Recently read: Strip Jack
Nov. 17th, 2009 15:04![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
viktor_haagJust finished the fourth in Rankin's Rebus books, "Strip Jack". I know that Rankin is one of the huge success stories in the mystery/procedrual genre, and Rebus is probably an important exemplar of the "new model" detective: saggy, depressive, drinks too much, smokes too much, can't play well with others, &c. And Rankin is also not a bad writer; he's witty, his characterization passes muster, the books present decent pictures of life in the setting without too much in the way of wallowing in the social commentary.
But I'm not really connecting to these books much, and in this particular novel, I suspect it's the plotting that's at fault.
"Strip Jack" did have a plot to be unravelled, and Rebus did at times move from stage to stage, book making almost audible clicking noises in the background as the gears advanced. But somehow there seemed a bit too much aimless thrashing about, a bit too many flattish, unsympathetic characters wrapped up in the nub of the thing. If I were Rankin's editor, I might have said to him, "Look, I see what you're getting at here, but is there a way you can maybe pare out two of these characters? Bob over here, and Shiela maybe? Do they really add anything?" It all seems a bit too messy a pottage in the end: hearty, true, but sometimes less is a wee bit more.
All the characters and cob-webby relationships careening around lead me to suspect that there's a bit of hand-waving going on in an effort to distract the reader from a storyline that seems a bit muddy and not really finely drawn. "Strip Jack" also suffers from the "seemingly unrelated strange case that is, in fact, related" device that demands to be handled with extreme care; not quite enough care in this case, I don't think.
"Strip Jack" just feels like a transitional book: it moves away from the more formulaic plots and presentation in the earlier books, but it doesn't seem to really hang together. Yes, the case gets presented, worked at, and resolved, but Rebus himself and the events in his life seem a bit aimlessly drawn: he starts in the middle of something (working out his relationship to a newly promoted colleague, and his relationship with his current romantic partner), and ends without much decision or resolution in that regard.
There's a strong feeling of "tune in next week" under-riding the interior life of the people in "Strip Jack"; sometimes that can be an inducement to rush out and consume the next instalment. But sometimes, it can leave the consumption of the current narrative feeling a bit hollow.
On balance, good, and recommended if you like this kind of thing, but probably only if you are in the process of reading more than one of Rankin's books. If you're just picking one up to sample, or on a lark, I'm not sure I'd recommend this as the one to start with.
But I'm not really connecting to these books much, and in this particular novel, I suspect it's the plotting that's at fault.
"Strip Jack" did have a plot to be unravelled, and Rebus did at times move from stage to stage, book making almost audible clicking noises in the background as the gears advanced. But somehow there seemed a bit too much aimless thrashing about, a bit too many flattish, unsympathetic characters wrapped up in the nub of the thing. If I were Rankin's editor, I might have said to him, "Look, I see what you're getting at here, but is there a way you can maybe pare out two of these characters? Bob over here, and Shiela maybe? Do they really add anything?" It all seems a bit too messy a pottage in the end: hearty, true, but sometimes less is a wee bit more.
All the characters and cob-webby relationships careening around lead me to suspect that there's a bit of hand-waving going on in an effort to distract the reader from a storyline that seems a bit muddy and not really finely drawn. "Strip Jack" also suffers from the "seemingly unrelated strange case that is, in fact, related" device that demands to be handled with extreme care; not quite enough care in this case, I don't think.
"Strip Jack" just feels like a transitional book: it moves away from the more formulaic plots and presentation in the earlier books, but it doesn't seem to really hang together. Yes, the case gets presented, worked at, and resolved, but Rebus himself and the events in his life seem a bit aimlessly drawn: he starts in the middle of something (working out his relationship to a newly promoted colleague, and his relationship with his current romantic partner), and ends without much decision or resolution in that regard.
There's a strong feeling of "tune in next week" under-riding the interior life of the people in "Strip Jack"; sometimes that can be an inducement to rush out and consume the next instalment. But sometimes, it can leave the consumption of the current narrative feeling a bit hollow.
On balance, good, and recommended if you like this kind of thing, but probably only if you are in the process of reading more than one of Rankin's books. If you're just picking one up to sample, or on a lark, I'm not sure I'd recommend this as the one to start with.
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Date: 2009-11-17 20:10 (UTC)Doug.
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Date: 2009-11-17 20:29 (UTC)As I grow older, I find myself more and more settling on mysteries/procedurals as a genre I regularly enjoy and consume, and less and less on F&SF, a genre which I once thought was favoured but have perhaps come to realize I have limited patience for. I also notice that my taste for country music is growing and I wonder if this is all part of aging...8P
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Date: 2009-11-17 20:46 (UTC)Although I share your neurosis, for the most part, progressing backwards in order seems like the only way forward here. If you know what I mean.
Doug.