L'art et le crime...

"Vous savez, on peut mêler l'histoire de la criminalité à celle de la peinture. Au début, on peignait comme on tue, à main tue. L'art brut, on pourrait dire... L'instinct avant la technique. Ensuite est intervenu l'outil, le bâton, le pinceau. Un beau jour, on s'est mis à peindre au couteau. Regardez le travail d'un Jack l'Éventreur... Et puis on a inventé le pistolet. Peindre au pistolet apportait quelque chose de définitif et radical. Et maintenant, à l'ère terroriste, on peint à la bombe, dans la ville, dans le métro. Le graffiti anonyme qui saute au coin de la rue..."

Trois carrés rouges sur fond noir, Tonino Benacquista

Je suis en train de lire un roman de Benacquista, l'un de mes auteurs de polars français préférés. Ce que je lis en ce moment de lui est Les morsures de l'aube (dont on a fait un film), mais c'est Trois carrés que je voulais citer ici depuis longtemps, cette citation qui débute ce billet. En fait, je crois qu'elle suffit en elle-même et que de la commenter serait superflu. Il est fort, Benacquista. Suis-je le seul à penser que les analogies faites ici entre l'art et le crime sont brillantes? Elles sont également prophétiques.

Orient Express

Yesterday, I watched this documentary with David Suchet about the Orient Express. It is now of course most famous for Murder on the Orient Express. Fleming also used the Orient Express brilliantly in From Russia With Love. As a child, I used to be a fan of Agatha Christie, but strangely I never read this novel, although I saw one of the movies adaptations. And I really enjoyed the Muppets parody. Anyway, even though I never read the novel, as trains fascinate me since childhood, I have been fascinated by the Orient Express as an icon. I was not the only one: my dad always regretted not buying the LGB Orient Express wagon. He still told me about it in his last visit, while my mum was rolling her eyes.

I am not into Agatha Christie and whodunits anymore. For me, the best crime novel I read that was set in a train was La maldonne des sleepings of Tonino Benacquista. It was in a much less glamorous train than the Orient Express, but it is fast paced, suspenseful, full of character(s) and you can even see Venice. But I do find the glamour of the Orient Express appealing. It is almost a shame that it is now associated with a whodunit (I really grew out of those as you can see). I mean, trains can be great settings for adventure/crime stories: they have character, they can create feelings of both motion and claustrophobia, random meetings among the travellers can lead to drama, even tragedy, danger hides beneath the veneer of civility and civilisation (case in point). The Orient Express emphasises this, its glamour barely hiding how feral humans can be.

What to read where

This is a follow up of this post. I thought about it quite a lot, and a recent post by Leigh Russell got me thinking about it again (and by the way Leigh enjoy your time in the Midi). As I said pretty often here I am a seasonal reader, I read according to the time of the year (horror stories before Halloween, novels set in a heatwave if I am in the middle of one, etc). Maybe I should be, sometimes, a "setting" reader. I thought about it a lot: one understands a country better through its literature. So here is a list of authors or titles I would read, or recommend to read, when I/one visits a place, or travels to a place (disclaimer: I did not visit all these places):

 -Chicoutimi: The Dragonfly of Chicoutimi. Well, duh!
-Japan: something by Yukio Mishima. Read one novel of him, in cégep. If I ever go to Japan, I will pick up one of Mishima's work.
-Florence: Machiavel, in the text if I can, or with a translation on the side.
-Los Angeles: Raymond Chandler, definitely.
-Oxfordshire: Something by Tolkien. You visit the English countryside and you see the Shire, like my dad remarked recently.
-Rome: I would probably reread Bear's Roman Women. I know, I know. I am shamelessly plugging Burgess again. But it is such a great read. I would probably try to read some Italian poets, in the text. I would ask an Italian friend to give me a few tips. Not Dante, I got fed up with him.
-South Africa: something by Deon Meyer. I only read Dead at Daybreak, basically a crime novel about the ghosts of Apartheid, but I want to read more of this author. My mum made me discover this one. It has been too long.
-Train journeys (especially long ones): No, not this one! If you read French, try this one. Tonino Benacquista is sadly not very well known outside the French speaking world. A shame.
-Sea journeys, or beach holidays: Moby Dick or Treasure Island. Just because.

The thrill of the first pages

I finished reading The Talented Mr Ripley today, on the train to work. I might be spouting clichés here, but there we go anyway: I always have difficulties finishing a book, whether it is a fun read or a boring read. The boring ones I cannot bring myself to read them quick enough, the ones I love I finish them with regret. Highsmith's novel was an enjoyable read, even though I still think I preferred the movie.

But that means that on the way back, I could read another book. I decided to read Trois Carrés Rouges sur Fond Noir by Tonino Benacquista. (Sorry for the French links, but I cannot find info on him or his novels in english right now). Benacquista has always been a great read, making quality crime fiction with loveable human characters, a fair deal of violence but just enough of literary quality to make the book a smart read. I only read the first few pages, but it already appears like it is quality stuff.

I will spout another cliché: I love the first few pages of a good book. I don't think anything can beat the thrill of the first few pages, when you know you made the right choice and that the plot will be great. Nothing might have happened yet, but the stage is set. That is partially why I come back to Benacquista, Pelecanos and of course Burgess: they all make great start.