Choppy Water
Stuck in my “home office,” such as it is? I’ve had small, wooden box that holds a set of tarot cards. Originally marketed as “A special box for magical tools,” it’s probably just a reasonably inexpensive teakwood, or teakwood-like material, quickly fashioned into a box that has held up for near 30 years. So far.
The box was supposed to be an example of piece of hand-made material that was well-fashioned, excellent craftsmanship, and sturdy construction. Turning it over in my hands, though, I noticed fairly obvious minor flaws in the construction and assembly, like saw-marks that extended past their destination, the crude nature of the brass hinge and screws thusly affixed.
So, despite its age and relative structural strength — it has held up over the years — this is not a good example, as the closer examination of the details reveals flaws in its craftsmanship.
Best guess? Third-world labor. Says, “Made in India.”
Stuart Woods — thriller author, &c.
He keeps churning them out, and I keep liking them. Enjoying them. I am tremendously entertained, and pleased, and with each novel, the construction of the novel itself is what I like best.
As an author, he has played fast and loose with the laws of physics, but I’m not one to quibble about that. Sometime in the last year, think it was fairly recent, he had a motorcycle perform an impossible feat. Or, at the very least, highly circumspect; however, in terms of the narrative, the action fit, and it was plausible enough.
Which is why I was searching for the well-crafted example. Dovetails that fit, maybe one of those boxes or set of cabinets that are so well-made that no glue joints or nails are required. I tend to think of the Stuart Woods prose like that. Economical, and yet, despite details that I don’t think I care about? Like flashy designer goods, tailored suits, and name-brand liquor? It just hews together — perfectly.
While it’s a fictionalized universe where the stories are now set, it’s anchored in real world and real-world events, with places and situations that are quite possible.
“The problem with fiction?
Fiction has to make sense.”
The CIA. The FBI. The Secret Service. Covert Ops. Subversive operations. Alt-Far-Right-Whites engineering an overthrow of our current government. Not exactly ripped from the headlines, but not far off, either.
Nice quote, about character, or a character’s character?
“Geographically monogamous.” Page 216.
Elegant plotting, twisting tighter than usual.
Plus trivia, I did not know that — Field Marshall Montgomery’s double.
For me, highly subjective, but for me? It was a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience.
Choppy Water
