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| Black Lizard paperback edition (1991) |
Me, I'm a Far Cry man.
In the 1990s Vintage's excellent Black Lizard imprint reprinted some Fredric Brown titles, including The Far Cry, but it has since let him lapse.*
*(last year a $75 edition of The Far Cry was issued by Centipede Press in a limited edition of 300 copies, now sold out; that is very nice, but surely there is some middle ground between high-end and dead-end!).
Now people tend to be more familiar, among notable mid-century crime writers, with Patricia Highsmith, Jim Thompson, and David Goodis.
This is good for these writers, but too bad for Brown! I think Brown's comparative neglect is a shame, because he is my personal favorite of the bunch.
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| Bantam paperback edition (1953) a typically salacious cover in the manner of the period |
The Far Cry has that "noir" quality of despair and impending doom that is all the modern rage, combined with a Christiesque plotting skill that is rather less respected today (among Brown's contemporaries, I would compare his plotting deftness to that great psychological suspense writer Margaret Millar).
In his critical biography of Fredric Brown, Martians and Misplaced Clues (1993), Jack Seabrook has written acutely about The Far Cry, though he gives away plot spoilers right and left and I can't do this, here, on a blog. So I will try to be circumspect!
George Weaver, a Kansas City real estate man--married, rather unhappily, with two kids--is recovering from a nervous breakdown near Taos, New Mexico (there appears to be quite a bit of autobiographical detail in The Far Cry, as well as Brown's usual depiction of nearly non-stop alcohol consumption among his characters, which also may well be autobiographical).
In Taos George comes across an eight-year old local mystery in the "Lonely Hearts" knifing murder of pretty Jenny Ames by an artist named Nelson. He sees a chance of making some money by writing an article about the murder, but he becomes increasingly fascinated with the case for its own sake--or, really, for the sake of Jenny Ames. Meanwhile George's slovenly wife, Vi, comes to join him in New Mexico, and the novel develops two wicked prongs of interest. At this point, it takes an abstemious reader indeed to stop reading.
With its strongly-conveyed setting, high degree of narrative suspense and deft plotting, The Far Cry is a classic among crime novels. Why it does not get the attention of a number of Jim Thompson or David Goodis titles I don't know (the two latter authors have now both been canonized by the Library of America). Could it be Brown's plotting genius that is held against him? In some literary circles it seems that cleverness can be a crime.
Terrific post Curt and so glad to read you're a fan too. I'm probably more of a SCREAMING MIMI fan myself, but there are lots to choose from - LENIENT BEAST is pretty amazing and KNOCK THREE-ON-TWO is quite something.
ReplyDeleteI've always had a personal fondness for Brown for an odd reason -- we were both trained as Linotype typesetters. (And I loved what I read about his habit of taking long bus journeys to get his thinking clear about his writing. I always feel mentally refreshed after four hours on a Greyhound.) I have to confess that my favourite Brown tends to vary according to what I've most recently read, and definitely includes his lighter work and his science fiction, but I seem to keep returning to THE SCREAMING MIMI.
ReplyDeleteNoah,
DeleteI would have loved to have had some conversations with Brown--preferably before too much liquor had been drunk!
THE LENIENT BEAST (another book with a Southwestern seeting) has been cited as one of his best. I read it two months ago and wasn't very thrilled. I guess it was too subtle for me and I was expecting intensly dark noir. It's not intense at all, the book surprisingly is more like domestic suspense. The real focus of the story is on the personal life of the protagonist, a Mexican American cop, who many troubles include his neverending battles with his alcoholic wife and enduring racist taunts from his not so bright fellow police officers who resent him for being smart and honest. It was almost like a Charlotte Armstrong novel. The story revisits well worn territory and themes similar to other books I had read that I enjoyed a lot more like A GENTLE MURDERER. I tend to like Brown is his outre mode -- SCREAMING MIMI, NIGHT OF THE JABBERWOCK. You make a good case for FAR CRY. The plot sounds a lot more interesitng than what I encountered in THE LENIENT BEAST.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
Deleteinteresting point with the Charlotte Armstrong comparison. Earlier in Far Cry, Brown also addresses racial attitudes between the Anglo and Mexican-American population in the American Southwest. He also brings in homosexuality (this is not a apoiler) in Far Cry. His handling of these matters seems ahead of its time, especially of homosexuality, which so often in the 1950s was treated in a highly stereotyped and offensive fashion.
THE FAR CRY is my favorite, followed THE LIGHTS IN THE SKY ARE STARS.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone,
DeleteAdded Screaming Mimi to my "some say" list, since three of you just mentioned it!
Bill Pronzini discusses Knock Three-One-Two in 1001 Midnights and places it with Mimi and Far Cry, so that's one I certainly need to look at.
If you're planning on reading THE SCREAMING MIMI, I recommend NOT viewing the film version first. This book is as much about fine writing as it is plotting and characterization, and the film can't convey that. It's an okay film, but a great book.
DeleteFredric Brown is one of my favourite authors and I'm always surprised he is left off some 'Best' lists. For example, I asked Allan Guthrie why his '200 Noirs' left off Brown and he admitted that Brown was one of his 'gaps' due to their scarcity. So maybe the rarity of Fredric Brown's crime novels is what keeps his acclaim down.
ReplyDeleteThe Fredric Brown novels that stick out for me are MADBALL, one of his carny noirs, HERE COMES A CANDLE, a rather conventional crime story told in an unconventional way through different media format scripts, and THE LIGHTS IN THE SKY ARE STARS, a realistic and prescient space travel story set in the late 90s but written in the 50s.
Thanks for the comment, Michael.
DeleteIt is an interesting question, why some authors suddenly get the big embrace and others don't. Robert Polito edits the crime fiction series for Library of America, I believe, and must be aware of Brown, so who knows what his thinking is. Or why black Lizard isn't publishing any of his books anymore. Personally, I find Brown more interesting than Jim Thompson, but with Thompson you unrelievedly hit the lower depths and maybe that is what people like best. Though it sounds like Madball gets down there as well!
I need to read some of Brown's science fiction.
"Cleverness can be ... a crime." That's perfect! That captures exactly the all-too-common highbrow lit-crit attitude that drives me nuts. It's linked, I think, to the "noble savage" fallacy—the assumption that less civilized folk are more authentic and, in some important way, just "deeper." It's nonsense, but it's a view that underlies a lot of cultural criticism.
ReplyDeleteI've read just a couple Fredric Brown novels. "The Screaming Mimi" is a true humdinger of a book. "The Fabulous Clipjoint" is pretty good too. I might read "The Far Cry" someday, but I'm likely to read "Murder Can Be Fun" sooner.
I also am a big fan of The Far Cry. I will join the chorus praising The Screaming Mimi. Another great Brown book to look for is The Wench is Dead, which does not get the attention it deserves.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting, Jack, and visiting the blog. I enjoyed your analysis of Far Cry in your book.
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