Customer Reviews

Death Is a Lonely Business

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ray Bradbury, as his fans know, is a man who has published a lot of works through the years -- over 500 -- but only a handful of novels. Most of his novels, in fact, are expanded versions of his short stories, e.g., Fahrenheit 451. Death Is A Lonely Business, a very good title from a man who is a master of titles, published in 1985, was his first novel since 1962's Something Wicked This Way Comes. What a surprise, then, it was for me to find this overlooked gem at my local library for a mere 50 cents. It is something one would not expect Bradbury to write: a detective story. Of sorts. This genre, previously monopolized in the science fiction realm by Isaac Asimov (as was everything else), turns out to fit Bradbury's writing style surprisingly well. As anyone who has read the author knows, he has a unique and very distinctive style -- poetic, atmospheric, and highly literary. Arthur C. Clarke has termed him a "prose poet", and this description works quite well. His aforementioned style, which is very complex and literary, would seem, on the surface, ill-suited to a hard-boiled detective novel and destined to be relegated to the short story -- as, indeed, much of Bradbury's work is. His writing style and use of imagery is very dense and literate, too much for some, and is often difficult to hold up over the course of a novel. This novel, like much of his work, contains very vivid poetic descriptions and not a few fantasy elements, and the reader is often left unsure whether a given sentence is meant to be taken literally or only figuratively. This was a problem for many readers with Something Wicked This Way Comes, a novel that had a very simple plot -- one might almost say, with its two child protagonists, that it was written for teenagers -- but this issue, thankfully, does not come up during the course of this interesting and very engrossing novel. Though this is, essentially, a detective story, it does not escape Bradbury's distinctive touches. His style is omnipresent throughout. It proves to be very engrossing. The first chapter -- the book's sections are not technically separated as such, but the definition will work fine -- pulls the reader in, and it is very difficult to put it down: I read the book nearly in one sitting. Bradbury pours on the suspense and the keeps the reader reading. His poetic descriptions of Venice, California's broken-down piers and carnival scenery are vivid and very atmospheric; the descriptions are beautiful prose to read, mysterious and alluring, dark and brooding. Any long-time Bradbury reader will immediately appreciate this aspect of the novel. The book is also loaded with literary references, to Brabdury's own work and to a vast number of other authors. This is a treat for the author's faithful readers and shows the author's encyclopedic knowledge of literature. In addition, the novels main character, by whom it is narrarated, is a highly autobiographical character clearly modeled on Bradbury's own early career. All of this is very good, certainly enough to recommend the novel. The only reason I have given it 4 stars is the ending, which is a very jarring anti-climax. The final revealing of the murderer is not a surprise, and the way in which he is caught is very unrealistic and hard to believe. This will probably frustrate the reader, as it did me, putting an ill-conceived end to an otherwise excellent novel. Stil, the book is well-worth reading, as Bradbury usually is, and this flaw only dims one's enjoyment of it somewhat. Highly recommended for Bradbury fans, or those who enjoy the noir mystery genre and are looking for something with more of a twist than they usually get.

Writing in the style of hard-boiled mystery writers such as Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett, Bradbury sets his story in Venice, California, in 1949, presenting as his main character a 27-year-old struggling writer, much like himself. Returning to Venice late one night on the last trolley from Los Angeles, he finds himself alone in the car, except for a mysterious, alcohol-fumed vagrant, who whispers in his ear, "Death is a lonely business." Convinced that he has met "Death's friend," the speaker gets "chicken skin," which gets worse when, upon arriving in Venice, he glances into an old canal and discovers, inside an abandoned lion cage, a body bobbing up and down on the tides.

The city of Venice in 1949 is a place for the down-and-out, its pier and amusement park crumbling, its rollercoaster lying on its side "like the bones of a vast dinosaur," old animal cages abandoned in the canals and filled with fish, and the oil pumps looking like "great pterodactyls" as they creak and groan. Inhabited by "the lonelies," old people with no futures, Venice is a dark and dismal place in those final days before the pier is demolished. Bradbury's hypnotic descriptions of this decrepitude provide dramatic contrasts with the young speaker who still has hopes, dreams, and a future.

With veteran detective Elmo Crumley as his mentor, the speaker tries to save lives and outwit a mysterious stalker, as more and more sad, old people meet their deaths. Hollywood performers, an opera singer, a lady who once raised canaries, a tarot card reader, an inept barber who knew Scott Joplin, and the owner of an old cinema all contribute to the color, atmosphere, and action in this unusual story of people and places which have outlived their usefulness.

Bradbury's writing, as always, is witty, descriptive, imaginative, and atmospheric. These separate elements do not seem to jell into a coherent whole, however. The speaker and Crumley are supposed to be "hard-boiled," but their genuine tenderness and naivete work at cross-purposes with the sometimes gruesome deaths they investigate. Unlike the classic detectives, they seem to care more about the sad, old residents than they do about catching the killer. Elements of the supernatural impinge upon the realism, and the reader is not always sure whether strange events should be taken literally or figuratively. When the killer is finally identified, it's almost an anti-climax, since he is less developed and far less interesting than his victims. Ultimately, it's the inherent "niceness" of Bradbury's characters and his clear belief in life's hopefulness which work to undermine the drama and fear engendered by the bizarre murders. As Bradbury makes clear, if one adapts to life's changes, one can truly "live." Mary Whipple

Ray Bradbury's ability to craft amazing prose shines through in this unheralded masterpiece of fiction. The way he wraps his life and his views on writing and the world into an entertaining exploration into the darker side of life in the 50's is superb. One of my all time favorite books. A must read for any true Bradbury fan.

