Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Kbh. : Aschehoug, 2006.
Description
On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia-and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history. Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard. Both are obsessed with the Dahlia-driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death. Their quest will take them on a hellish journey through the underbelly of postwar Hollywood, to the core of the dead girl's twisted life, past the extremes of their own psyches-into a region of total madness.
User reviews
LibraryThing member ursula
This book should have been a sure thing for me. I like crime fiction. I like true crime stories. I like noir and hard-boiled fiction. I loved LA Confidential, the movie. And yet - somehow I ended up absolutely hating this book.
Ellroy fictionally solves the Black Dahlia murder, and the story centers
And there's the Dahlia, and Bucky's obsession with her. Here's the thing this book made me think about most: obsession is boring. He stares at pictures of her, he imagines her life, he wishes other women were her, he pores over minute details repetitively. If you think that sounds exciting in a sentence, imagine it for 300 pages. Ellroy piles twist upon twist, confession upon confession, until you just hope that this one will be the real deal because you're tired of reading multiple-page mustache-twirling admissions of false guilt.
In addition, I feel like Ellroy also overdid the period slang. I understand the way cops of the time were likely to talk, but seriously, calling San Diego "San Dago" once in a while would have sufficed, rather than every single time the city was mentioned. You know how there are those people who latch onto a term and use it to the exclusion of any actual word or place name because they think it's just the end-all in cleverness? Yeah, that guy wrote this book. I rarely roll my eyes at a book, but I did here. I read it to the end, but I feel like I need an "I survived The Black Dahlia" t-shirt.
One (small) pleasure: there was a cameo by Buzz Meeks, who later figures into the story of LA Confidential.
Recommended for: that guy.
Quote: "Looking up at Fritzie, he reminded me of a dog who loves his cruel master because it's the only one he's got."
Ellroy fictionally solves the Black Dahlia murder, and the story centers
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around a couple of LAPD cops, Bucky Bleichert and his partner Lee Blanchard. They're both former boxers with not-particularly-distinguished careers, so we're set up for the "they can't stand each other, they know each other instinctively, they grow to understand and appreciate each other, they realize they didn't know each other as well as they thought" sort of storyline. Also, there's a woman that they're both involved with on some level, Kay. She is mostly unimportant except as an object and occasionally as the wise understander of the bigger picture. And I get stereotypes, and noir and hard-boiled and I know that the women generally aren't that important, but let's just say there's an awful lot of ink spilled on Kay for someone who really has nothing to do.And there's the Dahlia, and Bucky's obsession with her. Here's the thing this book made me think about most: obsession is boring. He stares at pictures of her, he imagines her life, he wishes other women were her, he pores over minute details repetitively. If you think that sounds exciting in a sentence, imagine it for 300 pages. Ellroy piles twist upon twist, confession upon confession, until you just hope that this one will be the real deal because you're tired of reading multiple-page mustache-twirling admissions of false guilt.
In addition, I feel like Ellroy also overdid the period slang. I understand the way cops of the time were likely to talk, but seriously, calling San Diego "San Dago" once in a while would have sufficed, rather than every single time the city was mentioned. You know how there are those people who latch onto a term and use it to the exclusion of any actual word or place name because they think it's just the end-all in cleverness? Yeah, that guy wrote this book. I rarely roll my eyes at a book, but I did here. I read it to the end, but I feel like I need an "I survived The Black Dahlia" t-shirt.
One (small) pleasure: there was a cameo by Buzz Meeks, who later figures into the story of LA Confidential.
Recommended for: that guy.
Quote: "Looking up at Fritzie, he reminded me of a dog who loves his cruel master because it's the only one he's got."
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LibraryThing member whirled
I don't mind a flawed hero or heroine, in fact, they often help draw me into the story being told. But The Black Dahlia's 'hero', damaged LA cop Bucky Bleichert is not just flawed, he's a violent, doped-up misogynist with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. And who cares what happens to someone like
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that? A disappointing and rather vile read. Show Less
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
The Black Dahila by James Ellroy is based on the famous unsolved 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short in Los Angeles. The author blends fact and fiction seamlessly mixing real people and invented characters to paint a very vivid picture of LA and it’s police force. The two detectives that he uses as
As the author’s own mother was brutally murdered in Los Angeles and the perpetrator was never discovered, I am sure this was a very personal story for him. His writing is so meticulous and intricate that I felt he must have mapped the storyline out in great detail well in advance to putting anything down on paper. I listened to an audio version and found myself deeply drawn into the story so that an hour or more would go by without me realizing it. The grisly murder was almost backdrop to the story as what was stressed by the author was the effect the case had on the characters.
