The book is immense--over pages of relatively small print. If you've never read pulp fiction from the 30s, 40s, and early 50s, this book will serve as a very good introduction to the genre. View 1 comment. Jan 11, Leo rated it liked it Shelves: mystery-crime-adventure , dnf. So good that I plan on rereading all of his Philip Marlowe short stories soon. Feb 23, Willem van den Oever rated it it was amazing Shelves: in-english , thriller-mystery , trenchcoats-and-dames. Getting a limited amount of time to write any story and receiving the rather measily salary of a penny per word don't seem like the perfect writing condictions for any writer who wants to be taken seriously.
Still, a great deal of young writers would start off in the pulps during the 's through 40's, before becoming bigtime novel published authors. Cain and Erle Stanley Gardner started Getting a limited amount of time to write any story and receiving the rather measily salary of a penny per word don't seem like the perfect writing condictions for any writer who wants to be taken seriously.
Cain and Erle Stanley Gardner started off in these magazines and proved that the word "pulp" comes from the low quality paper on which their stories were printed rather then the quality of the stories themselves. The vast collection of short stories and novellas contained in this phoneregister sized book show the very best of pre-WW2 tales of passion, crime and revenge. Subtle might not always apply best to these stories, yet the very basics of great storytelling are found within each of them.
Heroes, villians, love, death and redemption are strong recurring themes and it's remarkable how well these stories have stood the test of time. Chandler's ' Red Wind ' is as strong as it was when first published in The very same can be said of Leslie T.
White's subtlely titled ' The City of Hell! These were writers with huge literary potential and their bright futures shine through in these tales. This is crimewriting pur sang. Anybody who enjoyed classic tales of crime like ' The Big Sleep ', ' The Maltese Falcon ' or ' The Postman Always Rings Twice ' and wants to return to the very source of it all - or anyone who's new to this classic genre, because this is the perfect place to start off - should get their mitts on the ' Big Book of Pulps '.
Sep 04, Peggy marked it as to-read. I love pulp fiction. The only thing I love more than pulp fiction is the lurid art that went along with it. Jul 03, Carla Remy rated it it was amazing. I didn't read every story- the book is huge. It's amazing. It's overwhelming. All I will say is I love Cornell Woolrich. His writing is tops. Sep 15, Gary added it. Finally finished reading pager! I am a huge fan of the Noir genre.
Chandler, Garner, Cain and the whole gang. Eddie Muller is the host who is wonderfully informative in the filming, production, and casting of these movies.
Watch it. Saturday night at The book is loaded with stories that were written at the time when you could earn a penny a word and learn the craft of writting.
The tough guy private eye or the uncorruptable cop populate these st Finally finished reading pager! The tough guy private eye or the uncorruptable cop populate these stories usuallywith great success. By that I mean the bad guys get what they deserve in the end.
These authors in many cases used pen names as the pulp world wasn't considered considered literature. Yes the lead characters were male and there was often a ditzy secretary who would come through in the end with the clue to solve the case.
There are guns and fist fights and drinking. Good stuff. Jun 08, Todd Stockslager rated it really liked it Shelves: mystery. The stories, written for cheap magazines that paid writers a penny a word or less for fast-moving formulaic fiction, vary in quality and length, but have much in common: absurd action, slangy dialogue, chain-smoking whiskey-slugging detectives and policemen, sexist treatment of women, and minimal description of settings invariably dark and dangerous.
The size of the collection and the variety of authors of varying abilities brought together in this large collection made me take notice of a couple of interesting and sometimes disturbing themes I had not noticed reading past pulp fiction. The gang members are invariably Italian, while policemen and detectives often have Irish names, setting up an unspoken racial conflict between the older Irish and newer Itialian immigrants.
African-Americans are usually stereotyped as grotesquely obsequious, or referred to by a variety of ethnic slurs not repeatable today. The racism is part of the visceral language and violent action of the heroes in these stories, and therefore most disturbingly not just acceptable but expected and relished by contemporary readers.
While the liquor-ban was in effect during this entire period, alcohol was readily available and heavily consumed, but its supply was controlled by criminals and its demand was driven by weak men and women who frequented dark places which bred crime and social disorder. Nowhere in these stories is there any debate about the value of Prohibition, it is merely part of the background that is blithely ignored by all classes and races, and even the legal system itself.
The rich are at best objects of envy, and usually derogated as weak, stupid, grasping, or undeserving usurpers of the labor of those below them; this feeling is shared by both the criminals and the crime fighters in these stories, the crime fighters often with the hinted feeling that they are unwilling and underpaid lackeys guarding riches they will never touch.
Meanwhile, at the bottom rung of society, the poorest, while sometimes the beneficiaries of Robin Hoods who disperse their criminal gains downward, most often face the irrational hatred of those just above them on the social ladder whose grip on the rung depends on their stolen wealthy. Even the most sympathetic policemen consider the poor to be the breeding ground of the criminal element; the more cynical seem to blame the criminal mind on the weakness of poverty.
