The Raylan Givens 3-Book Collection by Elmore Leonard

An entertaining read, whether you're a fan of Justified or not
This Kindle collection is a repackaging of three previously published Elmore Leonard books, all featuring Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, the character now made famous by the TV series Justified. The first two works, Pronto and Riding the Rap, are novels originally published in 1993 and 1995, repectively. If you’re buying this volume solely because you’re a fan of Justified, you should be warned that Raylan is not necessarily the star of these books, but rather a member of an ensemble cast. In these novels the bad guys get just as much ink as he does, if not more. The third book in the Kindle file, Fire in the Hole, is a collection of short stories, first published in 2002 under the title When the Women Come Out to Dance. Only one of the stories, entitled “Fire in the Hole,” features Raylan Givens. The other eight stories cover a wide gamut within the crime and western genres and beyond.

The first book, Pronto, begins by introducing us to Harry Arno, a 65-year-old World War II veteran and longtime Miami bookie. The feds, in an attempt to nail Arno’s mobster boss, spread the rumor that Harry is stealing from his employers. Raylan is assigned to protect Harry, but when Harry flees for his life, thus becoming a fugitive, it’s Raylan’s job to apprehend him. Over the course of the book, much is revealed about Raylan’s past in Harlan County, the Glynco Academy, and elsewhere. Riding the Rap picks up where Pronto left off. While Pronto was very much a character driven novel, in Riding the Rap the characters are already established and Leonard does little to develop them further. It is the least successful of the three books here, and not much is revealed about Raylan that we didn’t already learn from the first book. Despite all the twists and turns in the plot, there are few surprises, as Raylan spends the entire book working to find out things that Leonard has already revealed to the reader. “Fire in the Hole,” the novella that’s included here as part of the third book of the same name, is better than either of the previous novels. Raylan, who has served the U.S. Marshal Service in Miami for several years, is sent back to Harlan County, Kentucky, where he was born and raised, to take part in a task force aiming to take down Raylan’s former friend Boyd Crowder, a white supremacist who robs banks and blows up churches. The story will be familiar to those who watch Justified, as the first few episodes of season one were quite faithful to Leonard’s original narrative. The Fire in the Hole collection also contains several excellent short stories that have nothing to do with Raylan.

Whether you're a fan of the Justified TV show or not, Leonard’s skillfully crafted prose is a joy to read. He has a talent for elegant understatement and a brilliant knack for writing clever, snappy dialogue. These books have a lighthearted tone overall, with a wry sense of humor, yet the life-and-death confrontations in the book are still intensely suspenseful.

This Kindle file is well constructed, with a convenient table of contents that links to every chapter. There are about a dozen typographical errors in the entire three-book file, mostly in Pronto. From the nature of the typos, it seems optical character recognition was used to construct the file, but the errors are not annoying enough to hinder your enjoyment of the work. If you’re going to buy one of these books, you might as well buy all three, and in terms of convenience and price, this three-book collection is hard to beat.

Books in this collection

Pronto 

Riding the Rap 

Fire in the Hole 

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Paris by Emile Zola

By far the best of the Three Cities trilogy
Paris is the final volume in Emile Zola’s trilogy Les Trois Villes, or The Three Cities. The trilogy follows Abbé Pierre Froment as he struggles to reconcile his rational, skeptical mind with his spiritual duties as a priest. In the two preceding volumes, Lourdes and Rome, Pierre suffered serious blows to his deepest held beliefs and has all but lost his faith entirely. Nevertheless, he continues to go through the motions of a saintly clergyman, practicing his profession by saying mass and tending to his flock. One aspect of his vocation keeps him going and gives meaning to his life: the exercise of charity. Through caring for the poor he feels that he can truly make a difference in the world. The more he interacts with the destitute citizens who inhabit the underbelly of Paris, however, the more he begins to wonder if charity is enough. How long will the hungry, down-trodden masses continue to swallow the Christian doctrine that they will be rewarded for their miserable lives with an afterlife spent in paradise? In the city of Paris, where income disparity is relentlessly increasing, how long will it be before the poor rise up against their oppressors and demand justice?

