, not only between the writer and the detective, but in all of the narrator鈥檚 interactions with the people on his death list. They are like actors reciting the lines of a script, and excellent script but an artificial, contrived one, nevertheless.
鈥榊ou鈥檙e not one of them, I can tell. You couldn鈥檛 rape a chorus line, or use your agent鈥檚 desk for a bed. You couldn鈥檛 knock your grandma downstairs to cadge the insurance. Maybe you鈥檙e a sap, I don鈥檛 know, or a fool, but I鈥檝e come to prefer saps and fools, guys who don鈥檛 raise tarantulas or yank wings off hummingbirds. Silly writers who dream about going to Mars and never coming back to our stupid daytime world.鈥�
Yet, when it clicks, the style is heartbreaking and powerful, some of the best passages I have read from Bradbury, filled with the bitter truths and the hopes he clings to in his effort to put to sleep the demons who haunt his nights.
The voice from the past, making you remember a familiar thought, a warm breath in the ear, a seizure of passion like a strike of lightning. Which of us is not vulnerable, I thought, when it comes to that three-in-the-morning voice. Or when you wake after midnight to find someone crying, and it鈥檚 you, and tears on the chin and you didn鈥檛 even know that during the night you had had a bad dream.
This is a story about an elephant鈥檚 graveyard in the last days of the Venice amusement pier. This is a story about a voice in the night, calling you with a promise of a shared memory, a respite from loneliness and despair, a dark presence waiting in the fog. It could happen to you, too.
It applied to anyone who had ever loved and lost, meaning every single soul in the whole damn city, state and universe.
Who, reading it, would not be tempted to lift a phone, dial, wait, and whisper at last, late at night:
Here I am am. Please 鈥� come find me.
And it was in that time, in one of those lonely years when the fogs never ended and the winds never stopped their laments, that riding the old red trolley, the high-bucketing thunder, one night I met up with Death鈥檚 friend and didn鈥檛 know it.
A crime story that Bradbury dedicated to the masters who shaped his young imagination and inspired him to follow in their art and become a writer: Chandler, Hammett, Cain, MacDonald. James Crumley, a more recent author, gave for the story the name of the detective who will try to solve a series of suspect deaths around the derelict Venice pier in California, in the year 1949: Elmo Crumley.
If there was a city back there, and people, or one man and his terrible sadness, I could not see, nor hear.
The train was headed for the ocean.
I had this awful feeling it would plunge in.
But it is not the detective who takes us on this dark merry-go-round, but a young writer without a dime in his pocket, a sad man who misses his fiancee, gone to Mexico to study. A young author who feels the pain of the world in his bones every night as he goes around the city collecting the stories of the people who have been marooned on this empty shore: lost souls who have reached the end of their line. Another writer I tried for the first time this year, Nathanael West in The Day of the Locust , noticed that California is the place where people come to die. Ray Bradbury concurs ...
There are some people who live to be thirty-five or forty, but because no one ever notices, their lives are candle-brief, invisible small.
The prologue was one of the best set-up pieces I have read in a very long time. Ominous, poetic, disturbing. You feel like you have fallen off the edge of the world and into another place, a place where monstrous spiders lurk in the night and are waiting for you to fall into their web.
... and then the first dead body is found in the half-submerged cage of an abandoned circus.
We looked like a mob of miserable clowns abandoned on the bridge, looking down at our drowned circus.
Venice in 1949 was completely different from the sunny, young and hip place we see in recent movies. It鈥檚 days of glory are long past, all the tourists and all the money have gone elsewhere. The old arcade pier with its amusement attractions is about to be demolished, the last survivors of that age are now old and forgotten and about to be evicted. For the young writer this is the only place he can afford.
For Ray Bradbury, as for his unnamed narrator, writing is a deeply personal endeavour. Feel first, write later he says to the detective Crumley when they finally meet and discover that they both have the writing bug.
Empathy is the name of the game 鈥� this dreamer鈥檚 ability to put himself in the skin of the people he meets: the trio of old-timers who spend their day on a bench in the sun, the worst barber in town who still remembers meeting Scott Joplin in his youth, an ancient spinster who used to sell parrots, a former Hollywood diva from the days of the silent movies, an overweight soprano who cannot even leave her tenement apartment and who consumes huge quantities of mayonnaise, the patron of the last cinema hall on the pier, a gay body-builder, a blind man who refuses to use a cane, a clairvoyant with a large library filled only with books about depression, and so on.
The writer collects their lives, trying to keep their memory alive through his typewritten pages, before they fade into nothingness. But it appears as if somebody is hunting down the very same people he meets every day, who are now dying in suspect accidents and suicides. Elmo Crumley asks for hard evidence from the young writer, but this is hard to find for these people who live alone and forgotten.
... the pier was a great Titanic on its way to meet an iceberg in the night, with people busy rearranging the deck chairs, and some singing 鈥楴earer my God to Thee鈥� as he rammed the plunger on the TNT detonator.
This is not your typical crime novel, despite the style that emulates the masters of the pulp era. The pacing is very slow, the dialogues bizarre and filled with metaphors, the clues evident to the experienced reader: all the victims share in one trait: 鈥楾here鈥檚 something broken about all those people.鈥�. It鈥檚 right there in the title, even if the identity of the dark stranger who rides the tramway on a road to hell remains unclear until the very last pages.
鈥榊ou showed me the people you were collecting for your books. All the gravel on the path, chaff in the wind, empty shells on the shore, dice with no spots, cards with no pips. No past, no present. So I gave them no future.鈥�
Even the border between reality and dream, between fiction and fact is lost in the fog. Could the young writer be the hand that cuts the story of these lonely people short? Are they all figments of his imagination? Can all this be a case of supernatural forces that were awakened by the end-of-the-world destruction of the whole Venice shoreline?
Meaningless malignity. Don鈥檛 that have a ring? It means someone running around doing lousy things, a bastard, for no reason. Or none we can figure.鈥�
This is not my first Ray Bradbury book, so I could pinpoint some of his favorite imagery here: the circus, the rollercoaster, the old cinema on a boat, the shooting gallery, the magician鈥檚 booth, the darkness that whispers secrets in your ear. I know that he tries to use the elements of the classic gumshoe novel, but my own journey was more like an elegy to the lonely people [Eleanor Rigby?] he sees on his daily walks through the city. Because this story, like many others he has written, is anchored in auto-biographical elements, memories that are haunting him since childhood, friends he has lost, places that live now only in old, faded postcards.
It was the elephants鈥� graveyard, the pier at night, all dark bones and a lid of fog over it and the sea rushing in to bury, reveal, and bury again.
Now all that remained of the old parade had ended here. Some of the cage wagons stood upright in the deep waters of the canal, others were tilted flat over on their sides and buried in the tides that revealed them some dawns or covered them some midnights. Fish swam in and out of the bars. By day small boys came and danced about on the huge lost islands of steel and wood and sometimes popped inside and shook the bars and roared.
This sense of alienation may come directly from the young boy who left an enchanted childhood in Waukegan, Illinois and moved to Venice, California to become a writer. The book was published in 1985, so this pervasive nostalgia is understandable.
When I was fifteen one of them looked at me and said, 鈥榊ou going to grow up and change the world only for the best, boy?鈥�
鈥榊es, sir!鈥� I said.
鈥業 think you鈥檒l do it,鈥� he said. 鈥榃on鈥檛 he, gents?鈥�
You cannot really separate the author from his writing, at least in the case of Ray Bradbury, for whom honesty and hard work were the most important requirements for the artist.
Remember, Feel first, think later is what he tells Elmo Crumley, when the detective is complaining that inspiration fails to come when bidden.
As a side note, if I were to search for anything critical to say about the book, it would be the candor and the affectation of the dialogues, not only between the writer and the detective, but in all of the narrator鈥檚 interactions with the people on his death list. They are like actors reciting the lines of a script, and excellent script but an artificial, contrived one, nevertheless.
鈥榊ou鈥檙e not one of them, I can tell. You couldn鈥檛 rape a chorus line, or use your agent鈥檚 desk for a bed. You couldn鈥檛 knock your grandma downstairs to cadge the insurance. Maybe you鈥檙e a sap, I don鈥檛 know, or a fool, but I鈥檝e come to prefer saps and fools, guys who don鈥檛 raise tarantulas or yank wings off hummingbirds. Silly writers who dream about going to Mars and never coming back to our stupid daytime world.鈥�
Yet, when it clicks, the style is heartbreaking and powerful, some of the best passages I have read from Bradbury, filled with the bitter truths and the hopes he clings to in his effort to put to sleep the demons who haunt his nights.
The voice from the past, making you remember a familiar thought, a warm breath in the ear, a seizure of passion like a strike of lightning. Which of us is not vulnerable, I thought, when it comes to that three-in-the-morning voice. Or when you wake after midnight to find someone crying, and it鈥檚 you, and tears on the chin and you didn鈥檛 even know that during the night you had had a bad dream.
This is a story about an elephant鈥檚 graveyard in the last days of the Venice amusement pier. This is a story about a voice in the night, calling you with a promise of a shared memory, a respite from loneliness and despair, a dark presence waiting in the fog. It could happen to you, too.
It applied to anyone who had ever loved and lost, meaning every single soul in the whole damn city, state and universe.
Who, reading it, would not be tempted to lift a phone, dial, wait, and whisper at last, late at night:
Here I am am. Please 鈥� come find me.
October 28, 2022
4.5/5
袧械 芯褔邪泻胁邪褏, 褔械 屑褉邪褔薪芯 蟹邪谐谢邪胁懈械 泻邪褌芯 褌芯胁邪 褖械 屑械 褉邪蟹褋屑械械 褌芯谢泻芯胁邪, 薪芯 褏褍屑芯褉邪, 泻芯泄褌芯 锌褉懈褋褗褋褌胁邪褕械 胁 懈蟹芯斜懈谢懈械 褌褍泻 斜械褕械 褌芯褔薪芯 锌芯 胁泻褍褋邪 屑懈! 袪邪蟹谐芯胁芯褉懈褌械 屑械卸写褍 谐谢邪胁薪懈褟 谐械褉芯泄 懈 写械褌械泻褌懈胁邪 袣褉褗屑谢懈 斜褟褏邪 谐芯谢褟屑芯 褍写芯胁芯谢褋褌胁懈械 蟹邪 屑械薪. 小谢邪写泻芯写褍屑薪懈褟 写械褌械泻褌懈胁 褋械 芯泻邪蟹邪 谐谢褗褌泻邪 褔懈褋褌 胁褗蟹写褍褏 胁 褋褉邪胁薪械薪懈械 褋 写褉褍谐懈, 泻芯懈褌芯 褋褗屑 褔械谢邪. 笑褟谢芯褋褌薪懈褟 锌芯写斜芯褉 芯褌 谐械褉芯懈 褌褍泻 械 褔褍写械褋械薪. 袟薪邪械褌械 谢懈, 褔械 写芯褋褌邪 芯褌 褌褟褏 褋邪 胁写褗褏薪芯胁械薪懈 芯褌 褏芯褉邪, 泻芯懈褌芯 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 械 锌芯蟹薪邪胁邪谢? 袧芯 写邪 薪械 褋械 芯褌泻谢芯薪褟胁邪屑 芯褌 褌械屑邪褌邪.