Without the ubiquitous cell phone, it is amazing the number of times in every story that the intrepid detective or scheming criminal must plan his next actions around the location of an available phone. Drug stores are most often frequented to find a phone booth, not to make a purchase. A serious study of these elements in the extant body of pulp fiction would be a fascinating companion to the history of the United States in the s through s.
In the meantime, the reader can enjoy these stories. The sheer size of the collection, given the limitations of the genre, lead to some repetitiveness, but the reader can understand and enjoy the qualities of the better writers, and the endearing campiness of the worst. Feb 28, Michael marked it as to-read. Booth: Stag Party Leslie T. White: The City of Hell! Montanye: A Shock for the Countess C. Sep 05, Vel Veeter rated it really liked it. Yeah this book is super long.
I went to Otto Penzler's bookstore in NY this summer. I didn't see him there, but they mentioned him around the place a little. He's very much into this material and his passion shows through in all the section breaks and introductions. The shorter introductions written by the other writers are very distinct.
Laura Lippman and Harlan Coben both take the assignment in straightforward ways and introduce their sections -- Dames and Crimefighters -- in earnest. Harlan E Yeah this book is super long. Harlan Ellison takes umbrage ironically I assume with being asked to introduce villains and goes off about it.
The stories themselves are a mixed bag. As a collection, this book definitely collects. It houses a wide variety of stories, approaches, and plots. And some are very good, and some are very bad.
Others are ridiculous, including a series about a thief who wears a glass dome over his head like Mysterio made of two-way mirror material. It's silly. There's no women in this! Laura Lippman writes an introduction to a "dames" section in which no stories by women appear. That's an issue because I can tell you the name of about a dozen or so women who were writing at this time in this genre. Jan 23, Bryan rated it it was amazing.
I had been reading this book for several weeks, picking off stories and authors like a Dime Detective would pick off a cheap bottle of rye in his pocket.
The genre is fascinating to me, so the book was a treasure from my library. Too big to read in one checkout cycle, so renewal was necessary. In some stories, I can feel the dirt, grime and heat, the I had been reading this book for several weeks, picking off stories and authors like a Dime Detective would pick off a cheap bottle of rye in his pocket.
In some stories, I can feel the dirt, grime and heat, the sweat rolling down the necks, the weight of the loaded gun or bottle in the pocket. I have read stories from Chandler and Hammett and loved the noir in movie form for years, since childhood days.
But in some stories, the adjectives are wasted. Daly, Cain and Erie Stanley Gardner stand out. Ha Oh, one last thing, if this novel seems to interest you, pick up the kindle version and save your arm workouts for the gym. The weight alone of this book hurts when you drop it on your face as you drift off in bed reading. Sep 25, Dave rated it it was amazing. Jan 04, Mark Bacon rated it it was amazing. The Big Book of Pulps is a collection of dozens of noir stories from the s through s.
The table of contents looks like a directory of the best authors in the genre. Other authors include James. Cain; Carroll John Daly, credited with writing the first U. In one Gardner story, Ken Corning, precursor to Perry Mason, leaps on the running board of a The Big Book of Pulps is a collection of dozens of noir stories from the s through s. In one Gardner story, Ken Corning, precursor to Perry Mason, leaps on the running board of a car and battles gunmen.
Not the deft courtroom-style exchange you might expect from watching Raymond Burr. He provides useful biographical information on the authors, background on the stories and when and where each was originally published. Not every story is a gem, but at 1, pages and and weighing more than two pounds, it's a noir lover's dream. Mar 30, Robert Kinosian rated it it was amazing.
Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg provides public domain texts in a variety of formats. It offers a range of genre, and includes some non-pulp material The Pulp Magazine Archive at Archive. Pulp magazines have their own collection there.
Reading them online or download them in a variety of formats, including ePub, PDF, Kindle and plain text. Pulp Magazines Project The purpose of the Pulp Magazines Project is to create an open-access digital archive of pulp magazines.
The hundreds of free PDFs can be sorted by author, magazine or recent additions. New stories are added most every week. Yen Sin and more. Steeger Books Steeger Books formerly Altus Press , one of the premier pulp reprint publishers, also provides many of its books in formats for Apple devices and the Nook and Kindle e-readers.
You may also like. Pulp Hunt Pulp hunt 1 Min Read. Pulp Hunt Pulp sources 8 Min Read. Learn more here. You've reached the maximum number of titles you can currently recommend for purchase.
Your session has expired. Please sign in again so you can continue to borrow titles and access your Loans, Wish list, and Holds pages. If you're still having trouble, follow these steps to sign in. Add a library card to your account to borrow titles, place holds, and add titles to your wish list. Have a card? Add it now to start borrowing from the collection. The library card you previously added can't be used to complete this action. Please add your card again, or add a different card.
If you receive an error message, please contact your library for help. Error loading page.
0コメント