The Black Dahlia is considered the first book in his LA Quartet, a series of crime stories set in Los Angeles during the 1940s and 50s. One thing that remains true to each book is the sense of political corruption and vice that ran rampant through the city at that time. The author builds his story carefully on greed, addiction, lust and violence to create a complicated but highly readable story of postwar LA.
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his main characters are ex-boxers who each joined the force for their own reasons. The story is narrated by one, Dwight “Bucky” Bleichert, but the cocky, confident Lee Blanchard seems to be the one directing most of the action. One point that the reader should be clear on is that in real life The Black Dahlia case was never solved but in this book a murderer is identified.As the author’s own mother was brutally murdered in Los Angeles and the perpetrator was never discovered, I am sure this was a very personal story for him. His writing is so meticulous and intricate that I felt he must have mapped the storyline out in great detail well in advance to putting anything down on paper. I listened to an audio version and found myself deeply drawn into the story so that an hour or more would go by without me realizing it. The grisly murder was almost backdrop to the story as what was stressed by the author was the effect the case had on the characters.
The Black Dahlia is considered the first book in his LA Quartet, a series of crime stories set in Los Angeles during the 1940s and 50s. One thing that remains true to each book is the sense of political corruption and vice that ran rampant through the city at that time. The author builds his story carefully on greed, addiction, lust and violence to create a complicated but highly readable story of postwar LA.
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LibraryThing member itchyfeetreader
it feels almost unfair to rate this as a three as it was an excellently twisting mystery written with great characters and a real sense of both time and place. However for me the lack of insight into why the main characters did what they did, and the reversal of character development as the story
Plot in a Nutshell
A fictionalisation of the Black Dahlia case from 1947. In this telling the protagonists, 2 police officers Blanchard and Bleichert are partnered up in unusual circumstances and quickly find themselves seconded into the case. What follows is as much a psychological story about the two men as it is a mystery to solve the case
Thoughts
Whilst the novel started a little slowly – lots of the early part of the book were the set up to the beginning of the partnership between the two men, much of which was based on boxing (a sport I no little, and care even less, about). Boxing aside I appreciated the set up which gave the reader so many details about our main characters and the culture of LAPD at the time. I enjoyed the fact that both were portrayed ‘warts and all’ and that Bleichert as the narrator seemed so honest about himself and his failings.
However this character development seemed to halt almost as soon as the Dahlia case is introduced. Both immediately begin to obsess over not just resolution of the case but over the victim herself. Policemen looking to solve a crime I can buy, an unsolved crime eating away at the police officers trying to solve it I can buy but the jump from which both went from basic investigation to flat out fixated was something I struggled with.
I had never heard of the Black Dahlia case before reading the book and I had not known that there was an element of historical fiction when buying but once I realised it increased my discomfort factor significantly particularly in the way in which the victim was both portrayed and described in death.
Language was another slight issue for me – the historical detail and Emerson in the LAPD of the 40s was exceptional. It did however mean lots of slang and decidedly negative language about women. It styled well but was not always comfortable reading.
The murder and efforts to unpick and solve was very strong and kept twisting until the very end – at times sub plots and stories were distracting but certainly kept me on my toes
I’ll definitely read another Ellroy but not quite sure this was the one for me.
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progressed undermined what was good about this one for mePlot in a Nutshell
A fictionalisation of the Black Dahlia case from 1947. In this telling the protagonists, 2 police officers Blanchard and Bleichert are partnered up in unusual circumstances and quickly find themselves seconded into the case. What follows is as much a psychological story about the two men as it is a mystery to solve the case
Thoughts
Whilst the novel started a little slowly – lots of the early part of the book were the set up to the beginning of the partnership between the two men, much of which was based on boxing (a sport I no little, and care even less, about). Boxing aside I appreciated the set up which gave the reader so many details about our main characters and the culture of LAPD at the time. I enjoyed the fact that both were portrayed ‘warts and all’ and that Bleichert as the narrator seemed so honest about himself and his failings.
However this character development seemed to halt almost as soon as the Dahlia case is introduced. Both immediately begin to obsess over not just resolution of the case but over the victim herself. Policemen looking to solve a crime I can buy, an unsolved crime eating away at the police officers trying to solve it I can buy but the jump from which both went from basic investigation to flat out fixated was something I struggled with.
