The Drowning Pool (Paperback)

~ Ross Macdonald (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Most writers who work in a specific genre such as science fiction or detective stories write with a comfortable narrowness, their ambitions constricted by well-worn conventions; a rare few attain something much deeper, as the scope of their explorations and the originality of their prose operate in a kind of tension with the genre's confines. Ross Macdonald is one such writer. In a series of 25 novels written between 1944 and 1976, all but five featuring Lew Archer as protagonist, Macdonald picked up the baton dropped by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett and took the genre to new heights.

The Drowning Pool, first published in 1950, is the second Lew Archer novel. It opens in classic hard-boiled fashion, with a well-dressed woman hesitantly engaging Archer's services at his L.A. office. Soon he's digging up secrets in her oil-rich hometown, and the themes that preoccupied Macdonald throughout his career begin to emerge: tormented families, buried secrets that fester through multiple generations, environmental destruction, concealed paternity, and the brutal contrast between rich and poor. Macdonald's later novels--including The Galton Case (1959), The Chill (1964), and The Underground Man (1971)--showed increased maturity and a tone less tied to tradition, but The Drowning Pool returns to the virtues that are the hallmarks of Mcdonald's work: complex and compelling plotting, psychological depth, just enough mayhem, and highly economical prose that routinely rises to something near poetry.

From Library Journal

Published in 1965, 1963, and 1950, respectively, this trio feature Macdonald's hard-boiled private detective Lew Archer. The plots involve murder, deceit, blackmail, sex, and all those other goodies that make for great crime stories.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (June 3, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679768068
• ISBN-13: 978-0679768067
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #226,913 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 2 in The Lew Archer Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly a mystery classic (but don't let that scare you), July 24, 2003

By	Neal C. Reynolds (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Drowning Pool (Hardcover)

I hesitate to call this a classic because some people consider "classics" as dull and out-dated. And there's nothing dull or out-dated here (well, maybe that paying $10 to be driven from Las Vegas to L. A. is a bit out of date).

Archer's hired to discover who sent his client's husband a letter accusing her of infidelity. Introduced to the family and friends at a party as a Hollywood agent, he is sensitive to the growing tension and explosive atmosphere. The reader knows of course that somebody's going to be murdered, but these early chapters are among the most skillfully written to build suspense that I've ever read.

Written in 1950, the inclusion of a homosexual couple was quite daring although there is not graphic description, and isn't significant enough a factor of the plot to either offend or attract a reader.

Read this and I'm sure you'll find it on your own list of crime classics.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ross MacDonald was a true artist., February 27, 2002

By	David J. Gannon (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A Ross MacDonald is like an extremely well crafted 1950's black & white noir movie. Nothing comes through in it's true color, everything is projected in shades of gray, the action is stately yet never drags, and the characters are all vaguely threatening.

All of MacDonald's novels exhibit certain basic themes--tormented families, buried secrets that fester through multiple generations, environmental destruction, and the brutal contrast between rich and poor. The key to MacDonald's long running success was Archers realism and authenticity, MacDonald's ability to craft complex yet understandable stories, his mastery of language, and his ability to generate a specific atmosphere of threatening suspense on a consistent basis.

All of the above referenced themes are present in The Drowning Pool, which I think is MacDonald's best novel, though The Underground Man is right up there as well.

MacDonald's novels aren't just mind candy-reading him is a literary experience. I believe that is why he was successful in a sort of restrained way. Escapists will not get into these books-they are too cerebral. If you want to your books affect you, MacDonald and Archer are your kind of guy's.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the best fifties LA noir, January 2, 2001

By	Erik J. Larsen (st. paul, mn) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm not a big fan of detective series because they tend to become robotic in plot and characterization, but the Ross MacDonald/Lew Archer series is an exception. Crisp language, tight plots, and geat dialog make for a gripping story.

A sad sidenote. Don't rent/watch the insipid Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward movie 'loosely' based on the book. Instead of LA they set it in New Orleans and they basically rearranged all the characters into pale versions of their literary counterparts. Just thought I'd let you know.