saturday morning, 20 dec 14#11 from macdonald for me. just finished The Drowner, a story that has some flaws, still an okay story...and the flaws make it special. people make mistakes...they don't always get it right...or something is off. and now i'm on this one. slam the big door (1960) story begins:the big house--the home of troy and mary jamison--was of stone and slate and glass and redwood--with contrived tiltings and flarings of its egret-white roof. it stood on the bay side of the north end of riley key, overlooking the florida gulf, partially screened from occasional slow traffic on the lumpy, sand-and-shell road that ran the seven-mile length of the key by a grove of ancient live oaks, so gnarled and twisted, so picturesquely hung with fright-wigs of spanish moss that mike rodenska, walking across to the gulf beach in the sunlight of an april sunday morning, had the pleasant fancy that the oaks had been designed by the same architext who had contributed the light and spaciousness and a certain indefinable self-consciousness to the jamison home. the architect had drawn the trees and subcontracted them to an artistic oak-gnarler.whew! do i want to continue? we'll let it pass...onward and upward. time place scene settings*florida...on the gulf of mexico side...riley key, south of tampa...which...i'm not sure is a "real" place. you do not always get a sense of a definitive place in macdonald stories, one that exists in the real world...although you do get a sense that the story takes place near 'real' places. like ravenna county...i do not believe there is a ravenna county in florida...could be...don't believe so.*naha bay (the world war 2)...had the sense this is a...more tropical place...and though maybe it is alaska in the real world...perhaps this too is a fictional place only.*1959*beach, pool, cabana settings...*past...settings from the war...bars, bays*horseshoe bay estates...this deal that troy is in...over his head...in danger of losing his arse*melford school in vermont...mike's two boys are in this school....providing him w/a break, something his dying wife, buttons, set up*new york...troy and his first wife spent time here in nyc...she is now in colorado*ravenna key, florida*purdy elmarr's 1200 acre ranch 35 miles from the key...on the myaka river*state road 982, state road 565, tamiami trail*a 4-business section that has been there...because of zoning...they have lost out on value...whitey's fish camp, shelder's cottages...wilbur's sundries & lunch, and red's b-29 bar*key club, south end of riley key...old place...been there forever...built by old money, now the residents' club...party place*gulfway, small town 5 miles to the south characters major minor peripheral*dexter troy & mary jamison: they have been married four years...this is mary's second marriage...they have children....mary is 42...troy is? they live on riley key south of tampa. mary's first husband died, seven years ago, 1952, when mary was 35...mary is troy's...2nd wife...and mary had been married to bernard dow.*mike rodenska: he is visiting w/the jamisons...he has known troy since the war...mike was a combat correspondent...his wife died from cancer...he has two sons in a school in vermont, his wife's doing...she knew he would need to get away after she passed...he inherited money*jack connorly: mister republican, in real estate, married* beth jordan: is on aluminum crutches, had been in bad accident the year prior...wrecked porsche*deborah ann jamison: mary jamison's daughter...troy is the step-father*rob raines: local lawyer, same general age as deborah ann, they practically grew up together*buttons: i think a deceased wife of mike rodenska...recent...which is why the jamisons invited him to riley key*doctors...one who treated buttons*hemningway...erroll flynn*children of mike...mike/seventeen, tommy/fifteen*durelda...a servant/maid/cook for the jamisons...i think*oscar brings her...another?*captain irely* colonel billy bryce*marg laybourne, a neighbor of the jamisons...charles is her husband's name* jamisons, laybournes, claytons, tomleys, carstairs, thatchers...names of the families on the key*jerranna rowley: a young woman who has influence over troy...had influence in new york and now again in florida...she is s'posed to be the personification of evil...or, that's how mike sees her*bonita "bunny": the first mrs. jamison...now mrs. robert parker linder...in colorado*purdy elmarr...rich guy, wheeler/dealer type...and he and several others have their eye on troy jamison's mistakes w/horseshoe bay estates and hope to swoop in and make more money from the carcass*j.c. arlenton...in partnership with purdy...corey haas.*corey haas...one of four in partnership...they will form a corporation...or rob raines will.* bahamian couple that manages the key club...gus, the manager...a staff of sixteen*shirley mcguire, a friend of debbie/deborah ann's* she is staying with the tennysons...martha tennyson is her aunt*a scrawny man with a rusty bruch-cut*brutish-looking young man*wide-bellied young man in gas-station khakis*cousin birdy...man that jerranna rowley is with...strength in numbers...and he is described...? ummm. large, big...strong...but not.*gosnell...makes a wicker martini*bart speeler...troy spent the night in the cabin of his chris...craft, i presume...but all we get is 'chris'...boat, regardless*couple named murner*alfred hitchcock...sugar ray...maudlin...hargrove...pyle*tomley kid...gave troy a ride in his beach buggy in the morning*a ten-man patrol with troy leading...japs...snipers...*troy's/bonita's first girl...1946, lycia*troy's/bonita's second girl...1948, cindy*george broman, 114 e. 43rd...nyc...troy's lawyer during the time he was in new york*wink haskell...another wheeler/dealer like elmarr, j.c., and corey haas*dillon & burkhardt...lawyers...