I bought two of his newest books, one of which is the aforementioned _Death is a Lonely Business_. I began reading it late last night and just finished it a little more than an hour ago. Technically, it's not a fantasy or science fiction, but it is such a great book, in my opinion, that I had to put a review of it somewhere.

_Death is a Lonely Business_ is Ray Bradbury's tribute to Hammet, Chandler, Cain and Ross McDonald. It is a very engrossing noir detective story, with the young Bradbury as the main character. More or less. The main character is a struggling, starving writer living in Venice, CA with a girlfriend studying in Mexico. Strange deaths begin occuring around him, seemingly triggered by a mysterious encounter with a man he calls at one point "Death's friend".

With the aid of a detective and a reclusive, yet very much alive actress, he attempts to unravel the mystery before the people he most cares about come to harm.

Bradbury's writing style, though for some perhaps a bit wordy and "purple", pulls the reader into the story, making him feel and see the world through the eyes of the main character. Once I began reading it, I found it very difficult to stop and go to school; I wanted to keep reading until the end.

The story itself, through the deliberate use of death and loss, affirms life and demands that the reader seize the moment and pursue life, happiness, and even pain. For by avoiding pain, we die a slow, lonely death.

In short, it is a book that I would highly recommend to anyone, even those dyed-in-the-wool single genre people. This has strong fantasy elements in it, and plenty of references to other books and stories by Bradbury.

What a pleasant and welcome way to rediscover a favorite author.

In my mind, this is Bradburys best novel. It's a wonderful love letter to death, sadness, loneliness and decay dressed in a Raymond Chandler trenchcoat. It manages to subtly evoke a long dead world without slipping into the sort of unnecessarily complex writing style he used in 'Something Wicked This Way Comes'. The section where the author searches the first "victims" room is a perfect example. Without fail, every time I read about what was scratched on the wall, the hairs on the back of my neck start to rise.

Ray Bradbury is noted for his science fiction books, which I have never read, but I was recommended this book (his rare effort to write in a genre that he loved - the mystery novel. This is a remarkable story of love and friendship and it also has a true psycopathic killer in it. The book is peopled with wonderful eccentric characters and its setting is a dying 1950's California seaside town. This is an evocative and eerie novel, and it will keep you turning the pages until you finish. If Ray Bradbury can write like this, perhaps I should read some of his better known stories. I have seldom read a book that held so many truly wonderful characters.

The world of Ray Bradbury is a little more vivid, more lifelike, sometimes, than real life, and this book is no exception. A nostalgic look at a Los Angeles of a bygone era, with (almost as an aside) the machinery of a well-crafted mystery driving the story forward.

The only somewhat askew part is in the ending, which sounds a bit as if written to be made into a movie. It's well written, but doesn't seem very Bradbury.

Venice, California, 1947. The boardwalk is slowly dying, the rollercoaster's on its last legs, and the oil wells pump sightlessly away just outside of town. On a trolley car racketing home one stormy night, a young man who dreams of writing science fiction gets a chilling message in his ear from an unseen man behind him... and soon, it seems that Death itself walks the streets of Venice, robbing the town of all the people who gave it its life and soul. Can a chubby would-be writer, a detective with a jungle in his backyard, and the world's greatest blind man beat Death at its own game? An immensely fun and beautifully written tribute to Raymond Chandler, based in good part on the author's own life. Fans of old Hollywood will want to check out the sequel, "A Graveyard For Lunatics."

I have to admit that I've never really been a fan of Bradbury. In school I read a couple of his short stories, which were pretty good but not amazing - I always thought Asimov wrote better - and the only novel of his I had read before this one was Farenheight 451, twice, and both times I found it to be among the most dull books I'd read. However, reading the back of this paperback in a used book store, I decided that he was worth another try for $1.25.

I immediately began to enjoy it. The almost filmoire style of the writing appealed to me for some reason, though there a couple lines I had to reread in order to see what he was getting at. The main character (I started calling him Jesus because that was the way Crumley often referred to him) was in a state of near desperation the whole novel, but it wasn't completely overdone, at least in my opinion. Frankly, if I was stuck in a hell-hole like Venice, CA I would be the same way.

I would definitely recommend this book, though maybe I'm simply a weird guy who likes weird books.

Excellent. The only reason this book receives four stars as opposed to five is the sadness of the story. The prose is very fine. Although intellectually one can realize a few flaws (a few very convenient plot points and cliches), they do not take away in the least from the intuitional impact. The descriptions of Venice are also great, and accurate, if overly melancholy, according to my father, a former resident. Read it, but not on a gloomy day.