Customer Reviews

L.A. Confidential

5 star:		(79)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

LA Confidential has been rightly hailed as a masterpiece of American fiction, not just of American crime fiction. But you need to do your homework first, as this is actually the third book in Ellroy's L.A. Quartet. The set includes, "The Black Dahlia," "The Big Nowhere," "LAC," and "White Jazz." By the end of White Jazz, the driving plot and Ellroy's maturity as a writer have honed an already sparse style to something just short of hebeprenic monosyllabic stuttering. Perversely, though, rather than becoming almost funny (like Hemingway could get (The rain fell down. It fell on the trees. The trees got wet. I was drunk, in the rain.)), the spare language actually gets out of the way of the forceful and gripping dialogue and action.

I strongly recommed that you read these four books in order, as the story arc unfolds over that much time. Cruical characters such as "Buzz" Meeks (who was criminally shortchanged in the film version) and Dudley Smith appear in two, three, or four of the books, all of which makes LA Con, the best of the uniformly excellent four, even better in context.

It may be a lot of work to do, several thousand pages, but true fans of American fiction could do much worse.

I had seen the superb movie (several times) before reading this book, and wondered how the two would compare. Ellroy's novel is also superb, and in some ways the movie reads direcrtly from it (much dialogue lifted verbatim) but there are large differences.

Fit into a couple hours and what feels like a year's worth of time, the movie is more concise. The book is far more sprawling, taking place over almost a decade --- and it connects to both the prequel (The Big Nowhere, excellent) and sequel (White Jazz, also excellent). The screenwriters actually did a fine job capturing the essence of the book while truncating the plot.

The book is, of course, far more involved, with more seamy threads, the plot much more byzantine. I was having a tough time figuring out how the Evil Scheme tied together, but Ellroy does a surprisingly good job of tying it together in a short time at the end, so read closely and stick with it.

The book's larger scope lets the three main characters get more face time and more depth. Not to slight Guy Pearce's fine performance, but Ed Exley is a whole new level of fascinating here. And Jack Vincenes isn't quite the super-slick hepcat that Kevin Spacey memorably embodied. Bud White is far less restrained than Russell Crowe made him look. The actors who played smaller roles in the movie (James Cromwell, Danny Devito and David Straithairn) were dead on.

Ellroy's prose is a thing of beauty, with its raw expose of violence and corruption and 50's slang (though not quite as polished or stylized as in White Jazz). While the movie was chock-full of badness, it didn't come close to the book. For those unfamiliar with the author: let's put it mildly and say he doesn't have a good opinion of human nature. No nice guys here.

If you like down and dirty crime fiction or film noir at all, this is the book for you. Personally, I'd recommend reading The Big Nowhere first, and then White Jazz, for a terrific trio of ungoodness.

If you start reading this book better strap yourself in for the ride of your life. If you like L.A. in the '50s with crooked cops, beautiful hookers that look like movie stars ( thanks to a plastic surgeon) stupid criminals and a rather eclectic assortment of walk ons, you'll love this story.

The three main cops are polar opposites in many areas except for the ability to run amok of the rules and regulations of the LAPD when to do so furthers thier case or career. Interesting side plot with Exley's father and the cadre of hangers-on building theme parks and interstate highways mixed with slasher porno and a few tender moments.

I'm not a huge fan of the crime genre, but the reviews led me to this while hunting for a book for airplane reading. It's tough to put down, but even tougher to pick back up if you've not read for a day a two. Elroy seems to think the reader will read non-stop or has an incredible memory. Many times I had to go back and check earlier parts of the story to make it all fit. It does take sometime to get the style of his prose so it makes sense.

My suspiscion is since I don't read many books in this genre my picky complaints are those of a novice in this area. I believe this would be a much rewarding experience if read another time.

I don't even know how to begin this review so I'm just going to wing it. I'm basically blown away and all's I can ask myself is how in the world does anyone come up with this story, which is several stories all wrapped within eachother. I had read 'Dahlia' which I loved, then 'Nowhere' which impressed me even more. Now 'Confidential' has left me in deep thought about the characters and the art of Mr. Ellroy's storytelling. I saw the movie several times before reading this (or any of Ellroy's work) and loved it. But the movie and the book are very different. If you're considering reading this book but saw the movie and figure you know the story already, you don't, so read it. If you've heard that it's essential to read his quartet in order (this being the third out of the four) but don't feel like reading the other two first, then don't, but read this book. If you're a do-gooder, born-again, living as a nun,,, well, you might not want to read this (only because you may feel dirty and immoral for liking it). But everybody else should get a copy because its THAT GOOD. Oh it's long, it's complex, it has more characters than the bible (which, by the way, should be read only after reading this as a priority first) and you'll need to pay close attention to everybody and everything, but it is most definitly worth it. "White Jazz' (the fourth and final) here I come. Thanks Mr. E!

James Ellroy's LA Confidential will no doubt go down in history as a landmark work like Chandler's The Big Sleep and Hammett's The Maltese Falcon. Ellroy's style in entirely unique; there is really no one else like him. This novel is told in the noir traditions but with a contemporary writer's touch. Characters as real as the people you know are found in these pages, made even more real by their flaws. If you're one of those who saw the movie but has not read the book, consider this: The movie is amazing. And it cheats the power of this novel. A must-have for any crime fiction fanatic.

