CHUD.com Community › Forums › ARTS & LITERATURE › Books and Magazines › Fave entry in LA Quartet question...
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Fave entry in LA Quartet question...

post #1 of 8
12/30/08 at 1:35am
Thread Starter 
Just a quick query that may or may not kick off a discussion. From looking at the LA Confidential thread here it strikes me that, of those who've read Ellroys LA Quartet, the concensus seem to be that most people have more love for White Jazz and maybe LA Confidential (tho most concede it's a touch cumbersome), and I do remember many people claiming themselves as fans of The Black Dahlia when DePalmas film came out.

The entry in the series that seems to get the least amount of love tho is The Big Nowhere and so I have to ask, because it's my favourite of the series - Why the lack of love people?
Reply
post #2 of 8
12/30/08 at 1:40am
White Jazz sticks out so much just because the character of Dave Klein is pretty damn memorable because he's such a smooth sleazy son of a bitch.

Although it's been a few years but I can't even really remember what goes on in the The Big Nowhere.

I did however recently read Ellroy's book on the death of his mother which is also autobiography of the guy. The guy would jerkoff ten to fifteen times a day while on a speed high.
Reply
post #3 of 8
12/30/08 at 1:52am
The Black Dahlia resonated because Ellroy just dumped all of his emotional baggage into that novel. LA Confidential was more of a treatise on brain vs brawn and accountability, The Big Nowhere just feels long, I'm really not sure what Ellroy was getting at with Nowhere other than maybe redemption, I'm not sure, it's been awhile since I read it, none of the characters really felt interesting to me. White Jazz had Dave Klein, it felt like the noir version of Michael Clayton.
Reply
post #4 of 8
12/30/08 at 1:54am
I need to read the last two in the series. One of my goals was to start with Dahlia and read all the way through Cold Six Thousand. Anyway, Dahlia is great and L.A. Confidential's a masterwork.
Reply
post #5 of 8
12/30/08 at 1:55am
Can we just declare this a spoiler-intensive thread right off the bat? Because it'll be impossible to truly discuss this in-depth otherwise.

Spoilers follow.

White Jazz is my favorite because the incest angle is so well done and the most compelling of all the corruptions the various Ellroy protagonists were tempted by. The fact it was so outre only made Klein more sympathetic to me. Big Nowhere, although it's been nigh on ten years since I read it, probably comes up second in my personal ranking--again, because the inner turmoil of the protagonist, deeply rooted in his homosexuality--made the drama so poignant. Confidential comes in third, if only because the adaptation lays bare the unnecessary contortions of the needlessly complex plot by distilling the impact to its essence in two hours. Black Dahlia was good, but from what I remember, Ellroy found his groove in the later installments. The duo don't stand out in my mind like the heroes of the other novels do (that just could be because I didn't see the recent film).
Reply
post #6 of 8
12/30/08 at 2:03am
I haven't read WJ in a long time, I really can't remember that much about it, not so with Black Dahlia and LA Confidential, I haven't read either in awhile yet I can still remember them both quite well.
Reply
post #7 of 8
12/30/08 at 2:04am
So that's what The Big Nowhere was about? Damn, I don't remember a thing.
Reply
post #8 of 8
12/30/08 at 2:06am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bendrix View Post
although it's been nigh on ten years since I read it, probably comes up second in my personal ranking--again, because the inner turmoil of the protagonist, deeply rooted in his homosexuality--made the drama so poignant.
That combined with the anti-communist witch hunting, union battles, the vivid description of the gay underworld and its existing side by side with the jazz underworld as well, and a sexual serial killer whos whole methodology makes Seven look tame, the Zoot Suit riots, there's so much to this.

Danny Upshaws self discovery of the secrets he's kept even from himself tho is the books beating heart and makes him a truly tragic hero.

...and the killers metal teeth and the way he leaves victims and crime scenes is so fucked up it's chilling.

Dahlia is very close to being my favourite of the series to be honest, I just think Nowhere is that little bit more colourful and evocative of the time.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Books and Magazines
CHUD.com Community › Forums › ARTS & LITERATURE › Books and Magazines › Fave entry in LA Quartet question...