I had never heard of the Black Dahlia case before reading the book and I had not known that there was an element of historical fiction when buying but once I realised it increased my discomfort factor significantly particularly in the way in which the victim was both portrayed and described in death.
Language was another slight issue for me – the historical detail and Emerson in the LAPD of the 40s was exceptional. It did however mean lots of slang and decidedly negative language about women. It styled well but was not always comfortable reading.
The murder and efforts to unpick and solve was very strong and kept twisting until the very end – at times sub plots and stories were distracting but certainly kept me on my toes
I’ll definitely read another Ellroy but not quite sure this was the one for me.
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LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
There's a lot in "The Black Dahlia" that feels pretty familiar. It's set, like many film noir favorites, in a gritty, rapidly expanding postwar Los Angeles. It describes a man's world filled with cop talk, boxing matches and lots of dangerous, highly sexed dames. And, of course, it's based on the
In his autobiography, "My Dark Places," Ellroy describes spending much of his turbulent adolescence obsessed with the Black Dahlia murder. It shows; Ellroy's in high gear from the first page to the last and this is, in a sense, one of the book's problems. To say that this novel isn't for the faint of heart is an understatement; there's stuff here that'll make hardened gore fans shudder and as the sex, death and gore piles up on the page, one begins to wonder if "The Black Dahlia" is a novel or a personal exorcism of sorts. In a sense, I can see the appeal of including the grisly details that many detective writers who actually worked in the fifties would not have been allowed to publish. At the same time, the last few pages of the novel contain scenes so gross they're nearly cartoonish in their depravity. Likewise, Ellroy's plot is well-constructed, but it's possible that it takes one twist too many to seem entirely well, authentic. I'm tempted to say that as the novel ends, Ellroy overplays his hand; did his characters have to sink that far, and did he have to describe it in so much detail? Well, maybe Ellroy's willingness to take this extra step suggests that he might be a genre writer after all. At any rate, "The Black Dahlia" is a compelling story, a masterful exercise in style and, at times, a darn good book besides.
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already-famous murder of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short. While the novel abides by some of the rules of the detective genre, Ellroy also managed to surprise me a few times. The central protagonists of his story, Bud Blanchard and Bucky Bleichert, are, in a sense, straight from central casting: they're tough-guy cops who boxed in their youth and aren't afraid to swear, drink, or use excessive force when the situation demands it. Still, they're not one-dimensional heroes or thugs; Ellroy isn't shy about discussing their troubled backgrounds or revealing their inner torment. The woman they both fall for, Kay Lake, is a classic charmer, but she's not just window dressing for a tacked-on love story. She's read more books than Bud and Bucky combined, and she's sensitive to the role she plays in both their lives. Likewise, while the book throws in a few stock characters, but they're part of a larger, nuanced picture of the class and race dynamics of mid-century L.A. Ellroy's prose will also strike a chord in anyone who's watched a few cop dramas, but it's so pitch-perfect, emotionally charged, and riotously profane that it often seems bracingly fresh. Ellroy seems to be trying his hardest to pull the curtain on a lot of cop movie conventions. This isn't to say that this novel isn't, in some sense, highly stylized, but merely that Ellroy often manages to balance the book's more obviously lurid elements with real writerly depth. In a word, the book feels authentic, and that's a sort of success in itself. It's also, at times, fun, sexy, vulgar, and even genuinely touching. Oh, and highly readable: "The Black Dahlia" is surprisingly consistent. It's fast-paced without seeming rushed, and richly detailed without seeming cluttered. I don't know if Ellroy's a great Ameican writer, but I'm willing to bet that he's a natural at what he does. In his autobiography, "My Dark Places," Ellroy describes spending much of his turbulent adolescence obsessed with the Black Dahlia murder. It shows; Ellroy's in high gear from the first page to the last and this is, in a sense, one of the book's problems. To say that this novel isn't for the faint of heart is an understatement; there's stuff here that'll make hardened gore fans shudder and as the sex, death and gore piles up on the page, one begins to wonder if "The Black Dahlia" is a novel or a personal exorcism of sorts. In a sense, I can see the appeal of including the grisly details that many detective writers who actually worked in the fifties would not have been allowed to publish. At the same time, the last few pages of the novel contain scenes so gross they're nearly cartoonish in their depravity. Likewise, Ellroy's plot is well-constructed, but it's possible that it takes one twist too many to seem entirely well, authentic. I'm tempted to say that as the novel ends, Ellroy overplays his hand; did his characters have to sink that far, and did he have to describe it in so much detail? Well, maybe Ellroy's willingness to take this extra step suggests that he might be a genre writer after all. At any rate, "The Black Dahlia" is a compelling story, a masterful exercise in style and, at times, a darn good book besides.