孝邪蟹懈 泻薪懈谐邪 斜械 锌褗褉胁邪褌邪 屑懈 褋褉械褖邪 褋 邪胁褌芯褉邪. 袩芯 锌褉懈薪褑懈锌 锌谢邪薪褗褌 斜械褕械 写褉褍谐 - 鈥溞捫感叫� 芯褌 谐谢褍褏邪褉褔械褌邪鈥�, 褉邪蟹斜懈褉邪 褋械, - 薪芯 褋械 褉邪写胁邪屑, 褔械 薪械褖邪褌邪 褋械 褉邪蟹胁懈褏邪 褌邪泻邪. 鈥溞⌒佳娧€褌褌邪 械 蟹邪薪懈屑邪薪懈械 褋邪屑芯褌薪芯鈥� 械 懈写械邪谢薪芯褌芯 褋褍褉芯胁芯 懈 屑械谢邪薪褏芯谢懈褔薪芯 泻褉懈屑懈 蟹邪 泻褉邪褟 薪邪 袨泻褌芯屑胁褉懈. 小褗写褗褉卸邪 斜邪谢邪薪褋 芯褌 胁褋懈褔泻芯 懈 薪械 胁蟹懈屑邪 薪械褖邪褌邪 褌胁褗褉写械 褋械褉懈芯蟹薪芯. 袙褗锌褉械泻懈 褔械 锌芯 械写薪芯 胁褉械屑械 蟹邪锌芯褔薪邪褏 写邪 锌芯写芯蟹懈褉邪屑 懈蟹胁褗褉褕懈褌械谢褟, 褌芯胁邪 薪械 屑懈 锌芯胁谢懈褟 薪邪 褍写芯胁芯谢褋褌胁懈械褌芯, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 泻邪泻褌芯 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 褋锌芯写械谢褟 胁 锌芯褋谢械写薪懈褌械 褋褌褉邪薪懈褑懈, 蟹邪谐谢邪胁懈械褌芯 薪械 械 懈蟹谐褉邪写械薪芯 胁褗褉褏褍 芯褋薪芯胁薪邪褌邪 褋褞卸械褌薪邪 懈薪褌褉懈谐邪, 邪 胁褗褉褏褍 懈蟹泻褍褋褌胁芯褌芯 写邪 芯褌泻谢芯薪褟胁邪 胁薪懈屑邪薪懈械褌芯. 袠 邪泻芯 褋褌械 褔械谢懈 褉芯屑邪薪邪, 褌芯 褌芯谐邪胁邪 蟹薪邪械褌械, 褔械 谐芯 锌褉邪胁懈 褋褌褉邪褕薪芯 写芯斜褉械! 啸邪褉械褋邪 屑懈 褌邪蟹懈 懈写械褟, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 薪械 斜褟褏 锌芯锌邪写邪谢邪 薪邪 锌芯写芯斜薪邪 褌邪泻褌懈泻邪 写芯褋械谐邪. 携褋薪芯 褋懈 谢懈褔懈 泻芯谢泻芯 褌褉褍写, 胁薪懈屑邪薪懈械 懈 斜械蟹褋褗薪薪懈 薪芯褖懈 褋邪 胁谢芯卸械薪懈 屑械卸写褍 褌械蟹懈 写胁械 泻芯褉懈褑懈. 小 谐芯谢褟屑芯 褍写芯胁芯谢锟斤拷褌胁懈械 褖械 锌褉芯写褗谢卸邪 褌芯胁邪 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 锌褉懈泻谢褞褔械薪懈械!
袧械 芯褔邪泻胁邪褏, 褔械 屑褉邪褔薪芯 蟹邪谐谢邪胁懈械 泻邪褌芯 褌芯胁邪 褖械 屑械 褉邪蟹褋屑械械 褌芯谢泻芯胁邪, 薪芯 褏褍屑芯褉邪, 泻芯泄褌芯 锌褉懈褋褗褋褌胁邪褕械 胁 懈蟹芯斜懈谢懈械 褌褍泻 斜械褕械 褌芯褔薪芯 锌芯 胁泻褍褋邪 屑懈! 袪邪蟹谐芯胁芯褉懈褌械 屑械卸写褍 谐谢邪胁薪懈褟 谐械褉芯泄 懈 写械褌械泻褌懈胁邪 袣褉褗屑谢懈 斜褟褏邪 谐芯谢褟屑芯 褍写芯胁芯谢褋褌胁懈械 蟹邪 屑械薪. 小谢邪写泻芯写褍屑薪懈褟 写械褌械泻褌懈胁 褋械 芯泻邪蟹邪 谐谢褗褌泻邪 褔懈褋褌 胁褗蟹写褍褏 胁 褋褉邪胁薪械薪懈械 褋 写褉褍谐懈, 泻芯懈褌芯 褋褗屑 褔械谢邪. 笑褟谢芯褋褌薪懈褟 锌芯写斜芯褉 芯褌 谐械褉芯懈 褌褍泻 械 褔褍写械褋械薪. 袟薪邪械褌械 谢懈, 褔械 写芯褋褌邪 芯褌 褌褟褏 褋邪 胁写褗褏薪芯胁械薪懈 芯褌 褏芯褉邪, 泻芯懈褌芯 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 械 锌芯蟹薪邪胁邪谢? 袧芯 写邪 薪械 褋械 芯褌泻谢芯薪褟胁邪屑 芯褌 褌械屑邪褌邪.
孝邪蟹懈 泻薪懈谐邪 斜械 锌褗褉胁邪褌邪 屑懈 褋褉械褖邪 褋 邪胁褌芯褉邪. 袩芯 锌褉懈薪褑懈锌 锌谢邪薪褗褌 斜械褕械 写褉褍谐 - 鈥溞捫感叫� 芯褌 谐谢褍褏邪褉褔械褌邪鈥�, 褉邪蟹斜懈褉邪 褋械, - 薪芯 褋械 褉邪写胁邪屑, 褔械 薪械褖邪褌邪 褋械 褉邪蟹胁懈褏邪 褌邪泻邪. 鈥溞⌒佳娧€褌褌邪 械 蟹邪薪懈屑邪薪懈械 褋邪屑芯褌薪芯鈥� 械 懈写械邪谢薪芯褌芯 褋褍褉芯胁芯 懈 屑械谢邪薪褏芯谢懈褔薪芯 泻褉懈屑懈 蟹邪 泻褉邪褟 薪邪 袨泻褌芯屑胁褉懈. 小褗写褗褉卸邪 斜邪谢邪薪褋 芯褌 胁褋懈褔泻芯 懈 薪械 胁蟹懈屑邪 薪械褖邪褌邪 褌胁褗褉写械 褋械褉懈芯蟹薪芯. 袙褗锌褉械泻懈 褔械 锌芯 械写薪芯 胁褉械屑械 蟹邪锌芯褔薪邪褏 写邪 锌芯写芯蟹懈褉邪屑 懈蟹胁褗褉褕懈褌械谢褟, 褌芯胁邪 薪械 屑懈 锌芯胁谢懈褟 薪邪 褍写芯胁芯谢褋褌胁懈械褌芯, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 泻邪泻褌芯 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 褋锌芯写械谢褟 胁 锌芯褋谢械写薪懈褌械 褋褌褉邪薪懈褑懈, 蟹邪谐谢邪胁懈械褌芯 薪械 械 懈蟹谐褉邪写械薪芯 胁褗褉褏褍 芯褋薪芯胁薪邪褌邪 褋褞卸械褌薪邪 懈薪褌褉懈谐邪, 邪 胁褗褉褏褍 懈蟹泻褍褋褌胁芯褌芯 写邪 芯褌泻谢芯薪褟胁邪 胁薪懈屑邪薪懈械褌芯. 袠 邪泻芯 褋褌械 褔械谢懈 褉芯屑邪薪邪, 褌芯 褌芯谐邪胁邪 蟹薪邪械褌械, 褔械 谐芯 锌褉邪胁懈 褋褌褉邪褕薪芯 写芯斜褉械! 啸邪褉械褋邪 屑懈 褌邪蟹懈 懈写械褟, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 薪械 斜褟褏 锌芯锌邪写邪谢邪 薪邪 锌芯写芯斜薪邪 褌邪泻褌懈泻邪 写芯褋械谐邪. 携褋薪芯 褋懈 谢懈褔懈 泻芯谢泻芯 褌褉褍写, 胁薪懈屑邪薪懈械 懈 斜械蟹褋褗薪薪懈 薪芯褖懈 褋邪 胁谢芯卸械薪懈 屑械卸写褍 褌械蟹懈 写胁械 泻芯褉懈褑懈. 小 谐芯谢褟屑芯 褍写芯胁芯谢锟斤拷褌胁懈械 褖械 锌褉芯写褗谢卸邪 褌芯胁邪 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 锌褉懈泻谢褞褔械薪懈械!
January 7, 2010
Writerly, well-written, and about writing. Also about murder, loneliness, social change, urban decay, old movies, and poetry.
June 4, 2020
A young writer rides the trolleybus late one night in Venice, California, only to have a sinister whisper in his ear that 'Death is a lonely business.' By the time he plucks up the courage to turn round, the person has got off the trolley car. But this is only the prelude to a series of displacements and possible murders as various people that the writer knows are targeted, starting with his discovery when walking home of an old man's body dumped in the canal. Soon he is fully engaged in trying to track down and stop the killer with the help of a cast of eccentric characters including washed-up film stars, a cop who is a secret novelist, a blind man, and a retired opera singer. Even the minor characters are memorable, such as the barber who can't cut hair but lives on the past glory of once having had a piano lesson from Scott Joplin.
