Mixed Pickles - the Book log 2012

With some writers, you can see the author's hand all over the page. With some writers, every now and again, you get a glimpse of the author desperatley trying to be a writer and breaking the character's cover. And with some writers, you get the Fictive Dream cast so successfully that never for a moment do you realise that you are just reading a book and not actually inside some character's head. You find a writer like that, you come back time-and-time again to their work.

So how come it's taken me so long to stumble across Jack Irish, the hero of Peter Temple's Aussie crime-thriller "Dead Point"? Small-time lawyer, Aussie Rules obsessive, in-control potential alcoholic, betting man and man of principles, Jack Irish is a satisfyingly complex character, whose voice is totally realised in this novel. Temple can write, boy can he write. e ytakes a razor blade to the prose and cuts away every unnecessary word: dialogue is sparse and realistic, character vignettes tell you everything you need to know... dammit, let me give you an example.
"A couple walked by, young, handsome in black clothing, arguing, heads flicking, spurts of words. He stopped, she stopped, he raised a hand, inquiring. She knocked it away in contempt, walked. The man waited for a few seconds and came back towards us, jaw moving, small chewing movements."
That's what I call economy. A fully drawn picture in under fifty words. Enviable, immersing, unputdownable.

It's not easy, following the verbal shorthand in the conversations - but then again, eavesdropping on real people is never a route to instant clarity. I shall return to paul temple in future. I think this is the start of a rewarding relationship.