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LibraryThing member robertdatson
A story about a true event - the unsolved gruesome killing of Betty Short in 1947. It's written from the perspective of a policeman accidentally caught up in the case, and then revolves around his part in the investigation, along with his partner. Police life is described in uncomfortable detail,
I struggled with the numbers of characters and their various roles, and combined with a language style not easily accessible, I regularly lost track of the proceedings. I'm not too sure why this makes the 1001 book list - the language and style lacked originality; the storyline was confusing; and even when you hoped that the plot was unravelled, Ellroy found another twist to add to the complexity.
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with street bashings and shootings, corruption, etc. The language evokes the movie like depictions of life in the mid 20th century - hard boiled crime fiction.I struggled with the numbers of characters and their various roles, and combined with a language style not easily accessible, I regularly lost track of the proceedings. I'm not too sure why this makes the 1001 book list - the language and style lacked originality; the storyline was confusing; and even when you hoped that the plot was unravelled, Ellroy found another twist to add to the complexity.
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LibraryThing member mojacobs
Could not finish this - perhaps I've read too many hard-boiled American cop stories. The psychology felt all wrong to me, very contrived, the writing just stumbling along. Perhaps I tried this at the wrong time. Anyway, I gave up after 100 pages and think probably Ellroy is not for me.
We are a year
We are a year
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later now, and 've tried again: read 200 pages and then gave up. I am a crime book and mystery lover normally, so it's rather unusual for me to really not want to finish this. I dislike the main characters Bucky Bleichert and his partner Lee Blanchard intensely. I find the writing very contrived, I can feel the writer going for hard-boiled, film noir, etc. and it does not come naturally at all, ... no, I really will not finish this. I've seen raving Amazon reviews, calling this a work of genius, great American art, ... sorry, not for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member JollyContrarian
If, as a non-initiate, you stop and try to understand it, James Ellroy's writing style will have you completely bamboozled. The way to approach it is to barrel through it at a hundred miles an hour - that's the pace it was intended to be read at - and eventually everything will start making sense
Once you get the hang of the Ellroy idiom it's quite addictive and you even start talking like that yourself a bit. Which is embarrassing.
As with all Ellroy novels I've read, in Black Dahlia the streets are mean, the characters morally bankrupt, and the plot so byzantine as to implicate every one from the chief of police to some Mexican pornographers. This is very much Ellroy's world view: fundamentally we are all ugly, and the worst of us are the ones who pretend we're not. It's very Thomas Hobbes, actually.
The plot scenario is very similar to L.A. Confidential - two cops with a strange interpersonal relationship and a common squeeze on the hunt for the perpetrator of a dastardly crime. But while the crime is much more brutal, the book itself is not so dark. Sure it isn't Ogden Nash, but it (and especially the Ellroy Lingo) frequently had me sniggering as I read. Maybe I'm just desensitised to Ellroy's morbid style.
I think the danger with Ellroy is to read too much into it; the patios is so convincing it is easy to mistake this for something deeper than it is: like Quentin Tarantino, Ellroy is the first to admit his art really is pulp fiction, despite what the critical luvvies say.
But look, bottom line, it's a cracking read, and that's all you really need to know.
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by itself. Even if it doesn't there is still something exhilarating about the way James Ellroy writes: it's a guilty pleasure, and Black Dahlia features some of his best writing. If after a while you really find yourself struggling, just google on "Ellroy Glossary" and you'll pick up any number of fanzine crib sheets.Once you get the hang of the Ellroy idiom it's quite addictive and you even start talking like that yourself a bit. Which is embarrassing.
As with all Ellroy novels I've read, in Black Dahlia the streets are mean, the characters morally bankrupt, and the plot so byzantine as to implicate every one from the chief of police to some Mexican pornographers. This is very much Ellroy's world view: fundamentally we are all ugly, and the worst of us are the ones who pretend we're not. It's very Thomas Hobbes, actually.
