I have been reading some of the back pieces where people write about books that they think should not be forgotten.
At first glance, to someone like me, it looks like a pile of old books that have no place in the modern world.
But I've been taught that I shouldn't dismiss something or criticise is until I know something about what I'm talking about.
Well, as some of the books are either not available or cost more than a year's pocket money to buy I had to find another solution.
I got lucky and went into a shop called 'The Works' and picked up a book called 'The Big Book Of Pulps' for a price that hardly made a dent in said pocket money.
Here I found short stories by authors like Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner, Raymond Chandler, Frank Gruber and Norbert Davis. Those short stories were a good influence that I have now read 'The Big Sleep' by Raymond Chandler; a Perry Mason novel and a Saint book.
There are a lot of old books in granddad's bookcase and he's always adding to them.
So what I got from all this is an appreciation of Friday's Forgotten Books.
OK so some styles show how dated they are but there are good stories out there that are told in such a way that at the end there is a kind of satisfaction. Many of these books don't take up a lot of space nor are they padded out to justify their existence.
While I think that e-books and e-readers are a part of the future the value of Friday's Forgotten Books is that many of them will not see their way onto electronic books. Enthuse about these e-books is fine but I, also, think that in a world where paperbacks no longer existed many of these books would disappear. That writers like Orrie Hitt, a writer that James Reasoner highlights, would just be names on someone's blog.
Full line up of Friday's Forgotten books can be found on the Pattinase blog at http://pattinase.blogspot.com
Thanks for reviewing that book. It's a great one.
ReplyDeleteHi Laurie,
ReplyDeleteYes, it is a very good book. Some writers I had heard of but others were new.
This is indeed a fine collection. Since it seems you enjoyed it, may I suggest two others, equally as good: THE BLACK LiZARD ANTHOLOGY OF CRIME FICTION and it's successor THE SECOND BLACK LIZARD ANTHOLOGY OF CRIME FICTION. Both edited by Ed Gorman. Both out of print but copies can be found at very reasonable prices.
ReplyDeleteI did a review of the first one on my blog. (You can click the calendar for the September 9th review)
Hope to see more forgotten books here, you have a nice blog.
- Richard Robinson
I've got this book myself and it's excellent. I think I only paid £2.99 for my copies - copies because I picked up two and have one left in the car permanently for dipping into.
ReplyDelete