A Novel

I bought another $2 book at Half Price Books this afternoon, translated a little awkwardly from French, perhaps justifiably so, and titled "A Novel Bookstore". "A hymn to fine literature" says a quote from Le Figaro magazine printed smack in the middle of the soft cover.  Irresistible on the throw away shelf.

Then, reading the blurbs on the back cover I discovered that the author Laurence Cosse is female, and it occurred to me that had I known it in the bookstore, I might have thought twice about buying the book. Why, I'm not sure, I just might have. I like Agatha Christie and Patricia Highsmith.  Perhaps I don't trust post-modern female writers. Perhaps.

Just this morning a friend sent me an e-mail notifying me about some literary prize (I had beat him to it, actually, and ordered the winning tome last night.) And he added that this is probably not good, because selected by the "salon" and undoubtedly politically correct.

The Kenzaburō Ōe Prize, is a Japanese literary award  whose the winner is selected by Kenzaburō Ōe the only judge.

The Interrogation

My second Thomas H. Cook novel.  NO literary references, none at all.  It is a straight police procedural, if i understand the term correctly.  Over 10 years old, mass market paperback that I overpaid for, even though it was a used copy. Yes, Mr Cook says that he writes crime fiction to say other things. And here in this novel  despite it not being as "literary" as my introduction to his book he does, I think.

Spoiler Alert!

There are several dead bodies at the end of the story. Each takes some part of the plot's mystery with him to the grave, the only part he knows, so that no one, dead or alive knows it all, no one including the reader, and even the author. Nevertheless, a police detective continues the investigation and finds something else before the conclusion, something not yet revealed to him.

Full truth cannot be known? Something like it, something like it.