The plot scenario is very similar to L.A. Confidential - two cops with a strange interpersonal relationship and a common squeeze on the hunt for the perpetrator of a dastardly crime. But while the crime is much more brutal, the book itself is not so dark. Sure it isn't Ogden Nash, but it (and especially the Ellroy Lingo) frequently had me sniggering as I read. Maybe I'm just desensitised to Ellroy's morbid style.
I think the danger with Ellroy is to read too much into it; the patios is so convincing it is easy to mistake this for something deeper than it is: like Quentin Tarantino, Ellroy is the first to admit his art really is pulp fiction, despite what the critical luvvies say.
But look, bottom line, it's a cracking read, and that's all you really need to know.
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LibraryThing member Kiri
Distinctly dark, pessimistic, misogynistic, highly clichéd, and grinding Noir. Ellory wrote a fine novel with L.A. Confidential and I suppose fans of the genre will find this a well qualified addition to the hard-biting grit-filled novels of the L.A. Quartet. I however found this lacking in the
It does live up to its description as a highly fictionalized account of the as yet unsolved Black Dahlia case, dancing around the facts and presenting only the most sensational tabloid possibilities of Ms Short's real life and maligning her in the process, presenting its own solution, and creating characters and scenarios that continue on like Hollywood gone mad. It also, rather unpleasantly, reveals the authors negative fixation with women and his own mother (something that is actually addressed in the afterword - which I did not discover until I read it at the end and was surprised he acknowledged.) While I am glad he's worked some of these issues out - seeing these addressed in such a manner -- even in print -- is disturbing to say the least.
This has been named as part of the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die. I do not agree with that assessment, but I did not create the list nor the criteria it is based upon. As you can tell I don't have a problem disagreeing with that list either! =D
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redeeming facets that encase the Noir genre.It does live up to its description as a highly fictionalized account of the as yet unsolved Black Dahlia case, dancing around the facts and presenting only the most sensational tabloid possibilities of Ms Short's real life and maligning her in the process, presenting its own solution, and creating characters and scenarios that continue on like Hollywood gone mad. It also, rather unpleasantly, reveals the authors negative fixation with women and his own mother (something that is actually addressed in the afterword - which I did not discover until I read it at the end and was surprised he acknowledged.) While I am glad he's worked some of these issues out - seeing these addressed in such a manner -- even in print -- is disturbing to say the least.
This has been named as part of the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die. I do not agree with that assessment, but I did not create the list nor the criteria it is based upon. As you can tell I don't have a problem disagreeing with that list either! =D
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LibraryThing member FicusFan
I am not sure if I had read this back in the 80s when it first came out. I was interested because I thought I would see the movie. Turns out the movie was no better than the book, and has faded from the theatres.
The actual murder, and the victim are minor points in this book. The author has some
He is more interested in the setting (LA), the times (just after the war) and the police officers and their lives, than the murder or the victim. Unfortunately, I could have cared less.
Because it is set so long ago there is a lot of nasty stuff about race, ethnicity, religion, and women. Normally I don't judge works set in the past with modern mores, but since the book wasn't good, the nasty stuff really rankled.
Finally his mother was murdered when he was a kid, and he dumped a lot of personal stuff in the book. He uses the author's note at the end to go on about him, and his murdered mother. Very little about the Black Dahlia. In this type of book I like to know what was real, what was changed, added or deleted. Also how he came up with his theory and how likely it is accurate. No such luck, its all about him. What a wallow.
The actual murder, and the victim are minor points in this book. The author has some
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kind of series of books set in the past (1940s) and this is just one of them. He uses the Black Dahlia, but not to tell her story, more for his own purposes. He is more interested in the setting (LA), the times (just after the war) and the police officers and their lives, than the murder or the victim. Unfortunately, I could have cared less.
Because it is set so long ago there is a lot of nasty stuff about race, ethnicity, religion, and women. Normally I don't judge works set in the past with modern mores, but since the book wasn't good, the nasty stuff really rankled.
Finally his mother was murdered when he was a kid, and he dumped a lot of personal stuff in the book. He uses the author's note at the end to go on about him, and his murdered mother. Very little about the Black Dahlia. In this type of book I like to know what was real, what was changed, added or deleted. Also how he came up with his theory and how likely it is accurate. No such luck, its all about him. What a wallow.
