schopflin's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
I really enjoyed this although it's really not about the mystery, much more about literature and obscure facts. I realise that Block has chosen to keep Bernie the same age (or he would be about 75 now) while New York ages and changes, but I am still uncomfortable with the number of college-age women he shags.
lucasm12333's review against another edition
5.0
Marvelous
Another wonderful Rhodenbarr book by the master. At this point, you either love Bernie, or you don't. I obviously do and really enjoyed this one. Mr. Block is such an enjoyable writer to read and this book is no different. Within, you'll find witty dialogue, memorable characters, and interesting cultural references. While not the best in the series, it is a wonderful return to a much beloved character. HIGHLY recommended.
Another wonderful Rhodenbarr book by the master. At this point, you either love Bernie, or you don't. I obviously do and really enjoyed this one. Mr. Block is such an enjoyable writer to read and this book is no different. Within, you'll find witty dialogue, memorable characters, and interesting cultural references. While not the best in the series, it is a wonderful return to a much beloved character. HIGHLY recommended.
usbsticky's review
3.0
This is my last Bernie book and after all this time, I just realized I like the books for the characters. The mystery or crime aspect isn't very good. Mostly they follow a formula where Bernie is tasked with stealing something, a dead body turns up and he is framed for it. Then he does a bunch of mysterious things without context, and finally summons everyone for a complex reveal with a few twists at the end.
It doesn't make for a very good mystery, just Block trying to amaze people with a complex plot that is unengaging because he made no attempt to engage the readers in it. Worse are the long stretched dialogs (mostly) between Bernie and Carolyn where a couple of sentences are stretched into 5-10 pages. But I've learned to live with those and am pretty glad to get to the end of this series. I probably won't read any more Block novels after I finish the last Bernie book which is a collection of short stories.
Spoilers:
This has a slightly different format, with two storylines that kinda come together. In story line 1 Bernie is tasked with stealing a book from a museum. With this book he gets into the apartment of an agoraphobic collector where he tries to steal a spoon. All of this for a button collector who in the end tries to scam Bernie without paying him.
In storyline 2, an elderly widow is found dead in her large brownstone after coming home from the opera. Her house appears to have been burgled. Ray (the cop) knows Bernie didn't do it but brings him in anyway to try to solve the case.
At the end, Bernie pays back the button collector and brings everyone into his bookstore to reveal the true story behind the case of the dead widow.
I enjoyed Bernie. He's a likeable character and I enjoyed his escapades plus some of the historical context behind some of them. Block sometimes includes real life events or items in this series. For example, he introduced me to Mondrian in one book. In this one, he introduced me to one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. So anyway, 3 stars for the series.
It doesn't make for a very good mystery, just Block trying to amaze people with a complex plot that is unengaging because he made no attempt to engage the readers in it. Worse are the long stretched dialogs (mostly) between Bernie and Carolyn where a couple of sentences are stretched into 5-10 pages. But I've learned to live with those and am pretty glad to get to the end of this series. I probably won't read any more Block novels after I finish the last Bernie book which is a collection of short stories.
Spoilers:
This has a slightly different format, with two storylines that kinda come together. In story line 1 Bernie is tasked with stealing a book from a museum. With this book he gets into the apartment of an agoraphobic collector where he tries to steal a spoon. All of this for a button collector who in the end tries to scam Bernie without paying him.
In storyline 2, an elderly widow is found dead in her large brownstone after coming home from the opera. Her house appears to have been burgled. Ray (the cop) knows Bernie didn't do it but brings him in anyway to try to solve the case.
At the end, Bernie pays back the button collector and brings everyone into his bookstore to reveal the true story behind the case of the dead widow.
I enjoyed Bernie. He's a likeable character and I enjoyed his escapades plus some of the historical context behind some of them. Block sometimes includes real life events or items in this series. For example, he introduced me to Mondrian in one book. In this one, he introduced me to one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. So anyway, 3 stars for the series.
randyrasa's review
4.0
It's such a pleasure to return to the world of Bernie Rhodenbarr as told by the reliable professional Lawrence Block, and narrated by the wonderful Richard Ferrone. The story here is not the most amazing, and there is definitely a great deal of chattiness and meandering, but whatever, I still enjoyed this a great deal. It's a comfort read for me. If you're read previous "Burglar" books, you'll enjoy this one, too.
bundy23's review
4.0
The final novel in the series and, despite being basically the same as the other 10, it's definitely one of the more enjoyable ones. A nice way to end the series.
blacksentai's review against another edition
2.0
This is emphatically not my jam. Thought it would be, but the main character is super annoying to me and, I dunno, feels like everyone is a little too smart and talks way too much?
