Adrian
3rd December 2008, 04:45 AM
The novels of George Pelecanos have changed a lot as the man and his audience have aged and changed. What started as fast-paced and hard-boiled anti-hero crime novels have matured into something much more. Now, the onus is not so much on the crime and its investigation but more on the impact of the crime on the victims, families, friends, and society. In The Turnaround he includes his usual themes of black v. white (with, again, a Greek-American family straddling the racial lines) but here adds an additional sociological element: the injured US armed forces personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and their treatment back home at Walter Reed (http://www.wramc.amedd.army.mil/warriorsintransition/Pages/default.aspx). I believe it's a subject close to his heart.
The story concerns two groups of three. In the early seventies three white kids take an ill-advised trip through Heathrow Heights in Washington DC, a decidedly black neighbourhood, with the intent of having a little high jinks. They throw racial insults and cupcakes at the other gang of three and drive away. Into a cul-de-sac. Oops. Things then happen that will affect those that live for a long time.
Cut to thirty years later in contemporary DC. This section is wonderfully introduced, as we meet the main protagonists again and find out how they and the city have changed. A perfectly written 'chance' meeting at Walter Reed between one member of each side means things are bound to flare up.
And among all this, Pelecanos also manages to slip in a few other thoughts. While one of the characters is watching "the autopsy show set in Miami, The one where...Red gonna shoot someone...in his designer suit and sunglasses," he muses on popular culture:
<blockquote>"From one of the many books Monroe had read in prison he remembered a passage about American television shows that dealt with crime."</blockquote>
I like where this is going (Pelecanos was a major contributor to the HBO TV show, The Wire). To continue:
<blockquote>"The author said that it was a 'fascistic genre' because in these shows the criminals were always apprehended, and the police and the prosecutors always won. These shows were warning the citizen, in effect, to stay in line. That if the dared break the law, they would be caught and put in jail. Monroe had chuckled a little when he'd read it. People wanted to be reassured that their lives were safe. These television writers were just making money by feeding citizens the lies they craved."</blockquote>
So not a CSI fan then, George?
Yes, he's back on top form after what I thought were a few sub-par (though still way better than most anything else) books. One slight grump: it's always fathers and their adopted or step sons. Sure, he's writing what he knows but I'd like to see more major female characters.
The story concerns two groups of three. In the early seventies three white kids take an ill-advised trip through Heathrow Heights in Washington DC, a decidedly black neighbourhood, with the intent of having a little high jinks. They throw racial insults and cupcakes at the other gang of three and drive away. Into a cul-de-sac. Oops. Things then happen that will affect those that live for a long time.
Cut to thirty years later in contemporary DC. This section is wonderfully introduced, as we meet the main protagonists again and find out how they and the city have changed. A perfectly written 'chance' meeting at Walter Reed between one member of each side means things are bound to flare up.
And among all this, Pelecanos also manages to slip in a few other thoughts. While one of the characters is watching "the autopsy show set in Miami, The one where...Red gonna shoot someone...in his designer suit and sunglasses," he muses on popular culture:
<blockquote>"From one of the many books Monroe had read in prison he remembered a passage about American television shows that dealt with crime."</blockquote>
I like where this is going (Pelecanos was a major contributor to the HBO TV show, The Wire). To continue:
<blockquote>"The author said that it was a 'fascistic genre' because in these shows the criminals were always apprehended, and the police and the prosecutors always won. These shows were warning the citizen, in effect, to stay in line. That if the dared break the law, they would be caught and put in jail. Monroe had chuckled a little when he'd read it. People wanted to be reassured that their lives were safe. These television writers were just making money by feeding citizens the lies they craved."</blockquote>
So not a CSI fan then, George?
Yes, he's back on top form after what I thought were a few sub-par (though still way better than most anything else) books. One slight grump: it's always fathers and their adopted or step sons. Sure, he's writing what he knows but I'd like to see more major female characters.