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LibraryThing member Katie_H
This noir fiction novel is based on the real-life notorious and still unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short. Widely known as "The Black Dahlia" following the killing, Elizabeth was found in a vacant lot in Hollywood, cut in half, tortured, disembowled, and with a grisly smile sliced on her face. I had
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seen the movie (which I thought was terrible), but decided to read the book, since the case is so fascinating, and I'm always up for a good mystery. It took awhile for me to get used to Ellroy's narration style of 1940's cop slang and procedure, but once I got going, I couldn't put the book down. This was MUCH better than the movie! It was wonderfully dark and corrupt, had good character development, and contained several plot surprises. I also really enjoyed reading about familiar locations in San Diego, LA, Orange County, and Tijuana. I'd recommend this to any crime, mystery, and suspense lovers. Show Less
LibraryThing member BruderBane
The unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, cold now for close to 61 years, is portrayed in a antithetical and eerie noirish light by James Ellroy in his novel “The Black Dahlia.” Mr. Ellroy plays with both the reader’s emotions and sleuthing abilities by hurling hooked shots and body blows in
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rapid succession. He throws so many motives, clues, and apt character nuances at you that one feels like they’ve gone fifteen rounds with both Bleichert and Blanchard. And while some may find this confounding, I found his style titillating. Mr. Elroy looks like an author I missed out on, until now. And I plan to make up for this faux pas in the very near future. Show Less
LibraryThing member DanielSTJ
The beginning of the L.A Quartet was full of twists and turns, especially in the middle of the book. The first part was great too, for revealing characters and the overall setting of L.A and what it brought forth in its time. However, for the last 1/3 of the book, it dragged a little and fell off
3.5 stars- earned.
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course. Nevertheless, it was a wild journey and I look forward to continuing the series.3.5 stars- earned.
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LibraryThing member jguidry
Weird. That about sums this book up. The plot revolves around Ellroy's interpretation of the infamous Black Dahlia murder, but the book is really about one man's descent into madness. Ellroy gives an excellent description of Bucky's" mindset as Elizabeth Short slowly takes over his life. Each time
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you think the murderer has been revealed, nope, that was just a victim of police corruption and move on to the next suspect. The murder description and resolution was interesting, but Ellroy's best writing revolved around the character's descent and reascent (sort of). The writing was good, but weird." Show Less
LibraryThing member TheLostEntwife
I have to admit to being a little torn upon seeing The Black Dahlia chosen for our read-along in January. I remember trying to watch the movie, but unable to do so due to my incredibly sensitive stomach and lack of desire to see anything gruesome, ever.
Surely a book would be better? Well - let me
You see, The Black Dahlia mystery wasn't romantic. There was nothing about it whatsoever that should have been dramatized in a way to make anyone feel good about hearing about it. But that doesn't necessarily mean it shouldn't be written about - because it should. It does us good to read stories that remind us the world isn't a pretty place as seen through rose-tinted glasses.
That said, I won't deny that there were parts of this story that completely unnerved me. If I hadn't been doing the read-along, I don't think I could have pushed through a few sections, and honestly, I'm glad I did because the ending made some of it worth it (not all.. there was language that really got to me).
I can see why this book made the 1001 Books list - it's an interesting work and one that really does a fantastic job of telling the story of Elizabeth Short, as much as we know about her. Just prepare yourself if you have an overactive imagination like I do.
Surely a book would be better? Well - let me
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put it this way: Ellroy packs a punch with his writing. He's offensive and fascinating at both the same time. He doesn't care about any sensitivities his readers might have, but instead drags you down into a gruesome, gritty, HARD, Los Angeles reality - the 1940's harsh reality. There's no heroic portraits of good looking cops here, there's no innocent women here, there's nothing redeeming whatsoever about this story which makes it a very harsh, very effective story.You see, The Black Dahlia mystery wasn't romantic. There was nothing about it whatsoever that should have been dramatized in a way to make anyone feel good about hearing about it. But that doesn't necessarily mean it shouldn't be written about - because it should. It does us good to read stories that remind us the world isn't a pretty place as seen through rose-tinted glasses.
That said, I won't deny that there were parts of this story that completely unnerved me. If I hadn't been doing the read-along, I don't think I could have pushed through a few sections, and honestly, I'm glad I did because the ending made some of it worth it (not all.. there was language that really got to me).
I can see why this book made the 1001 Books list - it's an interesting work and one that really does a fantastic job of telling the story of Elizabeth Short, as much as we know about her. Just prepare yourself if you have an overactive imagination like I do.
