Rating: ★ ★ ★ ½ ☆
Date read: January 13 to 17, 2014
Read count: 1
After finishing this short story collection, I now understand why [author:Elmore Leonard|12940] is considered a classic in contemporary Western. He’s a skilled writer of viable dialogues that keep his stories moving forward even when there isn’t much happening on the surface.
Leonard’s style can be described simply as punchy because it can pack a punch and punctuate a seemingly simple story with lots of undertones. His writing might look like straight-forward pulp fiction, but there’s a sense of “literary literature” in his prose. He definitely knew how to turn a phrase half-way through a sentence to change the whole atmosphere of a story.
Most, if not all, of Leonard’s characters are morally corrupt and/or understandably self-serving, with the exception of the good US Marshal Raylan Givens from the titular story “Fire in the Hole.” The good Marshal is a contrast to the criminal figures he deals with in that he is steered by the law, but assumes the persona of someone who doesn’t care for it. At first glance, it can seem unsettling to see him playing along with outlaws because you, the reader, can’t figure out where his loyalties lie. As the story unfolds, however, Givens’ motives and intentions become a little clearer with each encounter with each character, who is usually an outlaw. This is a running theme in Leonard’s writing. You don’t know, upon first introduction, what each character in the story represents until you read further.
There’s a subtle, simmering sense of something (unintended alliteration) not quite right in each of Leonard’s short story that’s sometimes a little on the violent side–violent in the sense of tense atmosphere, not necessarily and not always bloodshed. The prose, dialogue, characterization, all of it take after the atmosphere and have a tense undercurrent running through them which heightens the plots’ progression.
The criminal figures and lawmen featured in Leonard’s stories are familiar and somewhat staples of the crime fiction genre now. What separates Leonard’s characters from those of his peers’ is his handling of moving dialogue. His dialogue actually moves the plot forward, and a lot can be resolved in a passing conversation between an outlaw and a deputy. Leonard is Old West crime fiction in its most interesting contemporary form.
Western is not my preferred genre, and I don’t often read crime fiction unless it’s interjected into sci-fi/fantasy. With that said, I must say this collection of Leonard’s stories is a satisfying read.
Those who’ve seen the TV series “Justified,” based on the character of Raylan Givens, will find the story “Fire in the Hole,” which is also the name of the pilot episode, very familiar. The beats and events in this story set off the series and reignite Givens’ clash with the ever opportunistic Crowder clan, just like in the short story.
The first season follows Leonard’s writing, and the rest of the series after that point, while staying true to Leonard’s creations, veers off into new story arcs by introducing new “victims” and “villains” for the good Marshal and his friends to deal with. Raylan Givens in the show is younger and more charismatic than Raylan Givens in the stories, who is rougher around the edges and isn’t as articulate.
Overall, though, I think Justified’s showrunners have done Leonard’s stories justice by incorporating his unique, realistic setting and atmosphere into the show.
From Cover to Cover 