Sometimes, re-reading is worth it

I decided to re-read some detective books collecting dust. Elmore Leonard can always find a way to inject humor into a story (Pronto) about bookies and hitmen. Some of his characters are evil but few are clearly great people. US Marshall Rayans stood out as the most intriguing character.

Black maps by peter Spiegelman is worth a re-read since it combines the financial shenanigans of big banks and wall st traders with interesting detective work. The lead character, John March, was born to a wealthy family  and found his way to being an upstate New York cop, then a private detective. The amount of paperwork generated by money laundering and the daunting task of finding criminal activity in it sent shivers through my accounting brain.

I'm waiting for Costa series # 3 by David Hewson to arrive. The level of corruption in Italy, particularly the north, is staggering. So is the amount of history in Rome. Finished Costa #3 , Sacred Cut, and enjoy how Costa, his partner Perroni, and their boss Falcone battle their Italian bosses, and the American FBI to solve cases, but it does stretch the limits of belief to think that the Americans have that much sway over domestic Italian matters. Hewson is moving the trio to Venice in #4.

9/10/13

A belated RIP  to Elmore Leonard who died on Aug 20, 2013. Definitely know why he admired Hemingway, the grit and brevity.  52 Pickup  & Rum Punch are two Leonard books that come to mind this morning.

9/5/14

Love this quote on writing from Leonard

I try to leave out the parts readers skip.

9/21/14

Enjoyning Comfort to the enemy. Leonard's compilation of short stories on flashy lawman Carl (os) Webster in Oklahoma from the 1920's to post WW2. Clever, snappy writing

10/16/14

Try this one:
“Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” 
― Ernest Hemingway

2/14/15

The first 100 pages of the The Seventh Sacrament # 5 in Hewson's Costa series  provides another reminder of how much history lies below the ground in Rome.

2/18/15

Seventh Sacrament takeaway: Bramante goes to jail and his son eventually moves in with his dad's ex-mistress. Mithraism was discussed quite a bit.  

 Mithraism, whether Persian or Roman, was a religion of loyalty toward the king.

3/23/15

No shortage of Vertigo references in Dante's Numbers (Costa #7 ). Mildly disappointed during the middle of the book but some nice twists at the end.

4/17/15

• "What do you tell a man with two black eyes? Nothing, he's already been told twice" 

• from Elmore Leonard's Darryl, Be Cool (1999)

5/13/15

another  Leonard quotes

"Wonderful things can happen", Vincent said, "when you plant seeds of distrust in a garden of assholes."

 Elmore Leonard, Glitz

7/8/15

Interesting way to answer and not answer a question:

On Charles Bronson's Mr. Majestic: "It made a pile of money. I liked that." [Source:Daily Beast]

2/17/17

I had to re-read this a few times: #RentaJew project hopes to ward off anti-Semitism in Germany

"The program's 50 members are leading seminars with private groups and educational establishments across Germany are aware that the phrasing is questionable."

rent a Jew

7/7/17

from the late #elmoreleonard : "There are 500 million people on Facebook, but what are they saying to each other? Not much."

2/6/18

It's a good thing #elmoreleonard got paid for the rights to #52Pickup because the 1986 movie was over the top. Vanity's scenes with Clarence Williams III, Linc from TVs #Mod Squad, were interesting. #royscheider / #annmargret appeared forced.

9/22/18

This #elmoreleonard quote had me hitting the pause button : " #Hemingway doesn't have a sense of humor. He never has anything funny in his stories.”

04/11/21

Here's some contrast: While Truman Capote appeared to fall in love with the two jailed killers he wrote about in the book, In Cold Blood, Gil Brewer, a lesser known author in the 1950s got to the point while describing a killer and rapist in the book, Angry Arnold, by having  the killer opt to jump into a boat propeller rather than to be arrested while attempting to rape a woman on his boat.

Yes, I know Capote's book was based on a real event, and Brewer's book was fiction, but Brewer highlighted Arnold's petty and manic self-absorption.

11/17/23

Re-reading some chapters of the history of Switzerland reminded me that the Swiss were big time soldiers. The Bernese soldier in the Burgundian Wars, etc. Neutrality wasn't on the table in the 15th century.

Swiss mercenaries became a big deal.