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LibraryThing member isabelx
It was tenuous, circumstantial, and theoretical, probably just another lie or half-truth or thread of useless information. A loose end unraveled by a coming-from-hunger cop whose life was build on a foundation of lies. Which was the only good reason I could think of to pursue the ghost of a chance.
There are obsession, jealousy and murder, crooked policemen, mysterious disappearances and love triangles, plus some very damaged people in this story based around a famous murder in Los Angeles in 1947.
As I have zero interest in boxing, the initial chapters about the boxing match between two policemen who happen to be ex-professional boxers held no interest whatsoever. However, once Bleichert was promoted to become Blanchard's partner in Central Warrants, the story really started moving, and it wasn't long before they were seconded to work on the high profile Black Dahlia murder case.
With a hundred pages left to read, I was quite enjoying it but not enthralled, but everything is wrapped up very satisfyingly by the end.
Slang words that I had to look up on Google:
Bunco - a swindle, fraud or confidence trick, but in this case it is the police department that investigates them
cooze - c*** / promiscuous woman
goose eggs - nothing / zero
grasshopper - drug user *
sawbuck - 10 dollar bill
lowballing - offering less than the true value for something
shine - black man
twist - girl
And one I did know, but only from watching a recent episode of "My Name is Earl":
shiv - a weapon made by a prisoner from whatever he can get his hands on.
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Without the case, I had nothing. There are obsession, jealousy and murder, crooked policemen, mysterious disappearances and love triangles, plus some very damaged people in this story based around a famous murder in Los Angeles in 1947.
As I have zero interest in boxing, the initial chapters about the boxing match between two policemen who happen to be ex-professional boxers held no interest whatsoever. However, once Bleichert was promoted to become Blanchard's partner in Central Warrants, the story really started moving, and it wasn't long before they were seconded to work on the high profile Black Dahlia murder case.
With a hundred pages left to read, I was quite enjoying it but not enthralled, but everything is wrapped up very satisfyingly by the end.
Slang words that I had to look up on Google:
Bunco - a swindle, fraud or confidence trick, but in this case it is the police department that investigates them
cooze - c*** / promiscuous woman
goose eggs - nothing / zero
grasshopper - drug user *
sawbuck - 10 dollar bill
lowballing - offering less than the true value for something
shine - black man
twist - girl
And one I did know, but only from watching a recent episode of "My Name is Earl":
shiv - a weapon made by a prisoner from whatever he can get his hands on.
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LibraryThing member bunwat
This creeped me out and kind of not in a good way. Its an absorbing and convincing story of obsession and corruption and murder. I see why its spawned imitators and inspired movies. But these are not really enjoyable people to spend time with, and I kind of felt like I needed a shower to wash off
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the mindset. Show Less
LibraryThing member CynDaVaz
The main character in this book was not someone I could find myself connecting with. I didn't like him at all and I found this novel rather boring, actually. A huge disappointment.
LibraryThing member jimmaclachlan
Pretty good. I liked the reader & the basic story. I think it went on too long, though. There sure were plenty of twists & turns. I really liked the way the case was worked, none of this instant stuff I see on the TV all the time. Lots of footwork & brute concentration.
The convoluted & hidden
I had a few problems with the story, but only one was big enough to really get to me.Georgie's torturing just didn't ring true from the man that delivered it. He's a proven coward from the war to the present day when Lee & then Bucky bullies him. He's rich & has no problem with murder by proxy, so why didn't he have Georgie killed? Why & how would he be able to hold someone like Georgie down to torture him, someone that Bucky had trouble fighting? No, that didn't fit.
The other one was Bucky selling Lee's house, but I could slide past that since he just puts it on the market & leaves town. A long distance signature would work, if the real estate agent was paid to close his eyes.
All in all, it was enjoyable & I'm going on to the next one.
The convoluted & hidden
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agendas of everyone involved was interesting & very real. There was a perfect character in the entire book, but all of them were interesting & understandable. Even when I was rooting for Bucky, I half expected him to cop out (yeah, pun) & when he did, that was OK. When he didn't, it was even better.I had a few problems with the story, but only one was big enough to really get to me.
The other one was Bucky selling Lee's house, but I could slide past that since he just puts it on the market & leaves town. A long distance signature would work, if the real estate agent was paid to close his eyes.
All in all, it was enjoyable & I'm going on to the next one.