Another main character is the setting which brilliantly evokes the rundown former glamour of an area now starting to be demolished. Being Bradbury, the writing is colourful, vivid, slightly sentimental but not overdone. I realised after finishing the book that the protagonist is probably based on his youthful self.
The only thing that held this book back from a full five stars is that the ending is not quite satisfying enough. There were a few candidates for the (what would now be termed serial) killer and I thought it would have been a great twist if it had turned out to be a less obvious one. But other than that I can't fault the book and so it has a well-deserved 4 stars.
Another main character is the setting which brilliantly evokes the rundown former glamour of an area now starting to be demolished. Being Bradbury, the writing is colourful, vivid, slightly sentimental but not overdone. I realised after finishing the book that the protagonist is probably based on his youthful self.
The only thing that held this book back from a full five stars is that the ending is not quite satisfying enough. There were a few candidates for the (what would now be termed serial) killer and I thought it would have been a great twist if it had turned out to be a less obvious one. But other than that I can't fault the book and so it has a well-deserved 4 stars.
March 29, 2015
袙谢褞斜械薪 褋褗屑 胁 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 芯褖械 芯褌 写械褌械. "袦邪褉褋懈邪薪褋泻懈 褏褉芯薪懈泻懈" 懈 "451 锌芯 肖邪褉械薪褏邪泄褌" 褋邪 泻薪懈谐懈褌械, 蟹邪褉邪写懈 泻芯懈褌芯 芯斜懈泻薪邪褏 褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈泻邪褌邪. 效械谢 褋褗屑 锌褉邪泻褌懈褔械褋泻懈 胁褋懈褔泻芯 薪械谐芯胁芯 懈 褋屑褟褌邪屑, 褔械 械 械写懈薪 芯褌 薪邪泄-锌芯械褌懈褔薪懈褌械 锌懈褋邪褌械谢懈.
袙懈薪邪谐懈 械 锌懈褕械谢 褉邪蟹谢懈褔薪芯 懈 薪械褋褌邪薪写邪褉褌薪芯 芯褌 芯褋褌邪薪邪谢懈褌械.
袧褟屑邪 写邪 蟹邪斜褉邪胁褟 懈 锌芯褌褉械褋邪 褋懈 芯褌 锌褗褉胁懈褟 褋斜谢褗褋褗泻 褋 薪械褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈褔薪懈褌械 屑褍 褉芯屑邪薪懈. 袘褟褏 褋械写屑懈 泻谢邪褋, 泻芯谐邪褌芯 蟹邪锌芯褔薪邪褏 写邪 褔械褌邪 "袙懈薪芯 芯褌 谐谢褍褏邪褉褔械褌邪" 懈 写芯泻褗屑 褋褌芯褌薪邪褌邪 褋褌褉邪薪懈褑邪 褔邪泻邪褏 泻芯谐邪 褖械 蟹邪锌芯褔薪械 褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈泻邪褌邪. 小械谐邪 褌芯胁邪 屑懈 械 薪邪褋褌芯谢薪邪 泻薪懈谐邪.
"小屑褗褉褌褌邪 械 蟹邪薪懈屑邪薪懈械 褋邪屑芯褌薪芯" 褔械褌芯褏 蟹邪 锌褗褉胁懈 锌褗褌 芯褖械 褋褌褍写械薪褌. 袧懈褌芯 斜褟褏 锌懈褋邪褌械谢, 薪懈褌芯 斜褟褏 褋邪屑芯褌械薪 懈 谐谢械写邪褏 薪邪 泻薪懈谐邪褌邪 泻邪褌芯 械写懈薪 懈薪褌械褉械褋械薪 械泻褋锌械褉懈屑械薪褌. 袩褉械锌褉芯褔懈褌邪谢 褋褗屑 褟 屑薪芯谐芯 锌褗褌懈, 褋械谐邪褕薪懈褟 锌褉芯褔懈褌 屑械 褏胁邪薪邪 胁 械写懈薪 锌芯-褋锌械褑懈邪谢械薪 屑芯屑械薪褌 懈 屑懈褋谢褟, 褔械 蟹邪锌芯褔薪邪褏 写邪 褉邪蟹斜懈褉邪屑 泻邪泻胁芯 锌懈褕械 胁 泻薪懈谐邪褌邪 (芯褋胁械薪 蟹邪 褌械卸泻懈褟 懈 薪械褋懈谐褍褉械薪 卸懈胁芯褌 薪邪 锌懈褋邪褌械谢懈褌械).
袩褉芯褔械褌械褌械 褌邪蟹懈 泻薪懈谐邪, 褋褌懈谢褗褌 薪邪 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 械 薪械锌芯胁褌芯褉懈屑. 袠 "袙懈械 芯褌 小邪屑芯褌薪懈褑懈褌械 谢懈 褋褌械?"
袙懈薪邪谐懈 械 锌懈褕械谢 褉邪蟹谢懈褔薪芯 懈 薪械褋褌邪薪写邪褉褌薪芯 芯褌 芯褋褌邪薪邪谢懈褌械.
袧褟屑邪 写邪 蟹邪斜褉邪胁褟 懈 锌芯褌褉械褋邪 褋懈 芯褌 锌褗褉胁懈褟 褋斜谢褗褋褗泻 褋 薪械褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈褔薪懈褌械 屑褍 褉芯屑邪薪懈. 袘褟褏 褋械写屑懈 泻谢邪褋, 泻芯谐邪褌芯 蟹邪锌芯褔薪邪褏 写邪 褔械褌邪 "袙懈薪芯 芯褌 谐谢褍褏邪褉褔械褌邪" 懈 写芯泻褗屑 褋褌芯褌薪邪褌邪 褋褌褉邪薪懈褑邪 褔邪泻邪褏 泻芯谐邪 褖械 蟹邪锌芯褔薪械 褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈泻邪褌邪. 小械谐邪 褌芯胁邪 屑懈 械 薪邪褋褌芯谢薪邪 泻薪懈谐邪.
"小屑褗褉褌褌邪 械 蟹邪薪懈屑邪薪懈械 褋邪屑芯褌薪芯" 褔械褌芯褏 蟹邪 锌褗褉胁懈 锌褗褌 芯褖械 褋褌褍写械薪褌. 袧懈褌芯 斜褟褏 锌懈褋邪褌械谢, 薪懈褌芯 斜褟褏 褋邪屑芯褌械薪 懈 谐谢械写邪褏 薪邪 泻薪懈谐邪褌邪 泻邪褌芯 械写懈薪 懈薪褌械褉械褋械薪 械泻褋锌械褉懈屑械薪褌. 袩褉械锌褉芯褔懈褌邪谢 褋褗屑 褟 屑薪芯谐芯 锌褗褌懈, 褋械谐邪褕薪懈褟 锌褉芯褔懈褌 屑械 褏胁邪薪邪 胁 械写懈薪 锌芯-褋锌械褑懈邪谢械薪 屑芯屑械薪褌 懈 屑懈褋谢褟, 褔械 蟹邪锌芯褔薪邪褏 写邪 褉邪蟹斜懈褉邪屑 泻邪泻胁芯 锌懈褕械 胁 泻薪懈谐邪褌邪 (芯褋胁械薪 蟹邪 褌械卸泻懈褟 懈 薪械褋懈谐褍褉械薪 卸懈胁芯褌 薪邪 锌懈褋邪褌械谢懈褌械).
袩褉芯褔械褌械褌械 褌邪蟹懈 泻薪懈谐邪, 褋褌懈谢褗褌 薪邪 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 械 薪械锌芯胁褌芯褉懈屑. 袠 "袙懈械 芯褌 小邪屑芯褌薪懈褑懈褌械 谢懈 褋褌械?"
October 28, 2014
I love Ray Bradbury. I love his books, I love his short stories, I love how his cover picture has been the same one (the one of him holding his cat) for as long as I can remember, and I love that people always ask if he's still alive or not. The man is a mystery to me, and some of his books and stories touch me in ways that other books and stories have not. (No, that's not meant to be dirty. For once.)
and are the two Most-Important-Bradbury-Books-to-Me. I read them at the right age, they made an impression, they will always be near and dear to me. Most of his short stories are fantastic as well, but since you'renot asking, the story that has stayed with me the most over the years is , the title of which I can never remember and I usually have to ask my brother. (This time I did an Interwebz search and found it. Yay me!)
What those books and that story have in common are their sense of the fantastic. That's what I love about Bradbury - they're coming-of-age stories and Bradbury writes children better than most adult writers can, and then he throws in some crazy unimaginable stuff and the whole story goes supernova.
Death Is a Lonely Business isn't quite like that. This is different than his usual writing - this is his attempt at a noir, his homage to or . Bradbury uses himself in the story as a younger man. It all seems like something I would probably dig a lot. Unfortunately it didn't quite work for me.
I don't blame Bradbury for this; my head is totally elsewhere. But maybe this isn't the genre for Bradbury. The fact that I don't believe (but could be wrong) he did any other books like this indicates maybe he felt the same way. Still, considering I will read anything Bradbury put on paper, this wasn't a complete disappointment. I think I'll just be sticking with his more fantastical stories in the future.
and are the two Most-Important-Bradbury-Books-to-Me. I read them at the right age, they made an impression, they will always be near and dear to me. Most of his short stories are fantastic as well, but since you're
What those books and that story have in common are their sense of the fantastic. That's what I love about Bradbury - they're coming-of-age stories and Bradbury writes children better than most adult writers can, and then he throws in some crazy unimaginable stuff and the whole story goes supernova.
Death Is a Lonely Business isn't quite like that. This is different than his usual writing - this is his attempt at a noir, his homage to or . Bradbury uses himself in the story as a younger man. It all seems like something I would probably dig a lot. Unfortunately it didn't quite work for me.
I don't blame Bradbury for this; my head is totally elsewhere. But maybe this isn't the genre for Bradbury. The fact that I don't believe (but could be wrong) he did any other books like this indicates maybe he felt the same way. Still, considering I will read anything Bradbury put on paper, this wasn't a complete disappointment. I think I'll just be sticking with his more fantastical stories in the future.
April 7, 2019
Mysticko-lyrick谩 detekt铆vka, ktor谩 s铆ce plynula pomal拧ie ako pondelok v pr谩ci, ale za ten poetick媒 jazyk mi to st谩lo.