Though the primary focus of the Three Cities trilogy is religious matters, Paris differs from the previous two volumes in that it delves more deeply into political and social issues. Zola depicts the city of Paris as a rational, atheistic alternative to religious centers like Lourdes and Rome. Paris is the global center of science and reason, a city destined to become the capital of the modern world, while archaic holy cities like Rome are fated to decline and decay into dust. Yet the Church still hopes to conquer this pagan metropolis. On a hill overlooking the great city, the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur is being erected, a temple of superstition and a declaration of war against this scientific stronghold. Though Zola sees Paris as the future salvation of rational mankind, the city has yet to complete its inevitable evolution, and in its present state it hardly qualifies as a Utopia. Zola vividly illuminates all the city’s social ills: corrupt politicians, an impotent and ineffective government, unethical businessmen, a biased and mercenary press, an immoral bourgeoisie, and a starving labor class that must resort to drastic measures to survive. In addition, anarchism is rising in Paris, and gives rise to acts of terrorism. Though this novel was originally published in 1898, the spectre of World War I looms over the story like an imminent, foregone conclusion. Despite all the gloom and doom, the overall message of the book is ultimately a positive one. That is, of course, for those who sympathize with Zola’s antireligious views.

Paris features a large ensemble cast of characters and numerous intertwining story lines. Like the literary maestro that he is, Zola deftly conducts the various plots, punctuating them with moments of suspense and uniting them all in the end for a climactic, dramatic crescendo. The first two books in the Three Cities trilogy are fine, but nothing awe-inspiring. Paris, on the other hand, represents a return to form on the part of Zola to the glory days of the Rougon-Macquart cycle. Though it may not be equal to such masterpieces as Germinal or La Terre, Paris certainly deserves its slot on the shelf next to Zola’s greatest novels. The biggest drawback to the book, and the trilogy in general, is length. These are giant books packed with big ideas, and they in no way can be considered light reading. When all is said and done, however, it is worth the investment of time and energy in reading Lourdes and Rome just to experience how the trilogy culminates in this excellent finale. Fans of Zola will find their efforts handsomely rewarded.
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Novels and Social Writings by Jack London (Library of America)

The gold standard of London collections
I first came upon this volume 25 years ago. It was my introduction to London, and today it is probably still the most valued book on my shelves. Jack London is one of America’s greatest writers, and this collection from the Library of America proves it. Though now best known for The Call of the Wild and other adventure tales of the Klondike (LOA also has a collection of those), in his day London was also a renowned writer on political, philosophical, and social issues. The five books and four essays collected here represent some of his greatest work.

For most of his life London was a socialist, and his political writings emphasize class struggle, the plight of the working man in capitalist society, and the inevitability of a socialist revolution. The People of the Abyss is London’s journalistic account of the poverty-stricken slums of London’s East End. In The Road, he relates the adventures of his days tramping across North America. The Iron Heel is a masterful science fiction novel about a future civil war between revolutionary socialists and a plutocratic oligarchy. Martin Eden is a semi-autobiographical novel about a working class writer who strives to elevate his social status through self-education and hard work. John Barleycorn is London’s memoir about his life-long relationship with alcohol. Of these five, only The People of the Abyss seems to have lost a bit of its power and relevance over the past century. The remaining four books are five-star works still as vital as the day they were written. (Follow the links in this paragraph to read more detailed reviews of individual books.)

In addition to these book-length works, London wrote dozens of short stories and essays on political and social themes. The selection provided here is satisfactory, but not exceptional. It would have been great if they had included some of his short fiction like “The Apostate” or “Goliah,” but instead they have chosen four essays. “How I Became a Socialist” is an obvious choice, given its title and subject matter, but it’s really too brief to provide a great deal of insight into London’s political thought. “The Scab” is a very good example of London’s political essays detailing the failures of capitalist society. More perplexing is the inclusion of London’s “Introduction to The Jungle”, since it’s mostly just a plot summary of Upton Sinclair’s novel. “Revolution,” on the other hand, is an excellent choice. It’s a state-of-the-union address for socialism in 1905, and a stirring call to arms.

The Library of America produces the best books of classic literature available today, with beautiful typography, high quality paper, and elegant bindings made to last forever. These volumes are not needlessly encumbered with introductions and prefaces, but let the authors’ masterworks speak for themselves. They do include endnotes which clarify historical events and archaic terms, and a detailed chronology of the author’s life. These books are truly a joy to read and to behold. My only complaint about the LOA is why only two volumes on London? He is America’s most widely read author worldwide, and deserves the extensive treatment given to Faulkner, Steinbeck, and Twain.

