Derek Raymond (1931–1994)

Great, gritty street driven noir from UK in the 80s(?). Narrator is fascinated by a murdered man who left cassette tapes with his dark observations about the world and his life. He (murdered man) was generous, thoughtful, deep and drawn to dark things. We see his life collapsing (through the tapes) and detective plumbs through his low life haunts - bars, dirty jobs, filthy apartment, etc. and ultimately it all comes together. He was "ruined" if you want to call it that by a cruel femme fatale - Babsy/Barbara - who treats him awfully/insultingly - bringing men home to their dive, etc.. He almost seems to enjoy the base humiliation / cuckolding. Detective (of course) has to meet and fall for the same femme fatale, so we (audience) can experience her dubious charms ourselves. Yes, it is indulgent and self serving (how deep these men are- how heartless these women (!)) but that is (partly) what art is for, right? self justification. Anyhow maybe 5 starts is too much but I will carry on for sure with this Factory series.… (more)

Crust on Its Uppers (A Five Star Title) Well, this was interesting, hailed as his forgotten first novel it certainly deserves to be remembered and read.If I described it the tone of the novel as "Oh I say, that is simply frightfully terrible old chap" meets "Orl right then geezer" or the drift as The Saint meets Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels you may get some idea.Upper Class dropouts on a crime spree, cudgels and cocktails, drugs and evening dress, aristocracy and arseholes.Once you get the drift it is actually quite enjoyable.
 
Written in the patois of the times which consists of rhyming slang and old expressions not heard these days. I think the first 2 pages in the book act as a glossary for the slang. Still there were some expressions that I could not get a handle on right up to the end. Like "loyal", used endlessly but in so many contexts that I still couldn't get the sense of it. Probably like someone in the distant future reading "pants" or "sick".The background is London in 1962, so already the "Swinging London" had started to emerge and it was this class that began the swinging, not the working class who were still shovelling coal in cellars while muttering "Bah Goom".A Good Read (in capitals) so go and good read it.… (more)

How the Dead Live (Factory 3) Having read I Was Dora Suarez, I wanted to read a bit more featuring the unnamed detective. This had the same gritty, gory fabric of that book with a different story over the top.Interesting to read a modern novel with no mobile phones and when the word computer is used you can almost taste the newness of it. A good look at life in England circa 1986.The detective is once again nameless but more of his past is revealed and a deep dark story it is. In fact at times his own past and the current story kinda merge in terms of flow, though not in detail. It is like reading one book with another running underneath.
 
Fascinating.I've read other reviews of this series (there are 5) which describe his writing and variable. Given that he was creating a new genre I think I can understand that. I also think his writing was lead by the detective whose life was indeed variable.These were real books, not Kindle books. I bought them from The Book Depository for mere pennies with free delivery. The thing was though, the books looked and felt new but smelled like they had been kept in a cupboard in a village hall since 1986.… (more)