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Ryan's Reviews > The Power of the Dog
The Power of the Dog (Power of the Dog, #1)
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I'm torn on this one because on the one hand, the story is pretty solid. Winslow really unpacks the bureaucracy that makes the war on drugs so snarly. By the time he's through, it's pretty clear which agencies are involved and why and how they're all connected.
Unfortunately, he also writes lines like: "Then the elevator doors slide open and water pours out, like a scene from a bad, grotesque horror film."
And he does it A LOT.
Winslow's good at distilling information, even generating a pretty sweet narrative out of it, but when it comes to actually giving us a human context, he coughs up these creaky-ass images or some dreck like "She was horrified." "He was enraged."
Also, for a novel that includes a vivid depiction of some kid dunked head-first into an overflowing outhouse, Winslow is surprisingly squeamish when it comes to people getting buggered by a hot poker.
"The Doctor uses his oven mitts to pick up a white-hot iron rod, which he inserts--
'Oh my God!' Ernie shouts...'Oh my Goddddddddd!'"
(and wtf does "Oh my Goddddddddd" even sound like? How the hell does anyone make a sound like dddddddddd?)
Unfortunately, he also writes lines like: "Then the elevator doors slide open and water pours out, like a scene from a bad, grotesque horror film."
And he does it A LOT.
Winslow's good at distilling information, even generating a pretty sweet narrative out of it, but when it comes to actually giving us a human context, he coughs up these creaky-ass images or some dreck like "She was horrified." "He was enraged."
Also, for a novel that includes a vivid depiction of some kid dunked head-first into an overflowing outhouse, Winslow is surprisingly squeamish when it comes to people getting buggered by a hot poker.
"The Doctor uses his oven mitts to pick up a white-hot iron rod, which he inserts--
'Oh my God!' Ernie shouts...'Oh my Goddddddddd!'"
(and wtf does "Oh my Goddddddddd" even sound like? How the hell does anyone make a sound like dddddddddd?)
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
October 11, 2007
– Shelved
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Jetdrvr
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rated it 5 stars
May 28, 2012 01:10PM
Nonsense. I was heavily involved in Latin America during those years and Winslow is right on the money and his gritty style fits the story like a pair of the late Sam Lucchese's hand made boots.
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James Ellroy is gritty, Elmore Leonard is gritty, but Don Winslow writes at a grade school level.
I agree with Jetdrvr. In fact I think Winslow is one of the best writers around. His style is direct, punchy, immediate. He flouts conventions to strip language to its leanest, meanest form. He writes in the vernacular. He moves with the times. He has a style of writing.
I accept you don't like that style - that's your personal taste. But I LOVE it.
Or should I say LOOOOOVE it! ;)
I hear what you're saying. Winslow's is often sparse and that's when he's best. No-bullshit, non-sentimental, to-the-point lines like "The baby is dead in his mother's arms."Then he goes off and writes something like "She was horrified," which might be sparse but is also the laziest way to describe somebody's emotional state.
At other times, he'll load his sentences with adjectives ("...a bad, grotesque horror film.") to support a really undercooked image (he's conveying the horror of a situation by comparing it to...a horror film.) I don't see that as stripping language down. On the contrary, it's overwritten.
I also disagree that he writes in the vernacular. Junot Diaz or Mark Twain write in the vernacular, but I don't see that from Winslow at all.
So while some of Winslow's passages are fine and in many cases impacting, he's incredibly inconsistent. When his writing gets lazy or when it dips into a particularly uninspiring image (eg: "Choppers and fixed-wing planes circle overhead like vultures" is a cliche), it takes me out of the great story he's telling.
You simply lose sight of the message, Ryan. No, he's not Hemingway or James Lee Burke, but he's a damned great mystery writer and great storyteller. If you can do better, feel free. Critics criticize. Writers write.
I understand that you might not agree with my criticism of a book you enjoy, and that's fine--but I would prefer it if you could explain why you think I'm wrong rather than simply saying something along the lines of Let's See You Do Better. At that point, you're not arguing the merits of a book, you're just arguing with me.
Let's see you do it better. I was there, you were not, and what he describes is accurate. It's the best story of those days I have yet to read. You cannot dispute the facts, although you may disagree with his style. That's your problem, not mine. His knowledge is esoteric and quite accurate. I often wonder who his friends are.
No need to get angry and no need to set up a straw man. I praised the narrative, not his style. Where in my criticism do you believe I "disputed the facts?"
I'm not angry, but you wasted my time criticizing his style. Just disconcerted by someone who concentrates on style instead of content. The content is accurate, regardless of the quality of the delivery. His knowledge is esoteric, and admirable. I'm surprised no one has shot him. Yet.
I never forced you to read my review, nor did I tell you to comment. Strong prose and powerful narrative are both important elements of a novel. Winslow's got one.
Just gotta get the last word in, don't you? Go for it. I was there. I could care less. Or about your opinion. You're a spectator, not a participant. You do not matter whatsoever. You are irrelevant. Just a guy sitting on a chair behind a keyboard. You cannot, in your wildest drams, imagine what it was like. Bothers you, doesn't it? I could care less. Done here. Move on. Nothing to see here.
It's "I couldn't care less." See ya, grandpa. Don't let the senility hit you on the way out.
It hasn't so far, asshole. I'm still cocked & locked. Are you? Bitch .
Jeez guys...it's just a book.
Just imagine how he'd react if it were 50 Shades of Grey.
Some people have way too much time on their hands. What's most important in a novel is getting to the point. Not dancing around the point with 5000 words that will make you take two weeks to read a book. Or better yet through it in the fireplace and see it burn because you're so annoyed with it. "Burnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!"
I have to agree with Ryan's comments. After asking myself several times why I was continuing to read this book stopped.
I agree with Ryan's review. This book could/should have been great, but the poor writing and the cardboard characters drag it down to merely average, and I'm probably being generous giving it three stars.
Reading it right now and stumbled across this review. Good review with evidence to back your points up. But God the comments section got hilarious for a little while.
And the women characters? Really low level
