I read The Bottoms by Lansdale and fell in love with his writing. That book was a coming of age tale also. This one is set in Dewmont, Texas during the late 1950's. Thirteen year old Stanley Mitchell is pretty naive. He reads comic books and hangs out with his dog Nub. His dad gets a wild hair and buys the local drive in movie theater and the family moves into the house that comes with it. Stanley and Nub are poking around in the woods near the theater and he digs up a box containing lost love letters.There was a kind of smell about the place that brought to mind something primative, like a prehistoric swamp containing dead dinosaurs. I liked to pretend there were dinosaurs in there, in suspended animation, and that any moment one, awakened by a crack of thunder, or maybe a stroke of white hot lightning on the surface of the algae-slick pond, would rise out of there shedding water and begin a rampage through downtown Dewmont, hopefully taking the school out first. He becomes interested in the story behind the letters when they realize that two murders happened on the same night involving people that had wrote the letters.Stanley partners up with Buster Lighthouse Smith, an elderly black man who runs the projector at his family's drive in. Buster had retired from being an Indian Reservation police officer and he is way smarter than he lets on. He employs the love of Sherlock Holmes into his sleuthing skills. There are other characters that come into the story also. You have black cleaning lady Rosy, who after being beaten by her live in boyfriend comes to live with Stanley's family, his sister Callie, his mom who's cooking will never be what Rosy's is, and his dad. Lansdale does father figures so very well. They will kick some ass if you mess with their families and you cheer the whole time."Threaten me, and the police will know about it.""I'll bury your ass in the suit you're wearin' out back of my place and I'll plant a goddamn cactus on top of it."I laughed.Daddy looked at me sharply, and I went silent.I love coming of age books, they are some of my favorite genre's and these are just so easy to get caught up in. Plus you have the boy and his dog.... It was so wild the way the world and Dewmont really were. Probably all towns were like this and most people never found out. I wished I were most people. It was like once the lid was off the world, everything that was ugly and secret came out.Just a short time ago my biggest concern, my greatest disappointment, was discovering there was no Santa Claus.
This Lansdale novel, unlike the other Lansdale novels I’ve read, is told from the point of view of a thirteen year old boy named Stanley. It’s not filled with the off-the-rails cursing and crazy gore that I expect when reading a work from this guy but it still kept my attention. Set in a small town in Texas in 1958, it makes sense that Stanley’s “voice” is still quite innocent. I don’t think you could get away with that sort of innocence today, what with the internet and MTV and their marathon showings of pregnant teens and spoiled skater bois and all but it works here.Stanley’s parents recently purchased the local drive-in and having made only one friend, Stan’s a bit of a lonely kid. He has an older sister but all they do is bicker. One summer day he and his trusty dog Nub unearth a box filled with love letters written long ago. This gets his curiosity going and he does some snooping, along with the ancient often drunken projectionist, and learns that a house use to stand where he found the box and that a young girl died inside when it burned to the ground. He then discovers another young girl was tragically murdered on the same night. Certain the two events are tied together; he spends his summer determined to find out the truth, befriending some colorful characters along the way, and disturbing things better off left alone.I’m a sucker for coming of age tales and this is a damn good one. It drags a little here and there but the characters kept me coming back for more. I’ll never claim to be some big mystery wiz and though I guessed one important aspect of the mystery the rest of it kept me guessing. The characters are interesting and realistic (always most important to me) and the tale is scary, funny, heartwarming and compelling with a very well done sense of place. The twists, turns and chills come in the most unexpected places. Reading this I felt like I was tagging along with Stan, Nub and Buster during a long lazy summer. It’s good classic stuff from Mr. Lansdale hisownself.
What do You think about A Fine Dark Line (2003)?
Sommer 1958, ein kleiner Ort in Texas. Stanley, gerade 13 Jahre alt, muss erfahren dass der Weihnachtsmann nicht existiert - und es somit wohl auch keinen Osterhasen gibt. So etwas nennt man wohl eine behütete Kindheit ;-) Doch damit ist es in diesem Sommer vorbei. Denn als er beim Spielen ein kleines Kästchen mit Briefen und Tagebucheintragungen findet und Nachforschungen darüber anstellt, kommt er auf die Spur eines Doppelmordes, der noch immer nicht aufgeklärt ist. Gemeinsam mit seiner Schwester, seinem Freund Richard und Buster, dem schwarzen Mitarbeiter seines Vaters machen sie sich auf die Suche und finden so manches...Was sich hier so liest wie ein Krimi, ist sicherlich auch einer, aber dennoch nur ein kleiner Teil dieser aufregenden und unterhaltsamen Geschichte. Stanley wird erwachsen in diesem Sommer, denn so ganz nebenbei wird er nicht nur aufgeklärt, nein, er erfährt auch (wie wir Lesenden), wie böse und ungerecht aber auch wie schön das wahre Leben ist und wie wichtig Freundschaft und Vertrauen sind. Man lernt die Verhältnisse in den schwarzen und reichen Vierteln kennen, trifft warmherzige wie scheinbar abgrundtief böse Menschen und wird gewahr, welch unterschiedliche Gründe dahinterstecken können. Wie sagt Buster so schön am Ende: 'Ist nicht immer alles ganz befriedigend, aber wenn doch, dann kommt's verdammt gut. Denk dran, genieß das Leben, denn am Ende ist Fleisch und Dreck doch alles wieder eins.'Lansdale ist ein grandioser Erzähler, in dessen Buch man richtiggehend eintauchen und für Stunden die Welt um sich herum vergessen kann, da einen die seine vollständig gefangen nimmt. Toll!
—yexxo
I loved this book. The writing was always engaging, the character development was excellent, and the time period was represented in detail. The only thing keeping this from five stars is that the writing was sometimes too much telling in lieu of showing, and I felt the main character conflict could have been stronger. However, this book is written in more of a memoir style, and the main conflict is really the narrator coming to terms with the state of the world, which is plenty intense.I'm turning into a big Lansdale fan, and this book is a good example of why. Strong character development and a story full of heart. Great stuff.
—Nate
Once again Joe R. Lansdale blows me away with the strength and breadth of his capabilities. The man can write the purely absurd like Flaming London, short stories that will curdle your blood with their violence, and stories like the Bottoms and this book, A Fine Dark Line. I don't really know how to describe the feelings that are brought up by this book. While I was reading it I kept thinking of the great works of Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dandelion Wine, and their ability to evoke in me a love for a childhood I never had yet always yearned for. What 10 year old didn't want to be a Hardy Boy or Nancy Drew or a young Sherlock Holmes. Solving crimes that are far beyond your years and comprehension, that catapult you towards impending adulthood with the idea that you may just be able to survive it. I love this book. Thank you Mr Lansdale.
—Allen
