The Crooked Man

Rating:
Summary: Too off beat to compete.
Review: Early on in this intriguing but stylistically odd book, a British cabinet officer known only as "our man" stabs a woman to death. Harry Fielding witnesses this act and has the presence of mind to photograph it as it occurs. Harry is what is known as an understrapper. That's a colloquialism for a small time crook who supplements his income by hiring himself out to the British intelligence service.
The novel's narration is provided by Harry himself and consists largely of short,choppy sentences that betray no emotion. The storyline is both interesting and engaging for approximately the first half of the book. Then any semblance of narrative coherence all but disappears. A series of subplots are introduced and individually showcased in a way that makes the book excessively disjointed. A chapter in which Harry finds himself driving a truck in war torn Bosnia seems particularly out of place.
Davison's writing style is too clever for its own good because it keeps drawing attention to itself rather than the story it's supposed to tell.
Crooked Man gets a marginal 3 stars from me because the initial plot is a good one. But, overall, I would not recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: a little bit of everything
Review: Even before I read the reviews of the others the word delicious had come into my mind - not exactly the way I would normally describe a book but after seeing it described as "lean but tasty" I new I was in the same mind frame as some of the other reviewers. Every page offered something new, it was never boring- it was refreshing - not wordy, drawn out - and the characters were themselves - in other words no matter what bizzareness they were involved in they seemed real - I really liked it!!

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: I couldn't disagree more with any negative reviews. This was a marvelously crafted, cerebral thriller. Heartily recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Totally Lifeless
Review: I suppose this is one of those book you either love or hate, and while I tend to love dark and dreary stories, I sure didn't care for this one. Originally published in England some five years ago, this sparse semi-thriller is so flat one wonders why the publishers decided to revive it. The brief story tells of a freelance worker for MI5 (the British FBI), whose task it is to take incriminating photos, break into people's houses, wiretap people, and soforth'all outside the normal system, so that MI5 can never be implicated. Divorced and alienated from the world, he sleepwalks through life rather like the fellow in Camus' The Stranger, spending most of his time soaking in the tub or getting drunk. When this "understapper," Henry Fielding, witnesses a murder by a cabinet minister, he begins to question his purpose in life. This leads to some rather haphazard attempts to change his life, but he seems to be stuck within the dark government machine. Davison writes in short and sparse sentences designed to evoke a very empty and dark tone, however the result overwhelms the book and kills any interest in the actual story. It's a style that actually might work much better on film, and it just so happens a TV movie was produced for Irish TV that will apparently air in late 2003. Those who loved the book will be glad to know it continues in McKenzie's Friend and The Long Suit.

Rating:
Summary: A good yarn
Review: Interesting characters, sound plot. Made me want to see more of the protagonist...

Rating:
Summary: Lean but Tasty
Review: The Crooked Man is a good read. It's sparse, true, but some of us prefer our steak lean.

I originally was going to post a glowing review of (Davison's) The Crooked Man on this page but I started reading some of the negative reviews and I began to doubt myself. It's funny how somebody else's opinion can spin yours, especially if you find yourself in the minority.

But then I came to my wits and I want to say this- Yes, it is true that the story exercises lean prose, offers hints of a shady, violent world, and has a scumbag for a narrator but I ripped through the book in a little over 4 hours and was never bored.

Per the writing: It's not for everybody. A lot of "big idea" themes: murder, kidnapping, family are delivered in very understated ways. In fact, it sort of reminds me of Irvine Welsh's stuff (Trainspotting, Acid House) but without the wacky dialect and over the top heart-racing style. But the writing is solid and consistent to the character of Harry Fielding (the scumbag in question). Harry, exposed to violence for most of his life, doesn't react to it the way you might expect but, deep inside, he is moved by events and witnessing a bunch of murders does transform him.

In fact, I like Harry because he is a bit of a scumbag. A loser. He isn't the heroic type. He is a sub-operative for the government for God's sake so what kind of a hero could he be? His Universe (like the Universe of many people) is often empty and filled with the choice between greater or lesser evils. In Harry's case, even choosing the lesser evils (for example: choosing kidnapping and threatening instead of murder) can lead Harry to be harmed, maybe even killed. We watch Harry maneuver through a minefield of moral choices, sometimes numb and sometimes disgusted with himself. And yet, and this is the charm of the character, every once in a while he comes through for us, doing something heroic. Doubly heroic because he is not inclined to do such things.

A couple of other things I want to touch on:

The plot is terse and moves at a fair clip: murders, kidnappings, blackmail and violence keep suspense in the story and, in my mind, does not become redundant. Furthermore, we realize that anyone might die at any time, which makes things a more suspenseful.