(Kniha k煤pen谩 na burze a aj keby v nej bola len t谩to jedna jedin谩 veta:
Jeho 煤sm臎vem si 膷lov臎k mohl pod艡ezat 啪铆ly.
st谩le by to boli najlep拧ie oplieskan茅 dve eur谩 tento rok)
(Kniha k煤pen谩 na burze a aj keby v nej bola len t谩to jedna jedin谩 veta:
Jeho 煤sm臎vem si 膷lov臎k mohl pod艡ezat 啪铆ly.
st谩le by to boli najlep拧ie oplieskan茅 dve eur谩 tento rok)
November 14, 2018
袩械褉褕邪 褉褨褔, 褟泻褍 褌褉械斜邪 褌褉懈屑邪褌懈 胁 谐芯谢芯胁褨, 泻芯谢懈 褔懈褌邪褦褕 褑械泄 褉芯屑邪薪, - 褑械 薪械 薪褍邪褉, 邪 写褍卸械 褌芯薪泻懈泄 褋褌褜芯斜 蟹 薪褍邪褉褍. 袦褨褋褑械 写褨褩 - 100% 薪褍邪褉褨胁褋褜泻械, 邪褌屑芯褋褎械褉邪 - 薪械写芯褌褟谐褍褦, 锌械褉褋芯薪邪卸褨 - 褉邪写褕械 锌邪褉芯写褨褟 薪邪 薪褍邪褉褨胁褋褜泻懈褏 锌械褉褋芯薪邪卸褨胁, 邪 芯褌 屑芯褌懈胁 蟹谢芯褔懈薪褑褟 - 100% 袘褉械写斜械褉褨 (褟泻 胁 451掳 蟹邪 肖邪褉械薪谐械泄褌芯屑, 邪 褋邪屑械, 褖芯 褉芯斜懈褌褜 谢褞写械泄 谢褞写褜屑懈, 褟 斜 褋泻邪蟹邪胁, 褏芯褔邪 胁邪卸泻芯 锌械褉械写邪褌懈 芯写薪懈屑 褉械褔械薪薪褟屑 褔懈 褋谢芯胁芯屑 写褍褏 褨 薪邪褋褌褉褨泄 褌胁芯褉褨胁 袘褉械写斜械褉褨).
些芯写芯 锌邪褉芯写褨泄, 褌芯 褌褍褌 褦 写械褌械泻褌懈胁, 褟泻懈泄 褎邪薪邪褌 泻谢邪褋懈褔薪芯褩 谢褨褌械褉邪褌褍褉懈 (胁褨谢褜薪芯 褑懈褌褍褦 楔械泻褋锌褨褉邪 褌邪 袛芯褋褌芯褦胁褋褜泻芯谐芯), 锌懈褕械 褉芯屑邪薪. 袆写懈薪械, 褖芯 薪邪谐邪写褍褦 薪褍邪褉褨胁褋褜泻懈褏 写械褌械泻褌懈胁褨胁 - 锌懈胁芯 锌'褦, 邪谢械 胁写芯屑邪 - 胁 褔褍写芯胁芯屑褍 褋邪写泻褍. 效懈屑 薪械 锌邪褉芯写褨褟? 袆 褌褍褌 褨 褎械屑-褎邪褌邪谢褜, 邪谢械 褨泄 蟹邪 60 褉芯泻褨胁, 褨 胁芯薪邪 1,5 屑 蟹褉芯褋褌褍, 邪 褌邪泻芯卸 锌芯胁薪械薪褜泻邪. 效芯屑褍 褎械屑-褎邪褌邪谢褜? 孝邪泻 褩褨 锌褉械蟹械薪褌褍褦 袘褉械写斜械褉褨 - 褨 锌械褉械写 芯褔懈屑邪 锌芯褋褌邪褦 芯斜褉邪蟹 薪褍邪褉褨胁褋褜泻芯褩 褎邪褌邪谢褜薪芯褩 泻褉邪褋褍薪褨. 袗 锌芯褌褨屑 袘褉械写斜械褉褨 写芯写邪褦 写械褌邪谢械泄 褩褩 胁懈谐谢褟写褍 - 褨 褎械屑-褎邪褌邪谢褜 蟹薪懈泻邪褦. 袉 谐芯谢芯胁薪懈泄 谐械褉芯泄 - 薪械 锌'褦, 胁褨褉薪芯 谢褞斜懈褌褜 褋胁芯褞 泻芯褏邪薪褍 / 薪邪褉械褔械薪褍, 锌懈褕械 褉芯屑邪薪懈. 袉 褌邪泻芯褞 谐褉芯褞 袘褉械写斜械褉褨 薪邪褔械 薪邪褋屑褨褏邪褦褌褜褋褟 薪邪写 胁褋褨屑 卸邪薪褉芯屑. 孝芯斜褌芯 褑械 薪褍邪褉, 写械 胁褋褨 锌械褉褋芯薪邪卸褨 胁泻褉邪泄 屑懈谢褨 褨 褋懈屑锌邪褌懈褔薪褨. 袗斜芯 薪械 胁懈泻谢懈泻邪褞褌褜 芯谐懈写懈. 袞芯写薪芯褩 写械锌褉械褋懈胁薪芯褋褌褨 薪褍邪褉褍.
袗谢械 褟泻褖芯 薪械 芯褔褨泻褍胁邪褌懈 薪褍邪褉褍, 褌芯 褉芯屑邪薪 - 褑褨泻邪胁懈泄 写械褌械泻褌懈胁, 褟泻懈泄 褦 泻胁邪蟹褨薪褍邪褉芯屑 褔懈 锌邪褉芯写褨泄薪懈屑 薪褍邪褉芯屑. 孝芯屑褍 褔懈褌邪褌懈屑褍 薪邪褋褌褍锌薪褨 褔邪褋褌懈薪懈!
些芯写芯 锌邪褉芯写褨泄, 褌芯 褌褍褌 褦 写械褌械泻褌懈胁, 褟泻懈泄 褎邪薪邪褌 泻谢邪褋懈褔薪芯褩 谢褨褌械褉邪褌褍褉懈 (胁褨谢褜薪芯 褑懈褌褍褦 楔械泻褋锌褨褉邪 褌邪 袛芯褋褌芯褦胁褋褜泻芯谐芯), 锌懈褕械 褉芯屑邪薪. 袆写懈薪械, 褖芯 薪邪谐邪写褍褦 薪褍邪褉褨胁褋褜泻懈褏 写械褌械泻褌懈胁褨胁 - 锌懈胁芯 锌'褦, 邪谢械 胁写芯屑邪 - 胁 褔褍写芯胁芯屑褍 褋邪写泻褍. 效懈屑 薪械 锌邪褉芯写褨褟? 袆 褌褍褌 褨 褎械屑-褎邪褌邪谢褜, 邪谢械 褨泄 蟹邪 60 褉芯泻褨胁, 褨 胁芯薪邪 1,5 屑 蟹褉芯褋褌褍, 邪 褌邪泻芯卸 锌芯胁薪械薪褜泻邪. 效芯屑褍 褎械屑-褎邪褌邪谢褜? 孝邪泻 褩褨 锌褉械蟹械薪褌褍褦 袘褉械写斜械褉褨 - 褨 锌械褉械写 芯褔懈屑邪 锌芯褋褌邪褦 芯斜褉邪蟹 薪褍邪褉褨胁褋褜泻芯褩 褎邪褌邪谢褜薪芯褩 泻褉邪褋褍薪褨. 袗 锌芯褌褨屑 袘褉械写斜械褉褨 写芯写邪褦 写械褌邪谢械泄 褩褩 胁懈谐谢褟写褍 - 褨 褎械屑-褎邪褌邪谢褜 蟹薪懈泻邪褦. 袉 谐芯谢芯胁薪懈泄 谐械褉芯泄 - 薪械 锌'褦, 胁褨褉薪芯 谢褞斜懈褌褜 褋胁芯褞 泻芯褏邪薪褍 / 薪邪褉械褔械薪褍, 锌懈褕械 褉芯屑邪薪懈. 袉 褌邪泻芯褞 谐褉芯褞 袘褉械写斜械褉褨 薪邪褔械 薪邪褋屑褨褏邪褦褌褜褋褟 薪邪写 胁褋褨屑 卸邪薪褉芯屑. 孝芯斜褌芯 褑械 薪褍邪褉, 写械 胁褋褨 锌械褉褋芯薪邪卸褨 胁泻褉邪泄 屑懈谢褨 褨 褋懈屑锌邪褌懈褔薪褨. 袗斜芯 薪械 胁懈泻谢懈泻邪褞褌褜 芯谐懈写懈. 袞芯写薪芯褩 写械锌褉械褋懈胁薪芯褋褌褨 薪褍邪褉褍.
袗谢械 褟泻褖芯 薪械 芯褔褨泻褍胁邪褌懈 薪褍邪褉褍, 褌芯 褉芯屑邪薪 - 褑褨泻邪胁懈泄 写械褌械泻褌懈胁, 褟泻懈泄 褦 泻胁邪蟹褨薪褍邪褉芯屑 褔懈 锌邪褉芯写褨泄薪懈屑 薪褍邪褉芯屑. 孝芯屑褍 褔懈褌邪褌懈屑褍 薪邪褋褌褍锌薪褨 褔邪褋褌懈薪懈!
November 9, 2018
校褏, 褟泻 屑芯褌芯褉芯褕薪芯! 啸芯褔械褌械 褔芯谐芯褋褜 褋锌褉邪胁写褨 薪褍邪褉薪芯谐芯 - 锌芯褏屑褍褉芯谐芯, 褌褍屑邪薪薪芯谐芯, 蟹褨 褋泻褉械谐芯褌芯屑 褌邪 褋胁懈褋褌芯屑 胁褨褌褉褍 褍 写芯褖芯胁褍 薪褨褔, 泻芯谢懈 褏褌芯褋褜 褋褌芯褩褌褜 胁薪芯褔褨 锌褨写 胁邪褕懈屑懈 写胁械褉懈屑邪 褨 褔械泻邪褦..? 孝芯写褨 褋屑褨谢懈胁芯 斜械褉褨褌褜褋褟 蟹邪 褑械泄 褉芯屑邪薪. 孝褍褌 褍褋械 锌褉芯褋褟泻薪褍褌械 蟹邪薪械锌邪写芯屑 (褟泻 褋邪屑芯谐芯 屑褨褋褌械褔泻邪, 褌邪泻 褨 泄芯谐芯 卸懈褌械谢褨胁), 褋邪屑芯褌薪褨褋褌褞, 锌芯褉邪蟹泻芯褞 褨 蟹邪斜褍褌褌褟屑...袧械锌褉芯谐谢褟写薪邪 褌械屑褉褟胁邪, 屑褉褟泻邪 褨 褏谢褞锌褨褌 褏胁懈谢褜.
