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Jack Tripper's Reviews > Pick-Up
Pick-Up
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by
(Updated 1/21/17)
Here's my 1992 Futura mass-market (187 pages), which isn't listed here. Not quite as nifty as that 1955 edition up top, but unless anyone has an extra $60 lying around that they could do without, I guess I'll just have to stick with this one.
Without a doubt one of the three or four best classic -era noir novels I've ever read, Pick-Up is a bleak, heartbreaking story about a newly-met alcoholic couple who are seemingly doomed, spending their days and nights in various bars drinking themselves into oblivion in order to forget the world and their lives. It's like watching a car accident, in that as much as you may want to look away, you can't.
I found myself connecting with these two right away, becoming wrapped up in their lives and really rooting for them to make it work, which is astonishing considering the entire novel is less than 200 pages, and is a testament to Willeford's proficiency at characterization. The descriptions of the seedier side of San Francisco in the 50s really pulled me in as well, and added to the depressing and hopeless atmosphere.
Willeford has a clean, unobtrusive prose-style that disappears while reading, allowing the reader to become fully enveloped in the story, a story that kept me glued to the pages til the final, game-changing line.
Highly recommended for any and all fans of noir.
5 Stars.
Here's my 1992 Futura mass-market (187 pages), which isn't listed here. Not quite as nifty as that 1955 edition up top, but unless anyone has an extra $60 lying around that they could do without, I guess I'll just have to stick with this one.
Without a doubt one of the three or four best classic -era noir novels I've ever read, Pick-Up is a bleak, heartbreaking story about a newly-met alcoholic couple who are seemingly doomed, spending their days and nights in various bars drinking themselves into oblivion in order to forget the world and their lives. It's like watching a car accident, in that as much as you may want to look away, you can't.
I found myself connecting with these two right away, becoming wrapped up in their lives and really rooting for them to make it work, which is astonishing considering the entire novel is less than 200 pages, and is a testament to Willeford's proficiency at characterization. The descriptions of the seedier side of San Francisco in the 50s really pulled me in as well, and added to the depressing and hopeless atmosphere.
Willeford has a clean, unobtrusive prose-style that disappears while reading, allowing the reader to become fully enveloped in the story, a story that kept me glued to the pages til the final, game-changing line.
Highly recommended for any and all fans of noir.
5 Stars.
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Reading Progress
October 18, 2015
– Shelved
October 18, 2015
– Shelved as:
to-read
October 25, 2015
– Shelved as:
mystery-crime-thriller
October 25, 2015
– Shelved as:
noir-hardboiled
November 30, 2015
–
Started Reading
November 30, 2015
–
Finished Reading
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by
Ben
(new)
Apr 16, 2016 06:56PM
All right! I was wondering where to start with this guy. I'll try to get hold of Pick Up forthwith.
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@Ben: Damn, sorry I never saw this comment. But yes, do so forthwith (as I see you haven't gotten to it yet).Btw, I've always dug your reviews. We seem to have similar interests, at least as far as weird and/or surreal fiction is concerned.
Cheers.
Thanks Supratim. I know you're a pretty big mystery/crime fan, so this MAY be up your alley. I say MAY because, while it might be filed under the mystery/crime section, it's really neither. It is pretty gloomy though.
Jack, that's good to hear (that you like my reviews) but unfortunately I've been quiet (near silent) hear of late. I did pick up a Willeford from the library but it wasn't Pick-Up, and I didn't make it through. But he's on my radar.
Ah well. I do know that his style is pretty different when it comes to his 50s/60s work compared to what little I've sampled of his 80s comeback output. I much prefer his earlier, old-school noir vibe as opposed to his later Hoke Moseley series, which seemed more like straight-up detective mysteries.
Man, jack, you are always there with the classic noir. Very glad you’re on my friend list, sir.
Alex wrote: "Man, jack, you are always there with the classic noir. Very glad you’re on my friend list, sir."Thanks for the kind words, Alex. Right back at ya.
