The Overlook: Michael Connelly

Yeah, so I used three of these Connelly novels in a row to insure that I would get the 5 book quota for the first time in several months. Whatever, it worked. I read this one on Saturday after returning from my second trip to San Diego in as many days. I made a CPK thincrust, Siciliano pizza and poured two fingers of some single-malt that my roommate had out on the counter (Vard, if you read this, thanks for the single malt. I figured that you would be cool with me trying it...) and perched out on the front balcony in the shade wearing a beanie and a sweatshirt over shorts and flops for several hours. It was refreshing to be back in the world of Harry Bosch and not just his creator, Connelly. Bosch and I share a love of jazz music and abrasive honesty that was lacking in the other two characters from the novels read previously this month. They were great, but Bosch is the character that makes me a big fan of the author. No real surprises about this one. Connelly is true to form and the book is a fast paced thriller that has some twists and turns that build tension up until the inevitable resolve. Smaller than most of his novels this one wraps up after about 275.......happy reading.

Cormac McCarthy's The Road

I was recommended to read this book around the time I moved to Los Angeles from San Diego at the beginning of last summer. My roommates, a wholly sophisticated and educated couple, had said to push through the first 50 to 100 pages and then I would be hooked. Well, I started to read it, but didn't make it quite that far and as I began to move I was asked to make sure I left their copy behind. Months later when the movie was about to come out and I had only continued to hear great things about the novel I decided I needed to pick it up soon. Oh, but that dragged out as well until finally I asked for the book for Christmas and I got it. It is the first book of this project and the first book of 2010 for me and I have resisted the urge to see the movie so that I could take it in. The previews for the movie did give me a little extra understanding and made it easier for me to get ensnared in McCarthy's story from the jump. Instantly, the prose makes me step back unconsciously crack my pencil in my left hand, and say to myself, "Holy shit, this guy is smart. Perhaps I should give up wanting to write in any format and leave it to the more skilled and studied literati".....ah, fuck it. I will just continue to read more of the masters of past and present and continue to learn. McCarthy is vividly descriptive in this post-apocalyptic tale of a father and son trudging through wasted America in hopes of continuing to live. The goals are uncertain and this is one of those books that grows like a giant black cloud and the reader finds his or herself slowly facing up to the fact that a happy ending just isn't in the cards. I have read critics that say McCarthy must be a tormented soul, but I say that if he is then we are insanely lucky that he decides to share his inner pain so eloquently. The Road is a relatively quick-read and the journey is undoubtedly one of hope against all odds. Whether you saw the movie or not I would recommend spending a few days with this novel; Oprah fan or not. Happy Sorrows....