The Barbarous Coast (A Lew Archer Mystery) [Hardcover]

Ross MacDonald (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Bantam Books (1966)
• ASIN: B0014D7RNA
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the plot gets so complicated that it becomes difficult to follow, February 18, 2008

By 

clifford "akitonmyers" (Portland, OR, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Barbarous Coast (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (Paperback)

OK, the first half of this book is great. Five stars. I felt like I was reading one of MacDonald's very best, akin to Hammetts "Big Sleep". However, once MacDonald's sights get set on a group of characters, he just cant seem to stop from circling them over and over again. It got so that I felt like I was caught in a whirl wind, each page would re-visit someone and each page would shift the plot direction. Its sort of funny, but I felt like the story sort of lost itself and became almost too muddled to discipher just after Archer sustained a second serious concussion.

Archer is one of the classic series in this genre. Its just great. And this book should be read along with the others. However, I would suggest that you not start here due to the fact that it wont cast the very best light on MacDonald and his prowess.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Barbarous Hollywood, December 17, 2007

By 

C. Schaub "Charlie" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Barbarous Coast (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (Paperback)

"The Barbarous Coast" is a perfect example of a "hard-boiled" detective story. The "hard-boiled" detective story has been analyzed, re-analyzed, and over-analyzed. Ditto for the leading authors of the genre Hammett, Chandler, and Ross MacDonald. Consequently, it can be difficult to look at a novel of this genre as a stand-alone story.

In "The Barbarous Coast" PI Lew Archer takes on both the Hollywood establishment and the Mob as a simple assignment of tracking down a missing wife turns into a multiple murder case. The plot is very good, and the characters are excellent. Much of the strength of the story is in MacDonald's depiction of the southern California atmosphere: the wealth, decadence, and underlying fear of those who have made it, the regret and the disillusionment of the those who have almost made it, the sad continuing striving of those who will never make it but who still cling to the dream.

I enjoyed reading "The Barbarous Coast", but I did not find it satisying. None of the book's weaknesses is a deal breaker, but their culumative effect keeps me from giving it a top rating. Examples: The plot seemed unnecessarily conplicated, Archer kept getting beat up too frequently, the Mob connection just didn't fit in well, several cliche scenes.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not one of his best, but a good read anyway, January 9, 2008

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Barbarous Coast (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (Paperback)

It's nice to visit old friends. I haven't read any of Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer novels in a long, long time. Macdonald's prose hasn't lost any of its punch for me over the years. Like Anthony Boucher says, "{Macdonald)...writes like a son of a bitch."

Originally published in 1956, The Barbarous Coast has PI Lew Archer nosing around Malibu, looking for a freaked-out Canadian's wife, a high-diving bombshell, Hester Campbell (in the vein of Esther Williams, for those who might not get it). The fact that the guy has punk hair makes the character seem awfully strange for the book's original publication date, but that's okay.

Hester has disappeared without a trace. Lew starts poking his nose into things at the Channel Club, the ritziest, snobbiest country club in the Pacific Coast. Before long he's up to his neck in blackmail, beauties, and a two-year-old unsolved murder that seems to hang around like last week's fish odor.

When Macdonald passed in 1983, America lost one its greatest crime writers. However, The Barbarous Coast is not Macdonald's best Lew Archer novel. The tales twists and turns at random that is more confusing than surprising. Sometimes, it's even hard to follow. For the life of me, I can't remember how Lew got messed up in this case.

One of the things that interests me, going back to the authors that have been a part of our American cultural landscape, is: Does the writing stand the test of time? This book does...the prose is magnificent. The difference between reading a vintage crime novel and a contemporary crime novel is like watching "Perry Mason" and "Law and Order." Only the times dictate the color and level of morality that we find acceptable.

While the scenery may be old-fashioned, and The Barbarous Coast may not be the best Lew Archer episode, it's still a good story. I've added the Lew Archer novels to my to-read list.

Armchair Interviews says: Another Lew Archer convert.