*stan killian...a young upstart lawyer*charlie kail...is mary's father*joe wethered...old guy who had acreage...died...passted on to june alice wethered...passed on to young joe*ma shelder...owns the cottages*whitey and rose alice...own the fish camp...couple ancient trailers...kids in one trailer...rose and him in the other'n*red...or red's b-29 bar*marvin hessler...is an office-worker, co-worker of the horsehoe estates place...he keeps the place running when nobody else, troy...is around*king kong, floy patterson*hanstohm from tampa...specialist doctor*a nurse...parkins*leggy brown girls walked in their short shorts*o'hara...the writer*van cly or van clay*a sleepy-faced woman stared...her husband*an elderly couple in swimming clothes*sam scherman, regular family doctor for the jamisons*briggs & mildren thatcher...live there on the key*the man who had bossed the horseshoe job*a ten-man patrol*a spare old man in sagging shorts*lottie spranger...real estate woman*doctor pherson*the list is...ummm, say 95+% completeupdate...rolling right along, saturday eveningyeah, okay, so this troy guy is self-destructive...is trying to destroy himself, another marriage, again...in florida this time, the other time in new york and this mike guy comes to the rescue. or tries to come to the rescue. the more things change the more they stay the same, hey? troy was a marine in the war...led men. was asked to lead a 10-man patrol and he did do that...but what he should have done is gone out past line-of-sight, dug in, and returned in the morning...as it was, he went out and lost all save himself. and so it goes. reading this...you got the moneyed folk living the life...this that the other...reminds me a bit of the great gatsby. different war, hey? which just goes to say that the more things change the more they stay the same.there's this wheeling/dealin going on on the side....guys forming corporations to buy and sell from and to their other corporations...yum yum. update, finished, 21 dec 14, a couple minutes shy of noonfinished. good story. this one does not have the run-of-the-mill bad guy committing the run-of-the-mill bad crimes. this story has an abundance of everyday people committing everyday bad things to others among others and story's end is wrapped up with a bow. i suppose you could say this is traditional literature whatever that is...every-day happenings in an everyday world. married people badly handling their marriages...unmarried people badly handling being unmarried...but all is well and all manner of things are well by story's end. or until we turn the page on the calendar. slam the big door...yeah, you bet...and to say more is the dreaded spoiler...but, the title is explained after a fashion.good read.time passagespage 153...mike has a conversation with buttons, his deceased wife...goes on for a page or so...this happens after a time with shirley...he is walking back and the narration moves from 3rd as it had been for all...to 1st, eye-narrator mike...and then he dips into that conversation with buttons. dips back to 3rd to set it up...'he takes a chair off the cabana...something something' and moves into 1st. not overwhelming in the time-passages scheme of things...but it is nice to see macdonald make use of it...much like that one in the leonard story, karen, talking to her old man as she drives the car...her reflection in the windshield the catalyst. okee-dokee then...onward and upward.
The theme of this book written in 1960 is ethics. Ethics in business, in war, and in marriage. The author writes with a lyrical style, his descriptions are superb even in describing the lead up to and the resulting carnage of a head on collision, you are in awe of his reporting skills. However, I am horrified by his lack of understanding of women and his double standards for the participants in an extramarital affair. A 42 year old man has sex with the daughter of his second wife. His best friend is angry about this but puts the blame on the pretty step-daughter. The attitude of the man, his best friend and I assume, the author John D. MacDonald, is evident in the following quote: “You are Godless. A reincarnation of the same scented bitch that has appeared and reappeared in history. I thought they were evil women. Consciously evil. I didn’t know they were just empty. It’s kind of disappointing in a way. It takes the drama out of it. They weren’t overthrowing kings and princes and kingdoms out of malice after all. They were just satisfying a little clitoral itch, and when things started falling down they probably looked around and said, “Who, me?”The author John D. MacDonald is of a different era. If he were alive today he would be 99 years old. I read an ebook edition of Slam the Big Door but posted the original cover to illustrate how women were depicted by mystery and crime writers even as late as the 1960s.
Do You like book Slam The Big Door (1960)?
I'm going out of town, so I don't really have time to do a longer review (which this book deserves). STBD is one of MacDonald's stand alone novels (which some consider his best work). I recently scored a bunch of them at a used book store that I frequent. No one, with the possible exception of perhaps Kem Nunn, does beach noir like MacDonald (and Nunn is West Coast). I'm not even totally sure whether to call these efforts noir, since genre seems too restrictive for what MacDonald is trying to do. The setting is late 50s Florida Gulf coast, with 40 something widower and ex-newspaper man Mike Rodenska watching Mary Jamieson, the wife of an old Marine buddy, gracefully swimming. Mary, and her husband, Troy (a Florida builder), have invited Mike down from New York following the death of Mike's beloved wife, "Buttons." Mike, being ex-newsman observant, soon picks up on the fragility of the marriage. Troy is drinking too much and starting to disappear at odd times. His step daughter, newly divorced Debbie Ann, is bored and looking for conscious free fun, while Mary looks like she has a lot on her mind. Throw in lots of drinking, heat, shady real estate shenanigans, Troy's trashy old girlfriend showing up with her beat buddy "Birdy," and you've got a toxic situation going south quickly. One extra wrinkle that I enjoyed was Troy's seeming PTSD from WW 2. MacDonald's insightful (and compassionate) speculation on Troy's broken psychological condition, and the self-destructive cycle he's caught in, is impressive. MacDonald is not so compassionate when it comes to the likes of Troy's girlfriend, Jerranna, and her muscle bound pimp, Birdy, who are amoral, even evil, and representative of some sort of expanding national decay. Debbie Ann isn't much better. As some have pointed out, MacDonald can lay the judgmental stuff on pretty thick. But it didn't seem to bother me, since he supplies such an excellent sentence by sentence foundation. (This book, looking back now over 50 years, also works well as a revealing Mad Men like cultural time capsule.) I also liked how MacDonald revealed the Why of the title. Really cool and really dark. Highly recommended.
—Steve
