Home from Monterey

Posted Sun Feb 28, 2010 in

I should have written last night, but did not. Well, at least I didn’t write here — I posted a note on Facebook that we were home. But it didn’t go much beyond that… well, the writing didn’t.

After the long trip home and the awfully-long week, I had little energy to burn. So, I grabbed my (dead-tree) book and sat in the living room with Wife and finished the book.

I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was reading some Stephen Hunter. He’s a retired Washington Post writer who took up fiction a couple of decades ago. He’s also knowledgeable of firearms, so one of his claims to fame is that the use of firearms (and their effects) are “accurately” depicted in his stories. I believe this assertion to be true. That is, I find nothing in his accounts that is counter to my understanding of the physics of firearms. I have this “thing” about physics.

I finished Dirty White Boys last night. Although Bob Lee Swagger (the sniper) is not featured in the story, there is a mention of his father in the book that provides a connection later used by Hunter (if what I read online is correct) in developing the Swagger character. So, I decided to read this book before the next in the Swagger saga.

This is the first “crime story” book I can recall reading. It’s not really my cup of tea, although I can say that I’m satisfied-enough that I read it… and I can say the story was sufficiently compelling to keep me engaged. I can say I will not run out and start buying crime-story fiction. It was OK, but not what I’ll routinely read. The story line was interesting and the characters were multi-dimensional so the craft was workmanlike. Hunter is a good writer.

That said, I wasn’t fully-engaged. Maybe I’m just old, or maybe I’m no longer going to be satisfied with much fiction, but I kept analyzing the plot line, seeing directions it could go and wondering which direction the author would take the story. There were a few twists and turns along the way and that was fun. But, in the end the hero wins and the villain doesn’t and that’s pretty much the formula, right?

Book finished, I took my evening medications and hit the rack. After the day’s drive, I was tired and ready to sleep in my own bed. I need to clean up a few more images from the trip and put together a trip report. It was an “interesting” trip, I can say that.