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AB's Reviews > Pick-Up
Pick-Up
by
by
I like to pretend that I am well-read/watched on noir. It’s one of my passions and something that I can always return to. It’s irresistible. It lives in this world of being both pulp and high art. It’s both hyper realistic and surrealist at the same time. Over time, I’ve been drawn towards the strain of noir that deals with a tortured soul and Pick Up fits this perfectly.
As noir fiction goes, Pick Up was pretty damn good. An alcoholic meets and alcoholic and they slowly descend to contemplating suicide. It’s a touching story to begin with and Harry Jordan’s painfully tragic attempts at dealing with his predicaments amplifies how awful everything is. The story has got it all, seedy areas of San Francisco, vivid descriptions of sex, the stereotypical distrust felt towards psychoanalysis, and very poetic descriptions. It was a short book, only 166 pages, but its subject matter was heavy and felt much longer.
Pick Up had a very interesting twist, although plot wise unimportant, at the end. I’m not one for twists but I really enjoyed it. There’s no meandering plot here, it stays on the rails and it hits hard. I’d highly recommend this book.
As noir fiction goes, Pick Up was pretty damn good. An alcoholic meets and alcoholic and they slowly descend to contemplating suicide. It’s a touching story to begin with and Harry Jordan’s painfully tragic attempts at dealing with his predicaments amplifies how awful everything is. The story has got it all, seedy areas of San Francisco, vivid descriptions of sex, the stereotypical distrust felt towards psychoanalysis, and very poetic descriptions. It was a short book, only 166 pages, but its subject matter was heavy and felt much longer.
Pick Up had a very interesting twist, although plot wise unimportant, at the end. I’m not one for twists but I really enjoyed it. There’s no meandering plot here, it stays on the rails and it hits hard. I’d highly recommend this book.
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Reading Progress
February 9, 2020
–
Started Reading
February 9, 2020
– Shelved
February 9, 2020
–
12.05%
" I hit the bottle so hard I'm not sure whether I came to San Francisco on the bus or on the train.
I have to fill the void of TCM not airing Noir Alley this month somehow"
page
20
I have to fill the void of TCM not airing Noir Alley this month somehow"
February 10, 2020
–
42.17%
"
-How is any sex life? What kind of answer did you want?
-As a painter-- you did paint, didnt you?-- I nodded. You should have a sharp notice for sensation, then. Where did it feel the best? The tip, the shaft, where?
It wouldnt be a real noir without the genres bizarre love/hate relationship with psychology. It relies so heavily on psychology but never misses a chance to make fun of psychiatry."
page
70
-How is any sex life? What kind of answer did you want?
-As a painter-- you did paint, didnt you?-- I nodded. You should have a sharp notice for sensation, then. Where did it feel the best? The tip, the shaft, where?
It wouldnt be a real noir without the genres bizarre love/hate relationship with psychology. It relies so heavily on psychology but never misses a chance to make fun of psychiatry."
February 11, 2020
–
65.66%
" I awoke, and printed in large, wavering red letters on the surface of my returning consciousness as the word for Harry Jordan: FAILURE. Somehow, I wasn't surprised. Harry Jordan was a failure in everything he tried. Even suicide. "
page
109
February 13, 2020
–
Finished Reading
February 20, 2020
– Shelved as:
some-of-my-favorites
March 15, 2020
– Shelved as:
american