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LibraryThing member onthehill
This is based on a true crime that happend in 1947's/1949. Set in LA. has a gruuesome part. The body parts of a woman are cut out. She is tortued before she dies. It moves fast. I do not think I want to see it as a movie.
LibraryThing member hazelk
I like the fast pace and the language of American crime novels but not in this case. It didn't help that I couldn't understand a lot of the slang. The beginning I found offputting with so much of the buddy-buddy stuff and the boxing. The case in real life is interesting and I think I'll get a
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non-fiction account. Show Less
LibraryThing member heidijane
This book was a bit difficult to get into at first, mainly because of the slang but also because the story didn't really get going until the body was found a little while into the book. Still an enjoyable cimre/mystery book though, and very exciting towards the end!
LibraryThing member kariannalysis
This book has taught me, if I’m going to read a book about something that really happened, I need to do some research. Let me go ahead and throw this out there: This book uses some facts from the case, but fuses fact with fiction. I didn’t know that until I got to the end of the book and read
Before the last few chapters, I would have only given this book one bookmark. It was not what I expected. It is kind of dirty (yes, I’m being a prude again). There’s a lot of sex and it’s pretty morbid. I expected the morbidity, just not all the sex. Everything I read about the Dahlia says people speculated she was a hooker but it wasn’t true, so when the book kind of played off that, I didn’t know what to believe.
The last few chapters, however, bring it all together. I was very surprised at who was pegged the killer and even more surprised at how “Bucky” handled the news.
I’m more of a high heel and handbag book kind of girl. I personally would say this is more of a guys book about cops and boxing.
I did think it was written well. When I read it, I really felt like I was in the 40’s. I really like, looking back now, how many facts he used in the book and how he played off them to make this a novel. Everyone can hear about a murder and put a story together about how it happened, but this was a good story.
Looking back at the writing, especially towards the end, I’m going to give this book 3 bookmarks. If you can push through the first 3/4 of the book, the last 1/4 is great and an intriguing read to find out who’s the Dahlia’s killer (fake killer, they never solved it).
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that the two main characters, other than the Dahlia were made up. Before I got that far, I couldn’t understand why the case was never solved because the book told me who did it. Wow, did I feel dumb.Before the last few chapters, I would have only given this book one bookmark. It was not what I expected. It is kind of dirty (yes, I’m being a prude again). There’s a lot of sex and it’s pretty morbid. I expected the morbidity, just not all the sex. Everything I read about the Dahlia says people speculated she was a hooker but it wasn’t true, so when the book kind of played off that, I didn’t know what to believe.
The last few chapters, however, bring it all together. I was very surprised at who was pegged the killer and even more surprised at how “Bucky” handled the news.
I’m more of a high heel and handbag book kind of girl. I personally would say this is more of a guys book about cops and boxing.
I did think it was written well. When I read it, I really felt like I was in the 40’s. I really like, looking back now, how many facts he used in the book and how he played off them to make this a novel. Everyone can hear about a murder and put a story together about how it happened, but this was a good story.
Looking back at the writing, especially towards the end, I’m going to give this book 3 bookmarks. If you can push through the first 3/4 of the book, the last 1/4 is great and an intriguing read to find out who’s the Dahlia’s killer (fake killer, they never solved it).
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LibraryThing member ImBookingIt
This was a dark read. I like characters with shades of grey, but I need some light grey in with the blacker shades.This book didn't have enough points of light for me. I didn't feel that the darkness brought any new perspectives to me, or that I learned from in. I just felt it was dark for the sake
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of being dark, and that just isn't my kind of book.I did think the mystery was interesting, enough so to save it from being a 2 star book. Show Less
LibraryThing member adobe4578
One of the best crime novels ever written.
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1987
Physical description
375 p.; 20 cm
ISBN
9788711299401
Local notes
Omslag: eyelab.dk
Omslaget viser 2 mænd og 2 kvinder og i forgrunden et kvindeansigt i profil med blod sivende ud fra mundvigen
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra engelsk "The Black Dahlia" af Jan Hansen
Efterord oversat fra engelsk af Arne Herløv Petersen
Omslaget viser 2 mænd og 2 kvinder og i forgrunden et kvindeansigt i profil med blod sivende ud fra mundvigen
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra engelsk "The Black Dahlia" af Jan Hansen
Efterord oversat fra engelsk af Arne Herløv Petersen
Similar in this library
Series
Pages
375
DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |