Thomas Kelly’s Empire Rising

Author Thomas Kelly brings New York City to the front and center is his novel, Empire Rising. From the start, let me say that Kelly is on par with Steinbeck when it comes to capturing not only the essence but also the sweep of an era.

This is a story that takes place in the shadow of the construction of the Emprie State Building. The main characters are recent Irish immigrants. One, Michael Briody, has a terrorist past, and he struggles to put that behind him as he works as an ironworker. Grace Masterson has her own crooked dealings, including her relationship with a Tammany Hall boss. Then there are the other characters, from Mayor Jimmy Walker to union bosses and thugs galore, including the hint that the Italian mafia may be growing more powerful than the Irish gangs. The pot boils as these people claw their way through the depression and the struggles of a corrupted political system that may work better than anyone realizes. However, the price paid is not always denominated in dollars.

The best part about this book is Kelly’s ability to put the reader into the City, into the jobs these people do, and into the mood of the time. You’re right there, praying it works out. Like reality, Kelly gives the good with the bad, something I always enjoy about great fiction. As I mentioned earlier, this story is on par with some of Steinbeck’s work. Kelly doesn’t pass political judgment either, which too many recent authors seem unable to resist. He simply lets the story run its course in the context of the time in which it is set.

Thomas Kelly has written two other books, Payback, and The Rackets. I haven’t read Payback, but I did enjoy The Rackets. I’m looking forward to another book by Kelly soon.

Published in: on August 19, 2008 at 9:34 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Modern Apartments, Aruba

This post shows a modern apartment building that is under construction in Oranjestaad, Aruba. In other posts, I showed cunucu houses, ruins, and things of that nature. It’s only right to show something a bit out of the ordinary. This structure is built directly across the street from the Caribbean Sea. There isn’t really a beach there, but at some points you could clamber down to the water.

The sign above gives you an idea of the finished product. There is to be one apartment per floor, with parking at ground level, two spots per apartment. Some people don’t like this sort of thing cropping up on the island. They think it is out of character or too large. I don’t have no opinion with regards to that. Progress is inevitable. Without progress, you’ll have decline. It is impossible to remain in a constant state. Here’s a look at the conceptual drawings of each apartment.

One way or another, those five apartments will be occupied. The location isn’t bad. It’s on the far side of town in relation to the new shopping mall and many new restaurants. However, that may appeal to someone who wants to live there as opposed to vacation on the island. It is also more accessible to the airport, a benefit to a local business person with off-island dealings.

Whatever your preference, the good thing about Aruba is that there are plenty of options.

Published in: on August 19, 2008 at 10:28 am  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Kindle Reading Device

Amazon’s Kindle has turned out to be a great device, at least for me. Let me say from the beginning, I love paper books. All shapes, configurations, sizes, types, etc. are welcome. At the same time, I travel constantly and toting books is not the easiest thing to do.

Hence, the Kindle. I’ve been using it for several months now and find reading from it to be easier than a paper book because it is possible to turn the page and hold it with the same hand. You simply press the paddle on whichever side is right for your style. Rarely do I experience glare on the screen. Enlarging and reducing the type is a feature I don’t use much, but it is there for people who strain with smaller type.

I’ve downloaded numerous books to the device using the “whisper net” service that functions just about flawlessly. My Amazon account was charged and the books arrived in about 30 seconds each. Switching from one book to the other is easy using the interface. When you turn the device off it remembers where you were. So, if you fall asleep with it in your lap, you don’t have to worry about losing your place. When I get on an airplane, I know I have a large selection of reading material all packed into the form of one lightweight device.

What about all those paper books? I’m not giving them up. I use the Kindle for my entertainment reading. That is books I enjoy for leisure. The ones I expect to refer back to time and again will be purchased in solid form and placed upon a noble shelf where they belong. In a worst case, I may have to buy a book twice. Or, I might just buy several more memory cards and keep them loaded with the books I like. Takes the romance out of a grand old library, but the price of Kindle books is about 2/3’s to 1/2 the price of paper books. Some classics can be had for $1. Something to be said for that. Frees up cash for those great books and fine woodwork to contain them.

Published in: on August 18, 2008 at 11:18 am  Comments (1)  
Tags: , , , , , ,

Some James Ellroy Novels

James Ellroy began his career writing detective fiction. His “LA Quartet” series is perhaps the best well known and includes The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential, and White Jazz. The first book by Ellroy that I read was The Big Nowhere. This book hooked me on Ellroy’s writing. His work is not pretty, nor is it neat the way some crime fiction is. In fact, the mess of Los Angeles corruption is Ellroy’s fodder. He chews it up and spits it out like no other writer I know. His characters stand head and shoulders above the lame, hand-wringing ninnies of some series. He’s not afraid to have bad cops do good things, evil politicians stoop lower than a snake in the sand, and civilians get whacked in the cross fire. The plots are more convoluted than the frieze on a Hindu temple, and yet as believable as the reality they reflect.

But (and there’s always a ‘but’ in these posts of mine) Ellroy’s work grew beyond detective fiction to include a book that stands out among my top five books of all time, and that would be AMERICAN TABLOID. I put it in all capitals because this book will not only make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, it’ll cause you to break into a cold sweat and the occasional shaking fit. This one takes place in the run up to and aftermath of the Cuban Revolution. It features real-life characters salted in among two CIA agents gone off the reservation. One is Kemper Boyd. The other is Ward Little. These guys are on a collision course with history and each other, not to mention J. Edgar Hoover, Joe Kennedy, Sam Giancana, and a few movie stars in between. Ellroy winds his plot through the minefield of historical drama, giving the reader almost no rest between crooked and kinky deals that ultimately bring Boyd and Little face to face with what they’ve done.

Over the years, Ellroy’s style has evolved into a clipped, almost machine gun fire blitz of language. At times this can wear on me. Nonetheless, I think he is one of America’s great writers in this field. He holds nothing back and that’s what impresses me the most in an age of politically correct sterilization.

Published in: on August 17, 2008 at 8:21 pm  Leave a Comment  
Tags: , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »