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Title: Blue Blood by Edward Conlon ISBN: 1-57322-266-6 Publisher: Riverhead Books Pub. Date: 12 April, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.42 (48 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Too bad the gems are hidden
Comment: Like many other readers, I also felt that this book, which had the potential of becoming a classic, missed its mark.
As I see it, there are two central problems with this book.
First, Conlon, whose writings in the New Yorker prove that he is a master of the "short documentary article" genre, was not able to transition to the book form effectively. There is no real structure to help the reader figure out the main themes of the book. Rather, it feels like many short articles stuck together in chronological order. To this lack of structure, I attribute the editors' difficulty in shortening the book. Where do you cut if it is no obvious what is central and what is tendential?
Second, Conlon was not able to articulate what I believe is the most interesting aspect of the book and that is the evolution within himself over time. His reaction to the events he witnesses, the organizational structure of the department and its culture are discussed, but not in sharp enough relief. I think the book would have been far more interesting if Conlon could more honestly have reflected on the man he now is as a result of six years of work. Rather than dancing around individual events, he ought to have engaged in the more interesting questions about the tension between the system and its individuals. This he failed to do.
The author needed a powerful guiding hand to turn this into the real classic it could have been. This hand was missing.
Rating: 1
Summary: Blah, Blah, Blah, Blood
Comment: I've finally made my way through Blue Blood. If this represents the first seven years of author Conlon's career with the NYPD, I suppose we owe him thanks that he didn't wait until retirement to write his book. By my math, that sucker would come in at over 1500 pages, and if the first seven years are any indication, would've been as boring as watching Conlon count to one million (the rumored payday for Conlon on this tome).
Nothing happens in this book, or more appropriately, nothing of interest. Even most of the arrests seem to occur on Conlon's days off. I hope the fellas on the squad got a share of the advance; after all, it's their stories he's telling.
Hey Eddie, I want my money back.
P.S. Yes, we KNOW you went to Harvard. Give it a rest.
Rating: 5
Summary: Very tricky
Comment: I lifted this book up, flicked through a few pages and read a few lines here and there. The first thing that struck me was that it has a crammed feel about it. The whole layout, the type and space just sucked up a lot of air. I wondered why this is such a long book.
As I continued reading a bit here and there, I thought is this a cop writing about being a cop or is it a writer who happens to be a cop writing about being a cop. Or is it trying to be something else by a writer. I was getting a little exausted by this time and I put the book back up on the shelf. I was feeling sorry for the writer. This is a lot of writing after all and he had to go along with the packaging and editing, I suppose.
Then I began to feel sorry for the editor and the publisher. I picked up the book again and flicked through it. Basically, they all knew what they had and they had to put it together in book form. And I thought they had a big problem to solve. In fact they had a huge problem to solve. Who were they going to put in the book? The writer, his fellow workers, the contact with the public and the courts. Or did they add in past and present family life, big city events and big bits and bits about big people. I was getting tired now. The book seemed to be getting heavier. I put it back on the shelf.
Keep at it Conlon and the same to your publisher, packager and editor. Happy Bloom's Day.
(dictated, not edited)
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Title: The Narrows: A Novel by Michael Connelly ISBN: 0316155306 Publisher: Little, Brown Pub. Date: 03 May, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: A Question of Attraction : A Novel by DAVID NICHOLLS ISBN: 1400061814 Publisher: Villard Pub. Date: 13 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Good Grief : A Novel by Lolly Winston ISBN: 0446533041 Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: 13 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Little Children by Tom Perrotta ISBN: 0312315716 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason ISBN: 0385337116 Publisher: Dial Books Pub. Date: 27 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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