Books included in this volume

The People of the Abyss 

The Road 

The Iron Heel 

Martin Eden 

John Barleycorn 

Essays included in this volume

How I Became a Socialist 

The Scab 

Introduction to The Jungle 

Revolution 

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Collected Stories and Other Writings by Katherine Anne Porter (Library of America)

Exceptional fiction, lackluster essays
Katherine Anne Porter was one of the best American writers of short stories between the World Wars. Though she achieved her fame through fiction, and rightfully so, she also published a great deal of journalistic essays, literary criticism, and brief memoirs. This volume from the Library of America, the most complete one-volume collection of her work, includes roughly 500 pages of fiction and 500 pages of nonfiction.

Porter published three collections of short stories during her career, all of which are included here. The first collection, Flowering Judas and Other Stories, is also the best. It consists of twelve stories, most of which take place in Mexico, where Porter lived for several years. Among the standouts in this group are the excellent title piece, “Maria Concepción,” “The Cracked Looking Glass,” and “He.” The second volume included here, Pale Horse, Pale Rider: Three Short Novels, is also very good. It contains the excellent novella “Noon Wine,” possibly Porter’s best piece of work, in which a tragic event takes place on a farm in southern Texas. The third volume of short fiction included here, The Leaning Tower and Other Stories, is weaker than the other two, with the only real standout piece being “A Day's Work.” The overall impression given by Porter’s fiction is that she is a first-class writer, but she doesn’t hit it out of the park every time. She likes to experiment with style and structure, striving to push the envelope with each story. Even when she fails in her experiments, one can appreciate the inkling of genius in her failures.

Her nonfiction, on the other hand, does not inspire the same degree of admiration. The numerous essays in this volume are divided into three main categories: Criticism, Personal and Particular, and Mexican. The Criticism section, which covers a who’s who of modern authors, is painful to get through. Her style could charitably be called impressionistic, but for the most part these pieces are rambling and disjointed. She’s far more interested in crafting a clever turn of phrase than she is in educating her audience about the book or author in question. The second section, Personal and Particular, is a mixed bag of writing about writing, autobiographical stories, and miscellaneous journalism and criticism. Porter doesn’t have anything particularly interesting to say about the writer’s craft. She proclaims no allegiance to any school, but advocates originality and creativity in general, praising the likes of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. The best piece in this section is “The Never-Ending Wrong,” about the trial of the anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti. Porter took part in the protests against their unjust trial and execution. The third section, Mexican, I enjoyed much more than the rest of the nonfiction, simply because I happen to have a personal interest in Mexican history and culture. Porter shows herself very knowledgeable in Mexican culture and politics, and has a knack for vividly capturing the atmosphere and mind set of the nation and its people.

Usually I praise the editing of the Library of America books, but here the editorial strategy seems to be to throw in everything she ever wrote, with the notable exception of her only published novel, Ship of Fools, which would have been preferable to most of the nonfiction included here. Like all books in the Library of America series, this one provides an extensively detailed chronology of the author’s life, which reveals far more about Porter than her own autobiographical writings. Porter was an excellent writer, so you really can’t go wrong in buying this book, but I must admit that I expected to like it much more than I did. Even Porter admits that much of her nonfiction was written out of financial necessity. It’s a shame she didn’t have the means or the time to leave us with more of her superb fiction.

Fiction: Short story collections included in this volume

Flowering Judas and Other Stories 

Pale Horse, Pale Rider: Three Short Novels 

The Leaning Tower and Other Stories 

Nonfiction: Divided into three main categories

Criticism 

Personal and Particular 

Mexican 

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Novels and Essays by Frank Norris (Library of America)

The King of American Naturalism
Frank Norris could have been a household name, remembered by all as one of America’s greatest writers, had he not met with an untimely death at the age of 32. Stylistically, he was an outspoken advocate of naturalism, a literary movement founded by the French writer Emile Zola. Naturalism is generally considered a form of realism because the author seeks to reproduce the world in all its gritty, scientific authenticity. Norris argued, however, that naturalism was a form of romanticism because often, as in the works of Zola, extraordinary events take place within this ordinary reality. This excellent collection of Norris’s writings not only presents brilliant examples of his naturalistic fiction, but also a number of valuable nonfiction pieces which encapsulate his literary philosophy.