袨斜芯胁*褟蟹泻芯胁芯 锌褉芯褔懈褌邪褞 薪邪褋褌褍锌薪褨 泻薪懈谐懈 褑褨褦褩 褋械褉褨褩.
袦械薪褨 谢懈褕械 薪械 褋锌芯写芯斜邪谢芯褋褜 芯褎芯褉屑谢械薪薪褟 褍泻褉.胁懈写邪薪薪褟 胁褨写 胁懈写. 袘芯谐写邪薪- 蟹 褟褋泻褉芯胁芯-褉芯卸械胁懈屑 谐谢邪屑褍褉薪懈屑 薪邪锌懈褋芯屑 褌邪 泻芯褉褨薪褑械屑... 褨 褑械 写芯 薪褍邪褉薪芯谐芯 写械褌械泻褌懈胁褍???
袨斜芯胁*褟蟹泻芯胁芯 锌褉芯褔懈褌邪褞 薪邪褋褌褍锌薪褨 泻薪懈谐懈 褑褨褦褩 褋械褉褨褩.
袦械薪褨 谢懈褕械 薪械 褋锌芯写芯斜邪谢芯褋褜 芯褎芯褉屑谢械薪薪褟 褍泻褉.胁懈写邪薪薪褟 胁褨写 胁懈写. 袘芯谐写邪薪- 蟹 褟褋泻褉芯胁芯-褉芯卸械胁懈屑 谐谢邪屑褍褉薪懈屑 薪邪锌懈褋芯屑 褌邪 泻芯褉褨薪褑械屑... 褨 褑械 写芯 薪褍邪褉薪芯谐芯 写械褌械泻褌懈胁褍???
August 26, 2009
A dark mystery/detective story (kind of) in typical Bradbury style. Marvelous writing and good, memorable characters.
What I learned: Not to read this book while home alone on a stormy night with family away in the LA area of California. At least I wasn't listening to Tosca.
What I learned: Not to read this book while home alone on a stormy night with family away in the LA area of California. At least I wasn't listening to Tosca.
June 24, 2011
I decided that I'm in the mood for a hard-boiled detective story. And I haven't read a Bradbury novel in a long, long time. Supposedly, the main character is based on some of Bradbury's own experiences while he was rising through the ranks of pulp fiction writers in the 1940's.
Update: I'm about 60 pages from the end, and I must admit, I'm having trouble getting through this book. Bradbury has populated his book with characters who are interesting, if not borderline preposterous. The same goes for the dialog. A little too colorful to be believable.
I was hoping that this would have more the character of hard-boiled fiction (a la Hammett or Chandler). The great thing about those writers and their ilk is that they could write in a terse, matter-of-fact, muscular style. Their characters had feelings, sure, but they avoided expressing them. So when the expression came out, it was all the more poignant.
Bradbury violates the rules of hard-boiled fiction by reveling, if not blubbering, in emotional expression. I'm not saying that this book is lacking in interest, but I am saying that maybe Bradbury tried too hard to make it work on too many different levels.
What he ends up with is rich, but slow-moving. Nothing much happens, but we sure meet a lot of different characters who effusively express themselves about a whole lot of nothing.
Overall, a disappointing read. It has none of the magic that I found in The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Fahrenheit 451, etc.
Update: I'm about 60 pages from the end, and I must admit, I'm having trouble getting through this book. Bradbury has populated his book with characters who are interesting, if not borderline preposterous. The same goes for the dialog. A little too colorful to be believable.
I was hoping that this would have more the character of hard-boiled fiction (a la Hammett or Chandler). The great thing about those writers and their ilk is that they could write in a terse, matter-of-fact, muscular style. Their characters had feelings, sure, but they avoided expressing them. So when the expression came out, it was all the more poignant.
Bradbury violates the rules of hard-boiled fiction by reveling, if not blubbering, in emotional expression. I'm not saying that this book is lacking in interest, but I am saying that maybe Bradbury tried too hard to make it work on too many different levels.
What he ends up with is rich, but slow-moving. Nothing much happens, but we sure meet a lot of different characters who effusively express themselves about a whole lot of nothing.
Overall, a disappointing read. It has none of the magic that I found in The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Fahrenheit 451, etc.
May 17, 2022
鈥炐⌒佳娧€褌褌邪 械 蟹邪薪懈屑邪薪懈械 褋邪屑芯褌薪芯鈥� 薪邪 袪械泄 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 褋械 胁芯写懈 泻褉懈屑懈薪邪谢械薪 褉芯屑邪薪, 薪芯 褋锌芯泻芯泄薪芯 屑芯卸械 懈 写邪 薪械 械. 袛邪, 懈屑邪 蟹邪写褗谢卸懈褌械谢薪懈褌械 械谢械屑械薪褌懈 蟹邪 械写懈薪 泻褉懈屑懈薪邪谢械薪 褉芯屑邪薪, 懈屑邪 谐懈 懈 锌褉械锌褉邪褌泻懈褌械 懈 褉械胁械褉邪薪褋懈褌械 泻褗屑 薪芯邪褉 泻褉懈屑懈薪邪谢薪懈褌械 锌褉芯懈蟹胁械写械薪懈褟, 懈屑邪 谐芯 懈 芯斜褟褋薪械薪懈械褌芯 薪邪 邪胁褌芯褉邪, 褔械 胁懈薪邪谐懈 械 懈褋泻邪谢 写邪 薪邪锌懈褕械 褌邪泻邪胁邪 泻薪懈谐邪, 泻邪褌芯 褌褉懈斜褞褌 泻褗屑 薪械谐芯胁懈 谢褞斜懈屑懈 蟹邪谐谢邪胁懈褟 懈 褌胁芯褉褑懈. 袠 胁褗锌褉械泻懈 褌芯胁邪 褋械 械 锌芯谢褍褔懈谢芯 薪械褖芯 屑薪芯谐芯 锌芯胁械褔械, 薪械褖芯 屑薪芯谐芯 锌芯-谐芯谢褟屑芯. 袩褉芯懈蟹胁械写械薪懈械 泻芯械褌芯 懈蟹谢懈蟹邪 屑薪芯谐芯 懈蟹胁褗薪 谐褉邪薪懈褑懈褌械, 泻邪泻褌芯 薪邪 卸邪薪褉邪 胁 泻芯泄褌芯 褌褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 褋械 褋谐褍褕懈, 褌邪泻邪 懈 懈蟹胁褗薪 褉邪屑泻懈褌械 懈 薪邪 屑薪芯谐芯 写褉褍谐懈 卸邪薪褉芯胁械. 孝芯胁邪 械 屑邪谐懈褔械褋泻懈 褉械邪谢懈蟹褗屑, 斜懈芯谐褉邪褎懈褟, 屑懈褋褌懈泻邪, 褎邪薪褌邪褋褌懈泻邪, 褎械薪褌褗蟹懈, 薪芯 锌褉械写懈 胁褋懈褔泻芯 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈. 袪械泄 蟹邪 锌芯褉械写械薪 锌褗褌 写芯泻邪蟹胁邪, 褔械 胁褋懈褔泻芯 泻芯械褌芯 锌懈褕械 褋懈 械 薪械谐芯胁, 褋芯斜褋褌胁械薪, 芯斜邪褟褌械谢械薪 懈 薪械锌芯写褉邪卸邪械屑 褋褌懈谢. 袩谢械薪褟胁邪褖邪 褋屑械褋 芯褌 懈褋褌芯褉懈懈 懈 褍薪懈泻邪谢械薪 薪邪褔懈薪 薪邪 褉邪蟹泻邪蟹胁邪薪械.
鈥炐⌒佳娧€褌褌邪 械 蟹邪薪懈屑邪薪懈械 褋邪屑芯褌薪芯鈥� 蟹邪锌芯褔胁邪 褋 械写薪芯 褍斜懈泄褋褌胁芯, 薪芯 屑薪芯谐芯 斜褗褉蟹芯 褋械 懈蟹屑褗泻胁邪 芯褌 泻芯谢芯胁芯蟹邪 薪邪 褌芯胁邪 懈褋褌芯褉懈褟褌邪 写邪 褋械 胁褗褉褌懈 褋邪屑芯 芯泻芯谢芯 褉邪蟹褋谢械写胁邪薪械褌芯 懈 屑械 锌芯薪械褋械 薪邪 薪械胁械褉芯褟褌薪芯 锌褗褌械褕械褋褌胁懈械, 胁 泻芯械褌芯 胁褋懈褔泻芯 芯褌屑懈薪邪胁邪 懈 褍屑懈褉邪. 笑褟谢邪褌邪 泻薪懈谐邪 械 邪谢械谐芯褉懈褟 蟹邪 褋屑褗褉褌褌邪. 袧邪 褋屑褗褉褌褌邪 薪邪 械写懈薪 谐褉邪写, 薪邪 械写薪邪 泻褍谢褌褍褉薪邪 械锌芯褏邪, 薪邪 蟹邪谢褟蟹胁邪锟斤拷懈 懈 锌芯谢褍蟹邪斜褉邪胁械薪懈 蟹胁械蟹写懈, 薪邪 褏芯褉邪 懈 胁械褖懈, 薪邪 褋锌芯屑械薪懈 懈 懈写械懈, 薪邪 褋械薪泻懈 芯褌 屑懈薪邪谢芯褌芯, 蟹邪谢懈褔邪胁邪薪懈 芯褌 锌谢邪屑褗泻邪 薪邪 锌褉芯谐褉械褋邪, 薪邪 屑邪谢泻懈褌械 褋屑褗褉褌懈 胁褋械泻懈 写械薪邪 薪邪 褋邪屑懈褌械 薪邪褋. 袟邪 褌芯胁邪 泻邪泻 褔芯胁械泻褗褌 泻芯泄褌芯, 褋屑械 斜懈谢懈 锌褉械写懈 薪褟泻芯谢泻芯 谐芯写懈薪懈, 胁械褔械 械 屑褗褉褌褗胁 懈 薪邪 薪械谐芯胁芯 屑褟褋褌芯 褋屑械 薪懈械, 泻芯懈褌芯 褋屑械 写褉褍谐懈.
袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 褌褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 褋械 褔械褌械, 褌邪泻邪 泻邪泻褌芯 褋械 锌懈械 褋褌邪褉芯 斜褉械薪写懈 鈥� 斜邪胁薪芯 蟹邪 写邪 褋械 褍褋械褌懈 斜褍泻械褌褗褌 芯褌 懈褋褌芯褉懈懈, 褋褗写斜懈, 谐械褉芯懈, 锌褉械锌褉邪褌泻懈, 褋褉邪胁薪械薪懈褟, 邪谢械谐芯褉懈懈, 锌褗褌械褕械褋褌胁懈褟, 械屑芯褑懈懈 懈 褌械卸械褋褌褌邪 薪邪 斜褍谢芯褌芯 薪邪 胁褉械屑械褌芯.
鈥炐⌒佳娧€褌褌邪 械 蟹邪薪懈屑邪薪懈械 褋邪屑芯褌薪芯鈥� 蟹邪锌芯褔胁邪 褋 械写薪芯 褍斜懈泄褋褌胁芯, 薪芯 屑薪芯谐芯 斜褗褉蟹芯 褋械 懈蟹屑褗泻胁邪 芯褌 泻芯谢芯胁芯蟹邪 薪邪 褌芯胁邪 懈褋褌芯褉懈褟褌邪 写邪 褋械 胁褗褉褌懈 褋邪屑芯 芯泻芯谢芯 褉邪蟹褋谢械写胁邪薪械褌芯 懈 屑械 锌芯薪械褋械 薪邪 薪械胁械褉芯褟褌薪芯 锌褗褌械褕械褋褌胁懈械, 胁 泻芯械褌芯 胁褋懈褔泻芯 芯褌屑懈薪邪胁邪 懈 褍屑懈褉邪. 笑褟谢邪褌邪 泻薪懈谐邪 械 邪谢械谐芯褉懈褟 蟹邪 褋屑褗褉褌褌邪. 袧邪 褋屑褗褉褌褌邪 薪邪 械写懈薪 谐褉邪写, 薪邪 械写薪邪 泻褍谢褌褍褉薪邪 械锌芯褏邪, 薪邪 蟹邪谢褟蟹胁邪锟斤拷懈 懈 锌芯谢褍蟹邪斜褉邪胁械薪懈 蟹胁械蟹写懈, 薪邪 褏芯褉邪 懈 胁械褖懈, 薪邪 褋锌芯屑械薪懈 懈 懈写械懈, 薪邪 褋械薪泻懈 芯褌 屑懈薪邪谢芯褌芯, 蟹邪谢懈褔邪胁邪薪懈 芯褌 锌谢邪屑褗泻邪 薪邪 锌褉芯谐褉械褋邪, 薪邪 屑邪谢泻懈褌械 褋屑褗褉褌懈 胁褋械泻懈 写械薪邪 薪邪 褋邪屑懈褌械 薪邪褋. 袟邪 褌芯胁邪 泻邪泻 褔芯胁械泻褗褌 泻芯泄褌芯, 褋屑械 斜懈谢懈 锌褉械写懈 薪褟泻芯谢泻芯 谐芯写懈薪懈, 胁械褔械 械 屑褗褉褌褗胁 懈 薪邪 薪械谐芯胁芯 屑褟褋褌芯 褋屑械 薪懈械, 泻芯懈褌芯 褋屑械 写褉褍谐懈.
袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 褌褉褟斜胁邪 写邪 褋械 褔械褌械, 褌邪泻邪 泻邪泻褌芯 褋械 锌懈械 褋褌邪褉芯 斜褉械薪写懈 鈥� 斜邪胁薪芯 蟹邪 写邪 褋械 褍褋械褌懈 斜褍泻械褌褗褌 芯褌 懈褋褌芯褉懈懈, 褋褗写斜懈, 谐械褉芯懈, 锌褉械锌褉邪褌泻懈, 褋褉邪胁薪械薪懈褟, 邪谢械谐芯褉懈懈, 锌褗褌械褕械褋褌胁懈褟, 械屑芯褑懈懈 懈 褌械卸械褋褌褌邪 薪邪 斜褍谢芯褌芯 薪邪 胁褉械屑械褌芯.
January 31, 2021
Lonely people die
shy writer suspects the worst
death smells like armpits.
shy writer suspects the worst
death smells like armpits.
January 31, 2017
While not Bradbury's all time best, this is a nice change of pace. Written relatively recently-- 1999-- the book is a postmodern mystery with a young version of the writer himself cast in the role of the detective. The killer is particularly creepy, an unseen presence waiting outside the homes of lonely failures, waiting for a chance to end their lives without ever doing more than gently touching them. Old women scared to death, drunks turned over in bathtubs, blind men tripped on staircases... and an old man drowned in a lion's cage.
The climax didn't quite satisfy, but it's a good read. There are a lot of references to Bradbury's science fiction stories. You can see the ostensible roots of "The Veldt" here, of fragments from Something Wicked this Way Comes, and "The Foghorn," which looms larger than life throughout the story. As a Bradbury fan, those moments of recognition added a fun element to the book.
For more on comics, humanity, morality and the world check out The Stupid Philosopher, aka a place where I put my words.
The climax didn't quite satisfy, but it's a good read. There are a lot of references to Bradbury's science fiction stories. You can see the ostensible roots of "The Veldt" here, of fragments from Something Wicked this Way Comes, and "The Foghorn," which looms larger than life throughout the story. As a Bradbury fan, those moments of recognition added a fun element to the book.
For more on comics, humanity, morality and the world check out The Stupid Philosopher, aka a place where I put my words.
February 12, 2024
Bradbury鈥檔in polisiye roman谋 oldu臒unu bilmiyordum. Biraz 艧a艧谋rarak ba艧lad谋m. Romanda iki 眉莽 sayfa okundu臒unda yazar谋 tahmin edebilirsiniz. 脰yle derin bir karakteristi臒i var. Bradbury tam olarak kendini yans谋tan bir noir yazm谋艧. Amat枚r bir yazar谋n d谋艧ar谋dayken bir gece kula臒谋na 鈥溍杔眉m yapayaln谋z bir i艧tir.鈥� diye f谋s谋ldan谋yor. Sonras谋nda da cesedi fark ediyor. Yer yer do臒a眉st眉 bir konuya ba臒lanacakm谋艧 hissi veriyor t眉m bunlar. Roman谋n polisiye k谋sm谋n谋n iyi oldu臒unu s枚yleyemem. Bradbury hemen her kitab谋nda kulland谋臒谋 莽ocukluk an谋lar谋/travmalar谋na bu kitab谋nda da yer veriyor. Farkl谋 bir noir yorumu okumak isteyenin ho艧lanaca臒谋n谋 d眉艧眉n眉yorum.
March 6, 2025
Surtout connu pour ses livres de SF Bradbury signe en 1985 ce superbe roman noir. 脗g茅 de 65 ans l'auteur rend hommage aux grands mystery writers comme Raymond Chandler et au Los Angeles de la fin des ann茅es 40. Largement autobiographique le livre t茅moigne d'une 茅poque r茅volue : celle des machines 脿 茅crire, des montagnes russes sur Venice Beach et du cin茅ma muet. On y croise les fant么mes de sa memoire, galerie de personnages excentriques, chanteuse d'op茅ra ob猫se 茅ternellement alit茅e, poin莽onneur octog茅naire ou vieille actrice sur le d茅clin. Le tout sur fond de r茅flexion de ce qu'est l'acte d'茅crire.
October 23, 2022
A great mystery from the master wordsmith. A noir thriller that plays out like a classic black and white movie while being a bit surreal at times and uniquely clever. A very Goodread.
June 26, 2019
袣邪褌芯 蟹邪 锌褗褉胁邪 泻薪懈谐邪, 泻芯褟褌芯 褔械褌邪 薪邪 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈 屑芯谐邪 写邪 泻邪卸邪 褔械 屑懈 褏邪褉械褋邪. 小褞卸械褌邪 薪械 斜械褕械 蟹邪锌谢械褌械薪 泻芯谢泻芯褌芯 芯褔邪泻胁邪褏 蟹邪 泻褉懈屑懈薪邪谢械薪 褉芯屑邪薪, 薪芯 谐械褉芯懈褌械 芯锌褉械写械谢械薪芯 褋邪 懈薪褌械褉械褋薪懈 :)
Read
April 18, 2021The author's youthful surrogate searches for the killer of a menagerie of despairing losers in 1950's Venice. Existentialist neo-noir of the highest order. I've never been a huge Bradbury fan and was shocked at how good this was. It's less a mystery novel than a reworking of genre tropes used to explore the rapidly fading grandeur of 50's Los Angeles and the occasional tragedy of human existence. Its slapstick surrealism reminded me somewhat of Inherent Vice, but its earthy, honest sentimentality, the lived in feel of the scenery and setting, renders it a clear notch above Pynchon's work. In fact there are a lot of over-hyped literary types who've attempted to mine similar territory, more pretentiously and to less effect. In short, Paul Auster would give his left nut to write something half as good. You should really give it a gander.
February 25, 2019
Nuar detektiv. Bredberid蓹n f蓹rqli janrlarda 莽ox oxumu艧am. Burada el蓹 oxuduqca adam谋 qara bas谋r. Detektiv sev蓹rl蓹r b蓹y蓹n蓹r b蓹lk蓹. M蓹n m眉蓹llifin y眉ng眉l, baharl谋, g眉ll眉 莽i莽蓹kli yaz谋lar谋n谋 daha 莽ox sevir蓹m. Kitab oxudu臒um saytda Venesiya trilogiyas谋n谋n ilk hiss蓹si kimi t蓹qdim edilib. Maraql谋d谋r ki, trilogiya b蓹zi m蓹nb蓹l蓹rd蓹 枚l眉m ad谋 alt谋nda,dig蓹rl蓹rind蓹 ba艧 q蓹hr蓹man谋n soyad谋 il蓹 ke莽ir.
