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Book 76 - Robin Robertson "The Long Take"
Sep. 5th, 2019 06:48 amRobin Robertson "The Long Take" (Picador)
Superb. Don't be put off that much of this self-proclaimed "noir narrative" is written in verse. Though poetic, it is blank verse and much of it reads like a very well-written novel that just happens to have poetry-type formatting. Some passages are a bit more cryptic. Other passages are prose. But as the narrative builds to its conclusion (not sure I would call it a climax), it all becomes clearer and clearer. The mystery in this novel is what is inside the protagonist's (Walker's) head. As a Canadian serviceman, he has just returned from World War II at the story's beginning and he is still haunted by his traumatic experiences at D-Day and afterwards. How haunted becomes more clear as the story proceeds.
The author has chosen a perfect background for his story. After a sojourn in New York City, Walker moves to Los Angeles, a city that seems to be at war with itself. As a resident of Bunker Hill, he witnesses the destruction of the beautiful old neighbourhood for the sake of "progress", which seems to mostly mean more parking lots. Walker is drawn to the homeless, many of them ex-soldiers, and after he gets a job for a newspaper, he proposes to write a series about them. This leads to an interlude in San Francisco, where the author provides the same incisive view of that city as of New York and Los Angeles. For Walker, San Francisco with its changeable weather feels much more like his Nova Scotia home. But he must return to Los Angeles, where the book's final scenes and revelations take place.
Walker is also drawn to films, and he encounters filmmaking constantly wherever he lives and interacts with real people such as Robert Siodmak. References to film noir are scattered throughout the text, and a helpful set of notes at the end details the films they come from. This would certainly make a great noir watchlist.
There isn't a lot of plot here in the normal sense. There is no great mystery at the centre of this book. It is, rather, a rumination on the darkness of mankind in general, and it is a book with a decidedly negative view of progress. The book revels in its settings, most of which are no more. You'll be scouring the internet for pictures and more information about the places Walker visits or the movies he watches. There are lots of contemporary references as well. This is a very well-researched book. The only parts that don't ring quite as true are some of the characters' rants against various people and things, which seem to have a more modern sensibility to them in light of what a 21st-century reader knows.
A highly recommended read and one which can be read more than once and still retain its power.
Superb. Don't be put off that much of this self-proclaimed "noir narrative" is written in verse. Though poetic, it is blank verse and much of it reads like a very well-written novel that just happens to have poetry-type formatting. Some passages are a bit more cryptic. Other passages are prose. But as the narrative builds to its conclusion (not sure I would call it a climax), it all becomes clearer and clearer. The mystery in this novel is what is inside the protagonist's (Walker's) head. As a Canadian serviceman, he has just returned from World War II at the story's beginning and he is still haunted by his traumatic experiences at D-Day and afterwards. How haunted becomes more clear as the story proceeds.
The author has chosen a perfect background for his story. After a sojourn in New York City, Walker moves to Los Angeles, a city that seems to be at war with itself. As a resident of Bunker Hill, he witnesses the destruction of the beautiful old neighbourhood for the sake of "progress", which seems to mostly mean more parking lots. Walker is drawn to the homeless, many of them ex-soldiers, and after he gets a job for a newspaper, he proposes to write a series about them. This leads to an interlude in San Francisco, where the author provides the same incisive view of that city as of New York and Los Angeles. For Walker, San Francisco with its changeable weather feels much more like his Nova Scotia home. But he must return to Los Angeles, where the book's final scenes and revelations take place.
Walker is also drawn to films, and he encounters filmmaking constantly wherever he lives and interacts with real people such as Robert Siodmak. References to film noir are scattered throughout the text, and a helpful set of notes at the end details the films they come from. This would certainly make a great noir watchlist.
There isn't a lot of plot here in the normal sense. There is no great mystery at the centre of this book. It is, rather, a rumination on the darkness of mankind in general, and it is a book with a decidedly negative view of progress. The book revels in its settings, most of which are no more. You'll be scouring the internet for pictures and more information about the places Walker visits or the movies he watches. There are lots of contemporary references as well. This is a very well-researched book. The only parts that don't ring quite as true are some of the characters' rants against various people and things, which seem to have a more modern sensibility to them in light of what a 21st-century reader knows.
A highly recommended read and one which can be read more than once and still retain its power.
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