Three complete novels and an assortment of essays are included here. Of the novels, The Octopus is Norris’s best and most renowned work. Based on the Mussel Slough Tragedy of 1880, it tells the story of California wheat farmers struggling to defend their land and livelihood against the oppressive tactics of a corrupt railroad company. It is a masterpiece that definitely belongs on any list of the twenty best novels in American literature, if not the top ten. Norris’s other famous novel is McTeague, the story of a mild-mannered dentist and his wife whose lives are gradually destroyed by an all-consuming greed. Part suspenseful thriller, part insightful psychological study; it makes for a gripping read. As for the third novel, the obvious choice would have been to include The Pit, a sequel of sorts to The Octopus, and probably Norris’s third best-known work. Instead, the editor chose to include Vandover and the Brute, Norris’s first novel, which did not see publication until after his death. It depicts the descent of a young artist into a life of decadence and vice. In terms of quality, it’s not in the same league with the other two novels, but it reveals a promising stage in the development of his mature style, a glimmering of great things to come.

This volume includes 22 of Norris’s essays. All are about four or five pages long, all pertain to writers and writing, and all are excellent. In these essays Norris defines his conception of naturalism, outlines the responsibilities of the novelist, and reveals his vision of the future of American literature. He issues a call to arms to American writers to step up and create the great epic of the American West. Though adept at serious literary criticism, Norris also had a sense of humor, as evidenced by “Perverted Tales,” a hilarious piece in which he parodies the writing styles of Rudyard Kipling, Stephen Crane, Bret Harte, Richard Harding Davis, Ambrose Bierce, and Anthony Hope. The editor of this volume, Donald Pizer, has done an excellent job of selecting essays that give us a clear and thorough insight into the mind, personality, and literary thought of this great author.

I can’t say enough good things about the Library of America. Although I love my Kindle, when I really want to get to know an American author, I’m happy to leave the e-reader at home and lug around one of these big, beautiful hardcover volumes. The LOA produces books that are superbly edited, elegantly designed, and handsomely and durably constructed. They are cherished items on my book shelves, and I hope some day my grand kids will read them.

Works in this collection

Vandover and the Brute 

McTeague 

The Octopus 

Essays 

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Gobseck by Honoré de Balzac

Such a fascinating character deserves an equally fascinating story
Originally published in 1830, Gobseck is among the earliest handful of works to be included in Balzac’s magnum opus La Comédie Humaine, a collection of over 90 novels and stories in which he attempts to depict all the myriad aspects of French society. This novella contains many of the same characters that feature in his novel Père Goriot. Though that masterpiece was published five years later than Gobseck, the two works must have been conceived somewhat simultaneously, as their stories are intricately interwoven. That said, one need not have read one in order to enjoy the other, and even those with no knowledge of Père Goriot can still appreciate Gobseck.

Late one evening in the salon of the Vicomtesse de Grandlieu, the conversation turns to the discussion of a young man, Ernest de Restaud, for whom the Vicomtesse’s niece Camille bears some romantic feelings. A guest and friend of the family, the attorney Monsieur Derville, shares a story from his past which he claims relates to the young man. The connection is not readily apparent, however, as the story he tells is primarily concerned with a former neighbor of his, the moneylender Jean-Esther van Gobseck. “Daddy Gobseck,” as he is sometimes affectionately called, is an aged man of action with a mysterious past whose entire existence and personal philosophy revolves around the acquisition of wealth. He craves money not for the things it will buy him, but for the effect it gives him over people’s lives. He considers himself and a small group of his professional colleagues to be the ten most powerful men in Paris. As people of all walks of life come crawling to him, begging for loans at usurious rates, their personal dramas become to Gobseck what the theatre is for art lovers. He is a connoisseur of desperation. Derville develops a social relationship with his neighbor, but eventually must consult the moneylender on a matter of business. From that point on he becomes Gobseck’s legal advisor and bears witness to many of the old man’s dealings. When Anastasie de Restaud, the daughter of Père Goriot, consults the usurer in hopes of concealing from her husband the fortune that she has wasted on her lover, the real drama of the story begins.

