Jim Thompson is the antidote to all the fetid tastes of modernism. The Getaway is two-thirds detailed fallout from a caper and one-third descent into metaphorical hell. It shows a mastery of cause-and-effect tension for a long while, but then throws it all away for modes of expression that are directly antithetical to plot-based crime.… Continue reading The Getaway
8 1/2 (1963) It has become commonplace to call 8 1/2 the greatest film about filmmaking, but that's a disservice to Fellini's wildly imaginative rumination on creation. It's about all of us. It's about the moments we become so consumed by the past that the present disappears, the moments during writing/painting/masturbating when we lose all… Continue reading My favorite films of the 60s
I'm going to do a reread and review of Death of Jezebel. I haven't had much enthusiasm for reviewing, so I hope this project gets me back into the swing of things. Will I like the book as much as I did way back when? Only time will tell. That's the first bit of news.… Continue reading February 2024 Update
Author H.M. Faust (AKA DWaM) declares his main goal in the About the Author section: ...to push the limits of the mystery genre, merging bizarre storylines and modern narrative techniques with the tropes of the Golden Age period of detective fiction. He also likes impossible crimes which is the real reason I read his work.… Continue reading Gospel of V
Some novels are comforting to my soul. Francis Beeding's Death Walks in Eastrepps is a fine example. This 1931 story about a multiple murderer terrorizing a seaside town reminds me of a warm fire, a grilled-cheese sandwich with a piping hot bowl of soup, and daytime pajamas. Familiar but comforting. Besides, focusing on novelty is… Continue reading Death Walks in Eastrepps
James Scott Byrnside 