(no subject)

[skygiants]

I am doing so awesomely at this resolution I started over a year ago of "reading mystery series ALL THE WAY THROUGH from BEGINNING TO END," guys. I am only two books away from finishing one of my current mystery series! And three books away from another! And . . . still have nine books to go in the Great Cadfael Reread of '08-????, but that is Ellis Peters' fault for writing FIVE MILLION books and not mine, so. Anyway, my promise to myself is that once I finish any one of the above series, I get to start reading either Ngaio Marsh or the Mrs. Pollifax books.

The one I have three books left in is the Easy Rawlins series, because I read two more over these past few weeks - Bad Boy Brawly Brown and Six Easy Pieces: Easy Rawlins Stories. Bad Boy Brawly Brown is pretty normal Easy Rawlins fare - no massive timeskips and no major life changes for Easy, although he's still dealing with the death of [SPOILER] - and centers on Easy trying to get a young would-be revolutionary safely out of an activist group that's about to turn criminal. I liked it, but, weirdly for me, I actually liked the collected short stories lot better. Normally, I'm not as much a fan of episodic; I am all about the overarching plot. But in this case, the stories work together to show an emotional arc that spans the length of the book, while all the mysteries are nicely bite-sized. This is nice for me because I can actually follow what is happening most of the time (often difficult in long noir plots). It's also nice for me because I tend to be significantly more interested in the emotional arcs in these books than the actual single-book mysteries anyway (this is also generally true across the genre, for me) so the focus in the collected short stories was pretty much exactly where I wanted it to be.

What do you guys think? Do mystery short stories sometimes work better than full-length? (I know there are GREAT DEBATES about this as far as Sherlock Holmes goes . . .)

Comments

[elspeth-vimes.livejournal.com]

That really does seem like the best of both worlds, as far as using short stories in a series goes! Easy Rawlins is actually pretty much at the top of my list as far as "mystery series I should read" goes, by the way. I picked up the first book used and it is on my enormous TBR pile (a good portion of which I should point out is your fault, that included).

Enormously tight plots are one of my favorite things in the world! But yes, it is hard to do with mysteries, so the best idea there can be to use the episodic parts in different ways. Like, technically everything from the end of the first episode of Homicide to the end of "Three Men and Adena"* is part of the Adena Watson arc. But some of the episodes in that time span focus on the cases that some of the detectives solve while Bayliss continues to slave away at the case in the background, hitting walls and coming up with little pieces bit by painful bit. And then at the same time Howard solves some cases in five minutes, because she's awesome like that.

Though I have to admit, because a really long mystery is so hard to do in a way that doesn't collapse and keeps viewer interest, I have to admire anyone who tries, and admire even more those who succeed, even when I think they're capable of better work.

(I imagine a meeting about the the second season of S.A.C to have gone something like this:
"Man, it's great being part of a hugely popular and widely respected franchise! What should we do with this new season?"
"How about we basically start the main plot in motion in the first episode and then have only about three episodes in the season that genuinely have nothing to do with it?"
"That sounds great! We did the pharmaceutical industry last time, what social topic next?"
"Hmm, how about some more anti-war stuff in support of an indictment of xenophobia?"
"...Do you really think that second part will fly?"
"As long as we throw in some anti-American stuff."
"Good point. Let's do that."
"Hey, hey, can we have Salinger references?"
"NO. I mean, we all love Salinger, but he was a major plot point last season. We should mix it up."
"Then can we have an episode or two where we pay homage to our favorite movies?"
"Yes. Yes we can.")

...ohgod I have gone on for so long, I will shut up now. >.<

*Which is quite probably the best episode of television to ever air.

[skygiants]

I will be curious what you think! There are a couple things about the series that bother me, but enough that fascinate me (and strike me as being really unique for a private eye series, too) that I keep reading. (I will accept my guilt in this. *dignity*)

*nods* Yeah, I agree. I mean, I'll always love season one of Veronica Mars, which also hit this formula really well - a series-long mystery tied in with smaller mysteries, some of which played a role in the bigger arc and some of which didn't. It felt incredibly balanced, to me. And then it all fell apart in the second two seasons, but I digress.

(*giggling* I LOVE IMAGINING DORKY WRITERS' ROOM MEETINGS SO MUCH. <3333 "Do you think anyone will notice if we make this whole episode about how much we love spaghetti westerns?" " . . . yes. Yes, I think they will." "Do we care?" ". . . no, probably not.")

Do I ever mind wordiness? NO, I DO NOT. :D Especially since I am often guilty of the same myself.

[elspeth-vimes.livejournal.com]

I will be sure to report my thoughts when I finally get around to reading them!

Perhaps my belief in this balance comes from early exposure to The X-Files (not that they handle the balance particularly well, in many ways, but it does establish a pattern).

(YES, THESE THINGS ARE AWESOME. "Do you think all our viewers have seen Wings of Desire?" "No." "...Can we make this entire episode homage to it anyway?" "Of course.")

I AM RELIEVED TO BE REASSURED OF THIS.

[skygiants]

I will look forward to it!

I missed out on the X-Files experience as a kid, which always makes me a little sad. I mean, not super sad, because I was an easily frightened small child and it would have terrified me. But I feel like it would have been a good introduction to many things!

(It amuses me when authors do it, too, because it's often even more blatant. "I am now going to take a full chapter to have my characters babble about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead! AND YOU'RE GOING TO ENJOY IT.")

[elspeth-vimes.livejournal.com]

This was my legends class:

Teacher: While we are talking about childhood summoning legends, who here knows the Bloody Mary mirror legend?
[Several people raise their hands, including Orly]
Teacher: How did you find out about it?
Orly: It was in an episode of The X-Files.

This happened on a number of occasions.

(HOW WOULD I NOT ENJOY CHARACTERS TALKING ABOUT A PLAY THAT IS CHARACTERS TALKING ABOUT A PLAY?)

[skygiants]

I actually heard the Bloody Mary mirror legend in the wild! At summer camp, to be specific. The way it was meant to be heard.

Which in no way diminishes the value of The X-Files as a tool of cultural transmission, obviously.

(ONLY CRAZY PEOPLE WOULD DISAGREE!)

[elspeth-vimes.livejournal.com]

Becca, Becca, I am listening to this week's This American Life and it's about summer camp and they're interviewing girls who are telling the legend and performing the Bloody Mary ritual. I NEARLY DIED.

Somehow I missed out on most of the cool legends in real life, so The X-Files was invaluable.

(...seriously what book is that from?)

[skygiants]

HAHAHA THAT IS AWESOME. Oh, summer camp nostalgia. *cracking up* There is something about the scary-stories-in-an-isolated-cabin experience, for serious!

(Pamela Dean's Tam Lin! Pamela Dean is an amazing author for anyone who does not mind taking detours for the characters to babble about their favorite plays and fantasy novels, it is glorious.)