The novella starts out auspiciously enough. Balzac’s character sketch of Gobseck is remarkably vivid and absolutely fascinating. The book takes a turn for the worse, however, the deeper it delves into the affairs of Madame de Restaud. The dramatic events that lead the characters to seek out the moneylender are riveting. The mathematics of their business transactions, on the other hand, often dull the emotional impact of the plot. In Gobseck, as in other of his works, Balzac demonstrates his fascination with legal proceedings. He delights in the mechanics of wills, deeds, writs, and contracts—a proclivity that this reader, for one, does not share. Were it not for the tedium and confusion inspired by so much clerical detail, Gobseck would likely be every bit as strong as Père Goriot.

If you haven’t already read Père Goriot I would strongly suggest you do so, not because it’s a prerequisite for reading this book, but simply because it's Balzac’s greatest work. If you enjoyed that excellent novel, then you will probably find much to appreciate in Gobseck as well. Despite the preoccupation with legal matters in its latter half, Gobseck is still a very good story overall, and Balzac has endowed it with a few truly unforgettable scenes. The singular title character alone makes it well worth the reading.
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Selected Polish Tales by Boleslaw Prus, et al.

Mostly mediocre works by otherwise great authors
In 1915 and 1916, translator and editor Else C. M. Benecke published two collections of short stories and novellas entitled Tales by Polish Authors and More Tales by Polish Authors. She was working on a third collection at the time of her death. Completed by her colleague Marie Busch, this volume was published in 1921 under the title Selected Polish Tales. Perhaps the posthumous completion of the book explains why it feels like a collection of leftovers. Compared to the two volumes that proceeded it, this third collection is a disappointment.

Two-thirds of the volume is taken up by a complete novel, The Outpost by Boleslaw Prus. Though Prus is one of Poland’s most renowned authors, this is not his best work. Originally published in 1886, it tells the story of Josef Slimak, a gospodarz, or peasant landowner. Slimak embodies the peasantry’s admirable work ethic but also their ignorance and resistance to change. At first the book seems like it’s going to be about the interaction between the different social strata of Polish society. Then it becomes a tale of conflict between Slimak and some German colonists. Then a series of tragedies befalls Slimak. At first, these hardships are clearly the consequences of his poor decisions. Later in the book, however, Slimak suffers a number of essentially random catastrophes, and the book devolves from a tragedy into a miserable tale of woe. Though the novel offers some interesting perspective on Poland’s socioeconomic history, the story is relentlessly slow, and the unsatisfying ending leaves the reader with a feeling of pointlessness.

Nobel laureate Wladyslaw Reymont has two pieces in this book. In the preface, Busch says they are excerpts from his novel The Peasants. Having read The Peasants, however, I know that to be incorrect. They are obviously excerpts from some larger work, however, for they feel incomplete and out of context. The one entitled “Death” is a particularly fruitless meditation on misery, in which a dying man is abused by his daughter because he has disinherited her. It’s possible these selections come from great novels, but as presented here they fail to adequately represent Reymont’s formidable talents.

There are a couple of bright spots amidst this otherwise gray collection. Adam Szymanski’s “A Pinch of Salt” is set in Siberia among the Polish dissidents who have been exiled there. This story is the closest thing to lighthearted and touching that can be found in this otherwise bleak collection, and it even finishes off with a satisfying bit of a surprise ending. In the bleak category, the strongest piece is “The Sentence” by Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski. Set in World War I, it relates the story of a cold and starving old man whose cottage is encroached upon by a threatening band of Cossack soldiers. It is an emotionally powerful story that moves in some unexpected directions.

The absolute worst selection in the book is “P.P.C.” by Madame Rygier-Nalkowska, set in the early days of World War I. The resolution of the story hinges upon the abbreviation in the title, yet nowhere is it explained what these three letters stand for.

While there are some excellent authors included here, for the most part this collection doesn’t do justice to them. Rather than reading Selected Polish Tales, seek out the previous two volumes in this series, which are far superior to this one.

Stories in this collection

The Outpost by Boleslaw Prus 

A Pinch of Salt by Adam Szymanski 

Kowalski the Carpenter by Adam Szymanski 

Forebodings: Two Sketches by Stefan Zeromski 

A Polish Scene by Wladyslaw Reymont 

Death by Wladyslaw Reymont 

The Sentence by Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski 

P.P.C. by Madame Rygier-Nalkowska 

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