tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37186638.post4759568063616446440..comments2024-03-25T16:08:26.197-07:00Comments on Spinster Aunt: Beach Noir Book 2 -- The Zebra-Striped HearseAndrea Janeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00489014081664216407noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37186638.post-41949814537474577622012-06-26T07:01:00.520-07:002012-06-26T07:01:00.520-07:00Nice -- go Michigan! I feel proud because Macdonal...Nice -- go Michigan! I feel proud because Macdonald was born in Canada, where I'm from :) <br /><br />So yeah, the woman thing is interesting. It always is. I know some noir writers, like Mickey Spillane, really freak me out with their depictions of women but I accept it as just something that was of its time. <br /><br />Maybe we should try reading some Margaret Millar -- Macdonald's wife, and apparently underrated fellow author. I just ordered a copy of Beast in View. (Maybe the next book club should be women writers?) In any case, it'll be fascinating to read some Leigh Brackett and Dorothy B. Hughes after all these men!<br /><br />If you're interested in noir and gender, and want to guest post/co-post on either or both of those books, just shoot me an email (bourbonandtea at gmail dot com).Andrea Janeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00489014081664216407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37186638.post-23511328369793632052012-06-23T10:26:57.556-07:002012-06-23T10:26:57.556-07:00OK, I just finished reading this about an hour ago...OK, I just finished reading this about an hour ago, so I probably haven't really processed it yet, but I didn't love it as much as I was supposed to. I kept turning back to the copyright page and thinking this book was published in 1962! In 1962 I was 2 years old. In 1962 people still thought it was OK to talk about women like this. I know, I know, it was still OK in 1972 too. But it still just blows me away, how far we've come. <br /><br />Anyway, what I did love was the introduction to Ross MacDonald, who I somehow, inexplicably, have never read before. I definitely plan to read more (despite the women). He's wonderfully literate. He and I have the same alma mater (Michigan) for grad school. I'm so proud.<br /><br />It IS very well plotted, and I didn't think the coincidences were too awful. Maybe that overcoat... but it almost seems as though it, personally, WANTS to be found. I did not feel as though the last chapter was tacked on. Although the previous confession worked pretty well, there were loose ends that needed tying up.<br /><br />I like the scenes among the ex-pats in Mexico...<br /><br />Here's my favorite bit in the book: the two letters written by two daughters to two mothers, each with a poetic device appropriate to each woman's background. "I'm a poet and I don't know it" and "alliteration's artful aid." I think MacDonald's just showing off, but it's still amusing.<br /><br />As to what I drank while reading, ice water all the way. It's only supposed to be 95 today, but for most of the week it's been around 105.Flickerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09109623161658164079noreply@blogger.com