The IBIC Guide to Books By Ed McBain
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Fans may want to check out THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH PRECINCT COMPANION,
due out in June 1996 from Mysterious Press.
February 5, 1995
THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL by Grandmaster Ed McBain (Warner) offers one
interesting formal feature: the series protagonist, Florida lawyer Matthew
Hope, is in a coma throughout the novel, and his associates run around investigating
who shot him. I went back and read a couple of the earlier Matthew Hope books
(GOLDILOCKS and RUMPELSTILTSKIN) so I would know what everyone was
so concerned about. They were terrific; but this book didn't persuade me that I cared
whether Matthew Hope comes out of his coma. In fact, I have a feeling that
Ed McBain isn't sure whether he cares either. This book represents an odd blip
in the McBain oeuvre. Only for devoted fans of the Hope series.
October 9, 1994
I went on an Ed McBain extravaganza last month, reading KISS,
ICE,
EIGHT
BLACK HORSES, and LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE DEAF MAN. Great
stuff. I'm really pleased that I have almost the entire ouevre
of this terrific and highly prolific author left to explore.
One interesting observation is that he is a rather sequence-independent
author. I didn't feel that I had lost much context by
reading the novels out of chronological order.
Another gratifying observation is that he hasn't yet fallen victim
to the dreaded Alistair Maclean
syndrome. Like Dick Francis, he is a
Lensman-quality author who is
still at full stride.
August 2, 1994
MISCHIEF by Ed McBain (William Morrow) is the first novel that I have
read by this highly prolific and highly talented author. It won't be
the last. It's back to the Ann Arbor Public Library to read his backlist
from start to finish.
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Editor's Recommendations, Summer 1996
In this inaugural edition of IBIC's Featured Books, I'd like to
draw your attention to several titles which have helped to shape my life
and thinking.
- When I was around fifteen, I came across Larry Niven and
Jerry Pournelle's science fiction novel, INFERNO. This '70s remake of Dante's
classic describes science fiction writer Allen Carpentier's
descent into Hell. It's still a very fresh, accessible take on
the classic. What a great movie it would make!
- The Niven/Pournelle INFERNO
immediately inspired me to read the original Divine Comedy.
I've read a number of translations over the years, but my
favorite is the one by Dorothy Sayers (INFERNO;
PURGATORY;
PARADISE). The notes
are excellent, and Sayers had such a knowledgeable and witty mind that reading
her prose is a pleasure in itself. (For those interested in a more contemporary translation, I should mention that Robert Pinsky received excellent notices for his 1995 THE
INFERNO OF DANTE : A NEW VERSE TRANSLATION; it's a very handsome book.)
- I also want to tell you about the late Henry Fairlie's THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS TODAY,
which probably did more than any other single book to galvanize me into a lifetime interest
in Christianity that led me, eventually, to faith. Ironic, because Fairlie was a self-proclaimed agnostic socialist! But
reading between the lines of this insightful and deeply feeling book, one realizes
that the love of God cannot have been far from Fairlie's heart.
- Finally, I should draw to your attention a more recent
acquisition, the very handsome NIV
STUDY BIBLE (10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) from Zondervan, indexed and bonded in leather in
IBIC's theme color, burgundy (black
and brown
are also available). The notes to this Bible are amazing. They
appear to provide you with a very substantial portion of what you need to
know to have an intelligent layman's appreciation of the
linguistic and historical issues involved in understanding
Scripture.
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