Another thing I liked was the narrative voice. Harry is the type of person who say, if he was talking to you at a bar, would rarely appear to be emotional. But the author, Davison, performs the neat trick of having the narrative content of the story betray Harry's fairly flat delivery. For example: Harry may never sound angry, even while he's being tortured, but he does tend to empathize with angry people. It seems as though he has to channel emotions, good and bad, through others. Also, his actions betray his seemingly lackadaisical attitude. For example: after witnessing a cabinet minister stab his mistress in the heart, Harry (by training) moves in to protect the man and can't really bring himself to lecture the minister but he does slap him several times. Once again, the content betrays Harry's flat form.

I would recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Really 2.5, I rounded up. An okay read.
Review: The Crooked Man is about a man named Harry Fielding, who is an "understrapper" for a secret organization in the government of England. Harry Fielding is a spy, his boss tells him who to watch, and Harry does it. Usually these cases are just for legal or protective reasons, but one turns into a murder, and Fielding is trapped between his morals, and his job.

The Crooked Man may be, in some eyes, is a very wonderful book, in others a fairly average book. I am the latter. I actually enjoyed this book, but, in reality, it isn't that greatly written. The writer lives in Dublin, Ireland and the story is set mostly in England, so perhaps it could be just a different kind of writing, but I don't think so. This book uses long, drawn out, corny, melancholy thought descriptions, like many cheap detective novels, and this can sometimes become tedious to concentrate on. Other times there is so little description that you don't really get what, or why something is happening. Despite my many complaints I gave it 2.5 stars because it was a fun read, and I think I will read some of Philip Davison's other books, especially others featuring Harry Fielding, who was just introduced in this book, but will be a character in others.

Rating:
Summary: Really 2.5, I rounded up. An okay read.
Review: The Crooked Man is about a man named Harry Fielding, who is an "understrapper" for a secret organization in the government of England. Harry Fielding is a spy, his boss tells him who to watch, and Harry does it. Usually these cases are just for legal or protective reasons, but one turns into a murder, and Fielding is trapped between his morals, and his job.

The Crooked Man may be, in some eyes, is a very wonderful book, in others a fairly average book. I am the latter. I actually enjoyed this book, but, in reality, it isn't that greatly written. The writer lives in Dublin, Ireland and the story is set mostly in England, so perhaps it could be just a different kind of writing, but I don't think so. This book uses long, drawn out, corny, melancholy thought descriptions, like many cheap detective novels, and this can sometimes become tedious to concentrate on. Other times there is so little description that you don't really get what, or why something is happening. Despite my many complaints I gave it 2.5 stars because it was a fun read, and I think I will read some of Philip Davison's other books, especially others featuring Harry Fielding, who was just introduced in this book, but will be a character in others.

Rating:
Summary: Flat
Review: This book was very dull and uninteresting. A waste of time

Rating:
Summary: Yes, I really do think it's this good
Review: This novel is rather unlike anything I've ever read before. At best, I could compare it to Camus' The Stranger, as it shares the same dark, surreal quality of narrative. However, in The Crooked Man, the protagonist, Harry Fielding, does manage to make a hint of peace with his circumstances, but it's a hellish sojourn before he obtains even that much.

Fielding is employed by the M15 to do someone else's dirty work, which puts him outside of the law, more or less. Although Fielding manages to escape the legal consequences reserved for ordinary citizens, his deeds do not go unpunished. As he goes through his existence making choices according to a half-anesthetized morality, he begins to become aware that he, as an individual entity, is being eclipsed by the shady manipulations of his unscrupulous boss. That sense of powerlessness breeds in him desperation, and as he makes his slow and steady way toward damnation, he discovers that potential exits are really deceptions that lead him back to his previous course and there are no u-turns to go back and undo past deeds. He also finds a singular yet grim consolation in knowing that he is not alone in being punished far more than he deserves, and becomes a sympathetic witness to the desperation, fear and suffering of others, from incidental strangers to his neighbors, friends and family. In the end, Fielding manages to thwart fatal resignation and comes to terms with his situation, acknowledging wryly the twisted means of his survival in a world dominated by desperation, confusion and moral ambiguity.

Author Davison's pithy and direct writing style is effective in evoking the sense of desperation and confusion felt and witnessed by the narrator. It's also a notable accomplishment by the author to have been able to capture the protagonist's disorientation so effectively while making the novel so readable. Additionally, Davison has a much more profound understanding of irony then many of his contemporaries, which affords some of the novel's most quotable bits. He does an equally commendable job in creating sympathetic, believable, even haunting characters, including smaller, marginal ones such as the drunk carrying the bag of coal. These characters are disturbingly memorable, as they become as etched into the reader's mind as in the protagonist's. Overall, this is an excellent, recommendable book, providing a poignant and unforgettable narrative of a very flawed and very human individual making his 'crooked' way in a very grey world.