“Djibouti” (2010) by Elmore Leonard

On Thursday 26th May 2016 we were found waxing lyrical about Keith’s criminal choices...

BOOK: “Djibouti” (2010) by Elmore Leonard

Keith was after fun.  F.U.N.  A middle eastern western if you will.  A bit of prime time Leonard.  Aside from a moan about the missing words - lots of missing words - he was satisfied.  Fun was what he wanted and fun was what he got.

Hamish was less enthralled.  All of us were Leonard first timers and, like Hamish, we all found it a confusing book with an off putting style.  

Nigel was excited about reading Elmore Leonard because he likes crime writing and the best of the genre (e.g. Chandler, Mankel, Rankin). Nigel was expecting to be in LA and not in the northeastern corner of Africa mixed up in a shaggy dog story about Somali pirates and Al Qaeda. Unlikely characters abound in this book.  Open this book at almost any page and you will encounter nonsensical, faux hard boiled exchanges. Nigel could only conclude this latter day Leonard must be an enormous big old anomaly.  

Robin was angry.  This book had made him angry.  Had Elmore got dementia? 

Tristan railed against the missing words.  Utterly ridiculous.  Only a dose of Robert B Parker will exorcise the memories of this book.

Nick had read Rum Punch and Get Shorty and enjoyed them both. The attention to the sleazy underbelly is excellent, the characters are well drawn and the powerful figure of Jackie Brown is the template for Tarantino’s greatest movie.  In Djibouti Elmore gets it all wrong - it is a book phoned in. The characters are hackneyed - the Al Qaeda fighters and Somalian pirates are one dimensional, the female characters are sexist (even though he seems to try and paint them as the opposite), the horny, older black man, the Texan cowboy. Jesus, where do I stop…please make it stop  And . . nobody, ever "ran” with the Sloane Rangers.  Very occasionally you get glimpses of the clipped dialogue that made the other books so engaging, but that’s when he stays on the ground he is more in tune with. 

Keith 7/10
Tristan 3/10

Hamish 4/10

Nigel 2/10

Nick 2/10

Robin 1/10

MUSIC: Keith H presents “A Criminal Playlist” 

Everyone found something to enjoy in Keith's criminal playlist.  Fun Lovin' Criminals (Nigel, Tristan, Nick), Dutch Criminal Record (Robin), Junior Smalls and the Criminals (Hamish), and Criminal Hygiene (Keith).

FILM: “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” (2005) directed by Shane Black

“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” was everything that we had hoped the book would be.  Sassy, urban, cool, with great characters.  It really was great fun, whilst the plot bears very little scrutiny, the dialogue is great and the characters are brilliant.  

We loved the “Gay Perry” character and, weirdly, it was his bromance with the always watchable Robert Downey Jr. that made the film.  The “real” romance with his childhood sweetheart paled into insignificance in comparison.  

Our only criticism is that lack of thrills.  It’s played so much for laughs that there is zilcho dramatic tension but as a witty, postmodern comedy it’s blimmin great.

ENDORSE IT:

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