It's a spider web. It's a labyrinth, and the minotaur at its heart is both a psychotic murderer and the central selves of its three main characters. As a surface read, this novel is a stellar exemplar of the noir California genre. The Los Angeles it conjures up is both a nightmare and a reality (Johnny Stompanato, the gangster lover of Lana Turner, is a character, and his murder by Turner's daughter provides a final knife-twist in the plot). Ellroy's dark city exhibits more seething, foul vice crawling over itself than I have ever encountered between the covers of one book. Yet it turns out to be about the ultimate redemption, or at least coming to terms with self, of the three primary characters. Ed Exley, a privileged son whose apparently burnished war record is a sham; Jack Vincennes, whose weakness for pills and booze has led him into a shameful error he can't shake; and Bud White, who is trying to overcome his powerlessness to prevent his mother's brutal murder by finding wife-beaters and rapists and punishing them all to a bloody pulp. This trio of damaged and damaging cops all converge on an insanely ramified late night slaying at the Nite Owl cafe. It lines to prostitution, drugs, plastic surgery as a racket, harder than hard-core porn, organized crime, blackmail, extortion, and a host of petty and major criminals both inside the LAPD and outside. Ultimately, though, the lines go way further back by 35 years, to a series of child murders done to create a grotesque little eros--a thing composed of the wings of birds and parts of children. This horrific image should tip you off--you are in the presence of something more epic and mythic than mere noir. What these policemen are searching for and combating is the destruction of innocence and love--their own innocence and ability to love as well as the long-dead children. Ultimately, despite distrust, rivalry and even hatred, they combine forces and experience to untangle the whole ghastly mess. Vincennes dies redeemed by full confession to his loving wife, Bud pushes through tremendous temptations to succumb to Neanderthal violence to actually use his mind to fight evil, and Exley confronts his own and his father's secrets. The psychotic murderer at the root of it all proves to have been the kind of monster we keep inside ourselves--repeatedly altered by plastic surgery and imperfectly controlled by drugs, he keeps destroying until he is unmasked and dis-enabled. Finally--this IS a noir novel--the consciously wicked man remains standing, and powerful, at the close. Read it if you can. It's a hell of a trip to redemption.

As intricately layered and briskly paced as the movie adaptation, the original source novel is an excellent entry in the crime noir genre. Sleazy, smoky, and seductive, this is the infamous Los Angeles of the mid-twentieth century, filled with political corruption, Hollywood scandal, and unchecked crime syndicates. The novel explores deeply the motivations and fears of LAPD police officers Bud White, Jack Vincennes, and Edmund Exley as they investigate the suspicious circumstances surrounding the Nite Owl massacre. The seemingly straightforward murder case begins to unravel, enveloping the three protagonists with the demons of past and present. Prepare to be surprised at every turn of the page. This is an especially nice treat for fans of the movie.

LA Confidential is without a doubt the most satisfying, retro 50's crime novel I have ever read, and will prove a treasure trove of additional thrills to any fan of the critically acclaimed movie released in 1998.

I picked up the hardcover version of this book in 1992 and since then have read it a dozen times, making it one of the most dog-eared books in my collection. Ellroy's original novel carries about two and a half times the story (compared with the movie) and is much stronger for it. Characters Bud White, Edmund Exley, and Jack Vincennes are fleshed out more meticulously in more studied and disturbingly graphic detail, as they wind their way through the frighteningly amoral landscape of this 1950's L.A..

Here, White isn't a thug, he is a barely controllable monster, whose physical power (oh, lets say roughly 3x the size of Russell Crowe)and penchant for beating felons to death makes him the most feared man in the department. Surprisingly, White is the only character here that comes close to redemption by story's end. On the other end of the spectrum is Ed Exley, whose brains and ability to accurately read people and situations prove a powerful survival tool in this complex plot of frame ups, evidence plantings, and intra-LAPD subterfuge. White, Vincennes, and Exley have their skeletons, which are dragged into the light and examined in meticulous detail, adding additional levels of story and subplot not present in the abridged edtion (or movie).

The real star here is author James Ellroy, a brilliant writer who weaves a fantastic yet thoroughly believable, complex tale that never rings false or ridiculous. His incredible ability to craft such complex plot/sub-plots in such powerful, adrenalized, descriptive prose makes him nothing less than a national treasure from the dark side. Highest recommendation.

I have to confess, I read the book after seeing the movie. I wanted to read for myself the backbone of what I thought was the best movie of 1997. Although most of the text translated well to the film, I was a bit shocked at Ellroy's style. He is brash and violent, telling his grim story through the unpleasantness of his characters (of which there are many). I liked the realism of the main charcters, Bud White in particular because of his conviction and determinism. I felt the book dragged on at times, spending lots of pages detailing events over and over again. I was unfamiliar with James Ellroy's work before this but I look forward to reading more in the future. I think his gritty, brutal style takes noir to a new level.

This was my first Ellroy, and it wasn't an easy read. Of the 500 or so pages, it took a good 150 to get into it, mostly due to his extremely clipped language. Once you get into it, though, it's tough to get out -- mind-blowing violence, labyrinthine plotting, some of the nastiest people you'll ever see on paper will all glue you to the book. I saw the movie when it came out. Rest assured, the book is 100% different in so many ways. There's simply not enough time for the movie to get into the backdoor politics that's such a huge part of the novel; the Kevin Spacey character, Jack Vincennes, is so simplified in the film that you'll hardly recognize him. And the ending is completely different.

Ellroy has taken noir writing style up another notch (or two). Everything is bare bones...and the book is still over 500 pages. If he'd written it like other "normal" books, it probably would have been over a thousand.