Customer Reviews

The Turquoise Lament

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

 

 

Travis McGee once again takes on the torch of righteousness as he saves the daughter of an old friend. She thinks she's losing her mind, which is exactly what somebody wants her to think. But McGee sees through the charade, and undercovers a shady past that explains why he's willing to travel halfway around the world to provide justice. The last 50 pages are stunning in this thriller. Like all MacDonald books, you will get a heavy dose of philosophy from a sophisticated author. Enjoy this classic.

Had Travis McGee been in a science fiction novel, we would have had books like THE PHILOSOPHY OF MCGEE, similar to THE NOTEBOOKS OF LAZARUS LONG, dedicated to the wit and wisdom of this, MacDonald's best known and best loved character. Perhaps it is for the best. While not quite given to epigrams as Heinlein, MacDonald definitely had a consistent vision of who this latter day Don Quixote was. Long before Robert Parker investigated male angst in the Spenser books, MacDonald had mined the entire territory.

In The Turquoise Lament, McGee must face doubt, guilt, and faith as the grown daughter of a deceased salvage friend is afraid that her newlywed husband is attempting to kill her. Culminating in a fight scene with a cable car that today's Hollywood would go nuts for--in fact, that gets me to wondering why we have never seen McGee on film. Maybe we have, and I just don't know about it? Sure, some of the dialogue might not work on the screen, but the mystery, adventure, and spectacular fights would surely fit today's current vehicles for male stars. Today's directors would probably make a mish-mash of it, though; MacDonald probably better fits a director like Hitchcock than Paul Rudhoven or James Cameron.

I was first introduced to the series in the late 70s by a girlfriend, no less. I read 4 or 5 of them, then got on a very heavy science fiction binge for years, McGee was forgotten.

Recently I came upon a yellowed paperback in a box which had been in storage a long time. Since I had forgotten most of that which I had read so long ago anyway, I decided to start from #1, The Deep Blue Good-by (why did he spell it that way?) and read the entire series in chronological order. It was interesting to see the references to characters earlier in the series, the increasing complexity of the plots, the exposition of the MacDonald ethical philosophy.

But the entire structure of The Turquoise Lament was much different than the earlier books, and it took a little getting used to.

Thoroughly enjoyable, in some ways a more human Travis, and I too wonder why Hollywood couldn't make a story like this, with its multiple exotic locations, mix of morality, debauchery and evil, and fast pace into something people would spend money to see?

Too much philosophy in a Travis McGee? That's like saying too much McDonald in a McDonald. Somebody maybe with a short attention span objected to a discourse on sand filters just when the action was heating up. Guess the term "suspense" is unknown there. I was chilled by the implications of a small female person alone on a very long trans-pac yacht with an unpredictable giant madman who is trying to make her lose her mind or take her own life or both. This painful anxiety is maintained to the point of acute distress page after page for the thoughtful reader. The climax is so graphic that I can't get the image of that body spiraling down getting smaller and smaller as it plummets toward the bay. Too much philosophy? Read Kootz!

After reading about 11 JDM McGee series books I have to say that this is one of my very favorites. The characters interesting, the musings on target with today's worries and complaints and the story very entertaining. I was at Hilton Head and read this in a couple of days on the beach. Excellent beach read. Not too dark like some of the other McGee books. Satisfying ending. Loved the dated accounts of flying, lol.

JDM should have gotten a Pulitzer just for his creativity in naming his books.

The Turquoise Lament by John D. MacDonald is the 15th installment of 21 in the highly successful Travis McGee series. At its essence, it is a case study of a sociopathic personality.

McGee thought he knew Howie Brindle, an affable lug of a man who lacked ambition and would never be mistaken for a deep thinker. But as it turns out, he didn't know him at all nor did anyone else. Not even his new bride. Especially not her.

Howie Brindle is a sociopath. He can imitate human emotion perfectly but is incapable of feeling anything. Moreover, Travis discovers that Howie has murdered before and is perfectly capable of murdering again. It becomes a race against the clock as Travis rushes halfway around the world to Pago Pago to prevent tragedy.

MacDonald has crafted quite an intriguing tale within the pages of The Turquoise Lament. The problem is that in having Travis as narrator, the reader misses out on events transpiring in places beyond his observational sphere. Often, these are the most interesting parts of the story. It would have made for a much more compelling read had the narration been provided by either multiple characters or by an omniprescient third person voice.

Bottom line: A good action-adventure tale limited by format.

MacDonald aka Travis had a serious intrigue in this one. Yet, somehow and remarkably, John D. worked out a decent ending.

The narration by Darren McGavin was by far one of the worst renderings I have ever, in my life, listened too. His attempt to impersonate women's voices, tall men's voices, old men's, young boys, whatever, is pitiful. He took all the interest and mystery away. I wanted to feel the tension of the words, enjoy the lovers bantering, close my eyes and see the horizon. Darren spoiled every single part of the book for me. I will not buy you again because they are all read by this nincompoop. This actor who reads as though it were a very humerous story and one only he understands. Get rid of him!

"Turquoise Lament" is a poorly told tale of missing buried treasure documents, damsel in distress and some interesting locales: Pago Pago and Hawaii.

The positives were an extremely well drawn character Howie Brindle. We have all known the type, but he is elusive as a wisp of smoke. MacDonald does a great job of nailing him down. The descriptive scenery was interesting and set forth in a very reader-friendly way.

Travis did not behave well and showed some monstrous poor judgment. Perhaps this made MacDonald grumpy. Travis's voice was lost through the incessant monologues by the author. We expect a certain amount of authorly philosophizing in a McGee novel, but this one went so far over the line as to be mere self-indulgence. Just when things are getting exciting, we get a three-page diversion about the inner-workings of a sand filter.

Travis has a few affairs too many, falls in lust with a girl called "Pidge" who has all the charm of a juvenile hysteric, and is so irresistible himself that merely his voice on the phone causes ladies' hearts to beat faster and pour out their innermost secrets to him. We really can't blame Travis for getting out of line; his author deserted him.