Post by Jimmy James on May 3, 2019 7:39:04 GMT -5
"Guns of Brixton"
I finally read Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest. I was aware of this, as the basis for Kurosawa's Yojimbo, and (second-hand) the Sergio Leone classic A Fistful of Dollars. While the novel follows some of the same broad strokes, with a Pinkerton detective / samurai / bounty hunter arriving in town and pitting the rival factions against each other, the particulars vary significantly. The femme fatale archetype is mandatory for this type of story, but there's no real equivalent character in the film versions. The Continental Operative (like Eastwood's Man With No Name, he never gets properly identified) also has a more complicated job, navigating the alliances and enmities between three gangs and a corrupt police force instead of simply two families. One of the more striking things was that he was described as about 5'6" and kind of pudgy, a far cry from Toshiro Mifune's lithe ronin or Clint Eastwood's imposing gunslinger.
How Well Did It Fit the Theme of the Challenge?
It's all about criminals doing some crimes, so it fits the letter of the challenge. While it's about the part of south London Paul Simonon actually grew up in, the imagery of the young crook shot down on the pavement, or being hauled off in the black mariah, seem to belong to a more stylized and cinematic version, even directly referencing the film The Harder They Come. Appropriate for the novel, which feels like film noir minus the film.
Also, Paul seems to spend most of his time dressed like a prohibition era gangster, so I have to imagine he'd approve.
How likely would you have been to read the book without the challenge?
40%. I had heard good things about this, after enjoying both of the quasi-film adaptations, so I'm glad I finally checked it out.
What's Next?
I found a couple likely candidates for a book about ethics, but they were checked out of the local branch of my library. I could request it from one of the other branches, but the easier thing to do was check out Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which seems like it should fit the theme. I can always see of one of my other choices is back at the library when I'm done, in case I feel like I'm unethically shirking the challenge.