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Seth T.'s Reviews > Skinny Dip
Skinny Dip
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Carl Hiaasen is right at home in that collective of modern, witty crime fiction writers who are neither Dashiell Hammett nor Raymond Chandler and hope against that you won't attempt the comparison. That he's good, there's no doubt. It's just: he's not genius.
And that's fine. Not everyone can abide in stellar heights, unreachable and ever-gunned-for. Skinny Dip was a perfectly enjoyable ode to revenge. All the bad people got what was coming to them and none of the good people ever fell prey to their various bumblings and inadequacies. I devoured the last half of the tale in a single sitting, staying up late enough in bed reading that my performance at the office the next day may have been diminished.
It's just... I've read the greats. And so I think that subconsciously I'm always left thinking, Wow, that was fun... but *sigh* it was no The Long Goodbye. I know it's probably not fair to Hiasaan, but it's kind of like reading most any fantasy epic after having read The Lord of the Rings. You end up feeling kind of hollow.
No hard feelings, Carl? You're still as good as Elmore Leonard!
And that's fine. Not everyone can abide in stellar heights, unreachable and ever-gunned-for. Skinny Dip was a perfectly enjoyable ode to revenge. All the bad people got what was coming to them and none of the good people ever fell prey to their various bumblings and inadequacies. I devoured the last half of the tale in a single sitting, staying up late enough in bed reading that my performance at the office the next day may have been diminished.
It's just... I've read the greats. And so I think that subconsciously I'm always left thinking, Wow, that was fun... but *sigh* it was no The Long Goodbye. I know it's probably not fair to Hiasaan, but it's kind of like reading most any fantasy epic after having read The Lord of the Rings. You end up feeling kind of hollow.
No hard feelings, Carl? You're still as good as Elmore Leonard!
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
August 1, 2007
–
Finished Reading
August 6, 2007
– Shelved
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Peter
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rated it 3 stars
Mar 23, 2013 04:43AM
Almost as good as Elmore Leonard IMHO. Funnier sometimes, yes.
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Your review has intrigued me, not being mystery fiction reader as a rule, I am not that familiar with the genre. But I was curious as to your opinion as to what made the great mystery writers of the past so hard to match?
I don鈥檛 think he comes anywhere near Elmore Leonard. Any time I read this guy, I have to roll my eyes at his attempts to be cute or funny.
I don't remember ever having read this novel, so my guess is that you're right.