January 7, 2017
袝写薪邪 薪芯褖, 泻芯谐邪褌芯 锌懈褋邪褌械谢褟褌 褋械 锌褉懈斜懈褉邪 褋谢械写 锌芯谢褍薪芯褖, 褋邪屑 胁 褌褉邪屑胁邪褟, 褍褋械褖邪 褋褗屑薪懈褌械谢薪芯 锌褉懈褋褗褋褌胁懈械 薪邪 锌懈褟薪 褔芯胁械泻, 泻芯泄褌芯 褋谢懈蟹邪泄泻懈 锌褉芯懈蟹薪邪褋褟 薪褟泻芯谢泻芯 锌褗褌懈 " 小屑褗褉褌褌邪 械 蟹邪薪懈屑邪薪懈械 褋邪屑芯褌薪芯". 袦懈褋褌械褉懈芯蟹薪邪褌邪 泻芯屑锌邪薪懈褟 胁 褋邪屑芯褌薪懈褟 褌褉邪屑胁邪泄 褋屑褉邪蟹褟胁邪 泻褉褗胁褌邪 薪邪 锌懈褋邪褌械谢褟 懈 谐芯 懈蟹锌褗谢胁邪 褋 芯褔邪泻胁邪薪械, 褔械 薪械褖芯 褍卸邪褋薪芯 褖械 褋械 褋谢褍褔懈.
袩芯- 泻褗褋薪芯, 褉邪蟹褏芯卸写邪泄泻懈 褋械 锌芯 泻械褟 薪邪 袙械薪械褑懈褟, 袣邪谢懈褎芯褉薪懈褟, 褌芯泄 芯褌泻褉懈胁邪 褌褉褍锌a 薪邪 胁褗蟹褉邪褋褌械薪 褔芯胁械泻 胁 谢褗胁褋泻邪 泻谢械褌泻邪. 袩芯谢懈褑懈褟褌邪 褋屑褟褌邪, 褔械 械 薪械褖邪褋褌械薪 褋谢褍褔邪泄, 薪芯 锌懈褋邪褌械谢褟褌 褋械 褋褗屑薪褟胁邪, 褔械 械 褍斜懈泄褋褌胁芯 懈 蟹邪锌芯褔胁邪 写邪 褉邪蟹褋谢械写胁邪 褋邪屑芯褋褌芯褟褌械谢薪芯 褋谢褍褔邪褟. 袦邪谢泻芯 锌芯 屑邪谢泻芯 褋械 褋斜谢懈卸邪胁邪 褋褗褋 褋谢械写芯胁邪褌械谢褟褌 袝谢屑芯 袣褉褗屑谢懈 懈 屑褍 芯褌泻褉懈胁邪 写芯泻邪蟹邪褌械谢褋褌胁邪褌邪, 泻芯懈褌芯 械 薪邪屑械褉懈谢.
袩懈褋邪褌械谢褟褌 卸懈胁械械 褋泻褉芯屑薪芯 芯褌 锌褉芯写邪胁邪薪懈褌械 蟹邪 褋锌懈褋邪薪懈褟 褉邪蟹泻邪蟹懈 懈 薪械 褋屑械械 写邪 褋懈 锌芯蟹胁芯谢懈 写邪 褋械 芯斜胁褗褉卸械 褋 锌褉懈褟褌械谢泻邪褌邪 褋懈 袩械谐, 泻芯褟褌芯 械 薪邪 褋锌械褑懈邪谢懈蟹邪褑懈褟 胁 袦械泻褋懈泻芯.
小谢械写 褍斜懈泄褋褌胁芯褌芯 懈 褉邪蟹锌芯蟹薪邪胁邪薪械褌芯 薪邪 褋邪屑芯谢懈褔薪芯褋褌褌邪 薪邪 褍斜懈褌懈褟, 懈薪褌褍懈褑懈褟褌邪 薪邪 锌懈褋邪褌械谢褟 锌芯泻邪蟹胁邪, 褔械 懈 写褉褍谐懈 褏芯褉邪 屑芯卸械 写邪 褋械 芯泻邪卸邪褌 屑懈褕械薪邪 薪邪 褍斜懈械褑褗褌. 袛邪谢懈 薪械谐芯胁懈 锌褉懈褟褌械谢懈 薪褟屑邪 写邪 褋邪 锌芯褌褗褉锌械胁褕懈?! 袣邪泻胁芯 褖械 褋褌邪薪械 褋 斜褉褗褋薪邪褉褟褌 袣械泄谢, 泻芯泄褌芯 屑懈褋褌械褉懈芯蟹薪芯 懈蟹褔械蟹胁邪, 芯褋褌邪胁褟泄泻懈 屑褍 锌懈邪薪芯褌芯 褋懈; 邪 写邪谢懈 薪械谐芯胁邪褌邪 锌褉懈褟褌械谢泻邪, 芯锌械褉薪邪褌邪 锌械胁懈褑邪 肖邪薪懈 械 胁 斜械蟹芯锌邪褋薪芯褋褌; 蟹邪褖芯 蟹邪褋褌邪褉褟胁邪褖邪褌邪 邪泻褌褉懈褋邪 袣芯薪褋褌邪薪褋 袪邪褌懈谐邪薪 谐芯 写芯锌褍褋泻邪 褌芯谢泻芯胁邪 斜谢懈蟹芯 写芯 褋械斜械 褋懈; 蟹邪褖芯 褌械谢械褎芯薪邪 胁 褌械谢械褎芯薪薪邪褌邪 斜褍写泻邪, 泻芯褟褌芯 锌懈褋邪褌械谢褟褌 锌芯谢蟹胁邪, 蟹胁褗薪懈 胁 薪械芯斜懈褔邪泄薪芯 胁褉械屑械, 泻芯谐邪褌芯 薪褟泻芯泄 械 褍斜懈褌; 蟹邪褖芯 褋械 锌芯褟胁褟胁邪褌 胁芯写芯褉邪褋谢懈 薪邪 锌褉邪谐邪 屑褍, 邪 褋谢械写 褌芯胁邪 懈 薪邪 锌褉邪谐邪 薪邪 袣褉褗屑谢懈?!
袩懈褋邪褌械谢褟褌, 蟹邪械写薪芯 褋 袣褉褗屑谢懈 褋械 胁锌褍褋泻邪褌 胁 锌褉械卸懈胁褟胁邪薪懈褟 懈 褋谐谢芯斜褟胁邪薪械 薪邪 锌邪褉褔械薪褑邪褌邪 薪邪 锌褗蟹械谢邪.
孝芯胁邪 械 锌芯- 褉邪蟹谢懈褔薪邪 芯褌 芯斜懈褔邪泄薪懈褌械 懈褋褌芯褉懈懈 薪邪 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈, 泻褉懈屑懈薪邪谢薪邪, 胁 泻芯褟褌芯 褋褟泻邪褕 褌芯泄 懈谐褉邪械 褉芯谢褟褌邪 薪邪 谐谢邪胁薪懈褟 谐械褉芯泄, 锌懈褋邪褌械谢褟褌. 孝芯泄 褋械 胁褗锌谢褗褖邪胁邪 懈 胁 褉芯谢褟褌邪 薪邪 写械褌械泻褌懈胁 懈 斜谢邪谐芯写邪褉械薪懈械 薪邪 褋懈谢薪邪褌邪 褋懈 懈薪褌褍懈褑懈褟 芯褌泻褉懈胁邪 写芯褋褌邪 芯褌谐芯胁芯褉懈, 泻芯懈褌芯 褍斜褟谐胁邪褌 薪邪 褋谢械写芯胁邪褌械谢褟.
小 褌邪蟹懈 懈褋褌芯褉懈褟 褋械 写芯泻芯褋胁邪屑械 芯褖械 锌芯- 斜谢懈蟹芯 写芯 褋胁械褌邪 薪邪 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈, 写芯 械卸械写薪械胁懈械褌芯, 薪械胁芯谢懈褌械 懈 褌褉械胁芯谐懈褌械 薪邪 锌懈褋邪褌械谢褟, 锌芯 芯薪芯胁邪 胁褉械屑械.
袩芯- 泻褗褋薪芯, 褉邪蟹褏芯卸写邪泄泻懈 褋械 锌芯 泻械褟 薪邪 袙械薪械褑懈褟, 袣邪谢懈褎芯褉薪懈褟, 褌芯泄 芯褌泻褉懈胁邪 褌褉褍锌a 薪邪 胁褗蟹褉邪褋褌械薪 褔芯胁械泻 胁 谢褗胁褋泻邪 泻谢械褌泻邪. 袩芯谢懈褑懈褟褌邪 褋屑褟褌邪, 褔械 械 薪械褖邪褋褌械薪 褋谢褍褔邪泄, 薪芯 锌懈褋邪褌械谢褟褌 褋械 褋褗屑薪褟胁邪, 褔械 械 褍斜懈泄褋褌胁芯 懈 蟹邪锌芯褔胁邪 写邪 褉邪蟹褋谢械写胁邪 褋邪屑芯褋褌芯褟褌械谢薪芯 褋谢褍褔邪褟. 袦邪谢泻芯 锌芯 屑邪谢泻芯 褋械 褋斜谢懈卸邪胁邪 褋褗褋 褋谢械写芯胁邪褌械谢褟褌 袝谢屑芯 袣褉褗屑谢懈 懈 屑褍 芯褌泻褉懈胁邪 写芯泻邪蟹邪褌械谢褋褌胁邪褌邪, 泻芯懈褌芯 械 薪邪屑械褉懈谢.
袩懈褋邪褌械谢褟褌 卸懈胁械械 褋泻褉芯屑薪芯 芯褌 锌褉芯写邪胁邪薪懈褌械 蟹邪 褋锌懈褋邪薪懈褟 褉邪蟹泻邪蟹懈 懈 薪械 褋屑械械 写邪 褋懈 锌芯蟹胁芯谢懈 写邪 褋械 芯斜胁褗褉卸械 褋 锌褉懈褟褌械谢泻邪褌邪 褋懈 袩械谐, 泻芯褟褌芯 械 薪邪 褋锌械褑懈邪谢懈蟹邪褑懈褟 胁 袦械泻褋懈泻芯.
