The Big Nowhere

What a roller coaster ride! Getting into the rhythm is a bit like watching a production of Shakespeare - you have to get your ear attuned to the language, but once you achieve that, you are off and away and able to immerse yourself wholly in the experience. It takes a while to sort out the parallel plot lines and keep the characters in an orderly arrangement in your head. I even went back and re-read the first 3 chapters after about ten, and re-established them for myself (after that it was all quite clear). I suspect this is a matter of coming to terms with Ellroy's style - once mastered it's not such a big deal. For that reason, LA Confidential, the next book, didn't leave me quite so breathless, but I suspect it may have done if it has been my starting point. Ellroy's setting may be 1950s Los Angeles, and homage may being paid to the noir detectives of earlier eras, but his writing - both language and themes - is graphically contemporary. It has as much to tell us about current values as anything, as well as exposing the corruption and nastiness of a previous era. As someone brought up on a diet rich in the Hollywood dream factory (Dragnet, Perry Mason, and family sitcoms depicting the 'sunny' side of urban America where cops were your friend, and the ranch house in the suburbs an unassailable good) I love this exposition of the seemier side of life - which as contemporary events - eg the Rodney King bashing - show us are no less real. The story was of personal interest to me - the Grand Jury investigations into unions and Hollywood. The hard-bitten cynicism of several of the bad-guy heroes adds edge and bite to the historical facts. Straight after closing the covers on The Big Nowhere, I started LA Confidential, the next in the LA Quartet. I liked it just as much. There is no clear definition of a 'goodie' or 'baddie' in an Ellroy characterisation. Some of the fringe characters seem to get away with being decent (and one-dimensional), but they are only there to serve other purposes when necessary to tie the plot together. Once again, don't read it if you are squeamish about the bizarre and often distasteful things humans can do to one another. Not for the sanctimonious who don't want to believe ill of those we entrust with policing human excess either !Anyone who loves detective fiction, is a fan of film and/or book noir, and likes a good read, and isn't turned off by some pretty graphic descriptions of mutilation and bizarre practices should like this.

James Ellroy's so-called "L.A. Quartet" (The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz) is one of the seminal bodies of work in American crime fiction. I have chosen to include a review under "The Big Nowhere" not because I feel it is the best book of the four (L.A. Confidential has a broader scope, takes greater risks, and is more compelling); simply, none of the other books moves me as much as this one does. Danny Upshaw, Mal Considine, and Buzz Meeks are among the most vividly-drawn and complex characters ever found in a crime novel. Despite the glaring character flaws in each one of them, some of which border on repugnance, I still manage to empathize with them completely. Ellroy is an absolute master when it comes to tying characters' actions to their various motivations and desires. This gives his works a depth that goes beyond the mere telling of a story. The ways in which Upshaw, Considine, and Meeks relate to the action--the ways in which they internalize it and bend it to their own specific set of needs--force the reader to take a personal interest in them. They are no longer merely the vehicle to draw the reader into the action, as most "detective" characters are in this genre; instead, each one provides a distinct point of view of the action, shaping it as much as they are shaped by it. Not since Philip Marlowe went to jail for Terry Lennox--and Marlowe's own ideals--has a crime novel so tightly woven plot with character. The story itself is too complicated to do justice in a brief review so I won't even try. The sheer number of subplots and ancillary characters could fill out the entire oeuvre of lesser writers, but Ellroy seamlessly integrates it all into a story that will have you playing the angles long after the book is finished. In fact, a second reading is almost necessary to catch all the nuance. If you're a fan of detective fiction, these books are required reading. Even if you're not, Ellroy is a fine writer on any level. If you're squeamish at all, you should take a pass.

Well, for me at least (I heard of Ellroy from the movie LA Confidential - this book, I think, is from '89). I was utterly engrossed. I don't usually like mysteries or cop stories, but Ellroy is such a good writer that I easily kept up with the dozens of characters and half-dozen interwoven plots. No character is simple - even the good guys aren't really good guys (I suppose that is a cliche in this genre, but the main characters - Upshaw, Meeks and Mal - are like actual coplicated messy obsessive human beings with an epic gloss). Oh, I'm not being very articulate today - I really enjoyed the book. I could point out a few obvious flaws (scroll down for an astute reader review mentioning a parallel to the ending of Psycho). Just wanted to up the star-rating a little bit... if you would be just shocked! and horrified! by a book that deals with cop corruption, herion, mulitation, murder, guns, etc. then of course don't read The Big Nowhere. To the rest of us: even those who don't like this genre will enjoy the book. You don't know what's going to happen next and you can't wait to find out.