小谢械写 褍斜懈泄褋褌胁芯褌芯 懈 褉邪蟹锌芯蟹薪邪胁邪薪械褌芯 薪邪 褋邪屑芯谢懈褔薪芯褋褌褌邪 薪邪 褍斜懈褌懈褟, 懈薪褌褍懈褑懈褟褌邪 薪邪 锌懈褋邪褌械谢褟 锌芯泻邪蟹胁邪, 褔械 懈 写褉褍谐懈 褏芯褉邪 屑芯卸械 写邪 褋械 芯泻邪卸邪褌 屑懈褕械薪邪 薪邪 褍斜懈械褑褗褌. 袛邪谢懈 薪械谐芯胁懈 锌褉懈褟褌械谢懈 薪褟屑邪 写邪 褋邪 锌芯褌褗褉锌械胁褕懈?! 袣邪泻胁芯 褖械 褋褌邪薪械 褋 斜褉褗褋薪邪褉褟褌 袣械泄谢, 泻芯泄褌芯 屑懈褋褌械褉懈芯蟹薪芯 懈蟹褔械蟹胁邪, 芯褋褌邪胁褟泄泻懈 屑褍 锌懈邪薪芯褌芯 褋懈; 邪 写邪谢懈 薪械谐芯胁邪褌邪 锌褉懈褟褌械谢泻邪, 芯锌械褉薪邪褌邪 锌械胁懈褑邪 肖邪薪懈 械 胁 斜械蟹芯锌邪褋薪芯褋褌; 蟹邪褖芯 蟹邪褋褌邪褉褟胁邪褖邪褌邪 邪泻褌褉懈褋邪 袣芯薪褋褌邪薪褋 袪邪褌懈谐邪薪 谐芯 写芯锌褍褋泻邪 褌芯谢泻芯胁邪 斜谢懈蟹芯 写芯 褋械斜械 褋懈; 蟹邪褖芯 褌械谢械褎芯薪邪 胁 褌械谢械褎芯薪薪邪褌邪 斜褍写泻邪, 泻芯褟褌芯 锌懈褋邪褌械谢褟褌 锌芯谢蟹胁邪, 蟹胁褗薪懈 胁 薪械芯斜懈褔邪泄薪芯 胁褉械屑械, 泻芯谐邪褌芯 薪褟泻芯泄 械 褍斜懈褌; 蟹邪褖芯 褋械 锌芯褟胁褟胁邪褌 胁芯写芯褉邪褋谢懈 薪邪 锌褉邪谐邪 屑褍, 邪 褋谢械写 褌芯胁邪 懈 薪邪 锌褉邪谐邪 薪邪 袣褉褗屑谢懈?!
袩懈褋邪褌械谢褟褌, 蟹邪械写薪芯 褋 袣褉褗屑谢懈 褋械 胁锌褍褋泻邪褌 胁 锌褉械卸懈胁褟胁邪薪懈褟 懈 褋谐谢芯斜褟胁邪薪械 薪邪 锌邪褉褔械薪褑邪褌邪 薪邪 锌褗蟹械谢邪.
孝芯胁邪 械 锌芯- 褉邪蟹谢懈褔薪邪 芯褌 芯斜懈褔邪泄薪懈褌械 懈褋褌芯褉懈懈 薪邪 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈, 泻褉懈屑懈薪邪谢薪邪, 胁 泻芯褟褌芯 褋褟泻邪褕 褌芯泄 懈谐褉邪械 褉芯谢褟褌邪 薪邪 谐谢邪胁薪懈褟 谐械褉芯泄, 锌懈褋邪褌械谢褟褌. 孝芯泄 褋械 胁褗锌谢褗褖邪胁邪 懈 胁 褉芯谢褟褌邪 薪邪 写械褌械泻褌懈胁 懈 斜谢邪谐芯写邪褉械薪懈械 薪邪 褋懈谢薪邪褌邪 褋懈 懈薪褌褍懈褑懈褟 芯褌泻褉懈胁邪 写芯褋褌邪 芯褌谐芯胁芯褉懈, 泻芯懈褌芯 褍斜褟谐胁邪褌 薪邪 褋谢械写芯胁邪褌械谢褟.
小 褌邪蟹懈 懈褋褌芯褉懈褟 褋械 写芯泻芯褋胁邪屑械 芯褖械 锌芯- 斜谢懈蟹芯 写芯 褋胁械褌邪 薪邪 袘褉械写斜褗褉懈, 写芯 械卸械写薪械胁懈械褌芯, 薪械胁芯谢懈褌械 懈 褌褉械胁芯谐懈褌械 薪邪 锌懈褋邪褌械谢褟, 锌芯 芯薪芯胁邪 胁褉械屑械.
July 9, 2016
Every Bradbury novel out there is worth your time.
May 6, 2022
袠蟹锌懈褌胁邪屑 褌褉褍写薪芯褋褌 写邪 芯斜芯斜褖褟 屑薪械薪懈械褌芯 褋懈 蟹邪 褌邪蟹懈 泻薪懈谐邪.
啸邪褉械褋邪 屑懈, 薪芯 懈 薪械 屑懈 褏邪褉械褋邪.
袘褟褏 蟹邪锌谢械薪械薪邪, 薪芯 懈 芯褌械谐褔械薪邪 薪邪 屑芯屑械薪褌懈.
袨褋芯斜械薪 邪胁褌芯褉, 薪芯 褋褗褋 蟹邪斜械谢械卸懈褌械谢械薪 薪邪褔懈薪 薪邪 懈蟹褉邪蟹褟胁邪薪械.
啸邪褉械褋邪 屑懈, 薪芯 懈 薪械 屑懈 褏邪褉械褋邪.
袘褟褏 蟹邪锌谢械薪械薪邪, 薪芯 懈 芯褌械谐褔械薪邪 薪邪 屑芯屑械薪褌懈.
袨褋芯斜械薪 邪胁褌芯褉, 薪芯 褋褗褋 蟹邪斜械谢械卸懈褌械谢械薪 薪邪褔懈薪 薪邪 懈蟹褉邪蟹褟胁邪薪械.
May 12, 2025
The unnamed narrator of is a writer living in Venice, California, where the local carnival pier is being demolished. He discovers the body of an old man, underwater and trapped in a lion cage.
It turns out he had previously met the old man at the trolley station. As he seeks to learn the old man's name, he meets another elderly neighborhood resident, who tells him someone has been lurking in the hallway outside her room. She suggests that Death himself is waiting for her. Over the next few weeks, he gets to know other colorful locals and hears more stories of odd odors, shadowy presences, and silent callers.
The writer lives on the beach among interesting people, including Constance Rattigan, a movie star who hasn鈥檛 been seen publicly since the 1920s. The book is set in 1949 although Bradbury wrote it in 1985. Other characters include the canary lady, a group of elderly men, and a housebound soprano.
The writer reluctantly teams with local police detective, Elmo Crumley, to try and solve the case. The only clues they have are the writer鈥檚 intuition, articles that go missing from the deceased鈥檚 residences, and a blind man鈥檚 keen sense of smell.
The characters are written in typical Bradbury style, full of depth and are well developed. Once going the story runs along nicely, but for me it was a slow start.
If you enjoy reading "Death Is a Lonely Business", you will be happy to learn that Bradbury enjoyed writing it and went on to use some of the same characters in two more books of a trilogy. "A Graveyard for Lunatics" was published in 1990 and "Let鈥檚 All Kill Constance" in 2003. Ray Bradbury died in 2012.
It turns out he had previously met the old man at the trolley station. As he seeks to learn the old man's name, he meets another elderly neighborhood resident, who tells him someone has been lurking in the hallway outside her room. She suggests that Death himself is waiting for her. Over the next few weeks, he gets to know other colorful locals and hears more stories of odd odors, shadowy presences, and silent callers.
The writer lives on the beach among interesting people, including Constance Rattigan, a movie star who hasn鈥檛 been seen publicly since the 1920s. The book is set in 1949 although Bradbury wrote it in 1985. Other characters include the canary lady, a group of elderly men, and a housebound soprano.
The writer reluctantly teams with local police detective, Elmo Crumley, to try and solve the case. The only clues they have are the writer鈥檚 intuition, articles that go missing from the deceased鈥檚 residences, and a blind man鈥檚 keen sense of smell.
The characters are written in typical Bradbury style, full of depth and are well developed. Once going the story runs along nicely, but for me it was a slow start.
If you enjoy reading "Death Is a Lonely Business", you will be happy to learn that Bradbury enjoyed writing it and went on to use some of the same characters in two more books of a trilogy. "A Graveyard for Lunatics" was published in 1990 and "Let鈥檚 All Kill Constance" in 2003. Ray Bradbury died in 2012.
November 4, 2024
Ray Bradbury鈥檔in 鈥溍杔眉m Yapayaln谋z Bir 陌艧tir鈥� kitab谋 (鈥淒eath is a Lonely Business鈥�), gizem ve noir unsurlar谋n谋 i莽eriyor. 1949 y谋l谋nda Kaliforniya鈥檔谋n Venice b枚lgesinde ge莽iyor ve gen莽 bir yazar谋n kar艧谋la艧t谋臒谋 esrarengiz cinayetleri 莽枚zme 莽abas谋n谋 konu al谋yor. Yazar, cinayetlerin pe艧ine d眉艧erken kayg谋, 枚l眉m korkusu ve yaln谋zl谋k temalar谋 眉zerinden de i莽sel bir yolculuk ya艧arken yazarimiz karma艧谋k bir dil ve 眉slup kullaniyor.
Ben insanda da kitapta da netlik severim 馃榿. Bu kitaba ba艧larken bir polisiye okuyacak olmanin heyecani i莽indeydim . Daha ilk on sayfada ben ne okuyorum 艧u an diye kafam kar谋艧t谋, devam ettik莽e aydinlanmam gerekirken kitaba daha da yabanc谋la艧t谋m.
Klasik bir dedektif hikayesi gibi g枚r眉nse de, esasen yaln谋zl谋k, ya艧lanma ve 枚l眉m gibi felsefi temalara yo臒unla艧mis ve ben bu derin ve sembolik anlat谋m tarz谋ndan ho艧lanmad谋臒谋m i莽in 1,5鈥檛an 2 yildiz veriyorum kitaba.
Ben insanda da kitapta da netlik severim 馃榿. Bu kitaba ba艧larken bir polisiye okuyacak olmanin heyecani i莽indeydim . Daha ilk on sayfada ben ne okuyorum 艧u an diye kafam kar谋艧t谋, devam ettik莽e aydinlanmam gerekirken kitaba daha da yabanc谋la艧t谋m.
Klasik bir dedektif hikayesi gibi g枚r眉nse de, esasen yaln谋zl谋k, ya艧lanma ve 枚l眉m gibi felsefi temalara yo臒unla艧mis ve ben bu derin ve sembolik anlat谋m tarz谋ndan ho艧lanmad谋臒谋m i莽in 1,5鈥檛an 2 yildiz veriyorum kitaba.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 513 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.