lakegirllinda77's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
jcbmathcat's review against another edition
4.0
The Bel Air Mystery Book Club read this for the February selection. I don't recall reading any of the Bernie Rhodenbarr mysteries before, but if a mystery can be called "delightful," this one was. The characters were suitably quirky, and there were mysteries other than the natural (or was it?) death of a woman to involve Bernie and his friend, Carolyn. I will try more entries in this series, as I enjoy a mystery that also makes me laugh. Plus, I learned about apostle spoons, the value of certain collectibles, and much about buttons. Yes, buttons!
captainjaq's review against another edition
5.0
There are times during The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons where our protagonist Bernie Rhodenbarr laments that he doesn’t want anything to change. He wants everything to continue on just the way it is. We who love the Burglar books want the same thing. There’s just one problem: things change whether we want them to or not.
And yet… Lawrence Block manages to address both issues at the same time and does it brilliantly. This is the book Block wrote after he decided to retire, so at this point, anything he comes out with is gravy, and his fans would pick it up regardless – but he doesn’t rely on that. Instead, he gives us a Burglar book which addresses the idea of change and the idea of status quo and still delivers a first rate mystery in his classic style.
If you’re familiar with the series, of which this is number 11, all the elements are present. Carolyn Kaiser, Ray Kirschman, the various places of employ and relaxation and, well, the Two Guys from… restaurant, which delivers the best surprise of the bunch (okay, it doesn’t deliver, you have to pick it up, but that’s splitting hairs). In every sense, this is a perfect Bernie story. He commits crimes, he solves crimes, he has witty banter with everyone, he gets laid (Good on ya Bern!) and he’s instantly recognizable as the same guy who first appeared in 1977.
Except he’s not the same guy. Block doesn’t let Bernie age (this isn’t series for that – that’s his Scudder books, which are also amazing, but playing in a different ballpark) but the world around him does. No longer can Bernie merely walk around a building, now he has to deal with security cameras. He doesn’t look up information in encyclopedias, but Googles them instead. He learns about burner phones and Internet book dealers. In this way, Bernie has already changed with the times but he’s still the same old Bernie.
All the while, Block is also taking us all on a trip down memory lane. He references a number of the past adventures (no harm if you haven’t read them, although what are you waiting for?) which leads us to a rather interesting observation made by Carolyn near the end of the book regarding Bernie’s night time activities and his interesting relationship with law enforcement. It’s something we, as readers have obviously seen (that’s why we keep reading) but by having Ms. Kaiser point it out, and Bernie to flat out reject its implications, is a wonderful nod to the fluid nature of the books and their internal reality.
Enough of that, though, this book stands on its own quite nicely. As a former rare book seller, I greatly appreciated the insight into that world, especially the peek behind the curtain of the original holographs and association copies and the shout outs to Button Gwinnet, the unsung hero of founding father collectibles is priceless (almost literally). The way the various threads of the plot tie together make for a characteristic Rhodenbarr “wondering why I called you all here” unraveling and a certain moral ambiguity we love to see in our favorite burglar.
Finally, there’s “Juneau Lock,” the mythical location of great Chinese food and one of the reason why these books and characters are so great to return to time and again. While it’s got nothing at all to do with the main mystery, it has everything to do with the lives of our heroes. And in the end, that’s really what we’re interested in and why keep checking back. We want to see how the gang is doing, even if they never change. We do, and we can appreciate them on new levels every time. So whether this is the final adventure we read about, we’re left with the impression this is certainly not the final adventure Bernie will be having. And that makes me happy.
And yet… Lawrence Block manages to address both issues at the same time and does it brilliantly. This is the book Block wrote after he decided to retire, so at this point, anything he comes out with is gravy, and his fans would pick it up regardless – but he doesn’t rely on that. Instead, he gives us a Burglar book which addresses the idea of change and the idea of status quo and still delivers a first rate mystery in his classic style.
If you’re familiar with the series, of which this is number 11, all the elements are present. Carolyn Kaiser, Ray Kirschman, the various places of employ and relaxation and, well, the Two Guys from… restaurant, which delivers the best surprise of the bunch (okay, it doesn’t deliver, you have to pick it up, but that’s splitting hairs). In every sense, this is a perfect Bernie story. He commits crimes, he solves crimes, he has witty banter with everyone, he gets laid (Good on ya Bern!) and he’s instantly recognizable as the same guy who first appeared in 1977.
Except he’s not the same guy. Block doesn’t let Bernie age (this isn’t series for that – that’s his Scudder books, which are also amazing, but playing in a different ballpark) but the world around him does. No longer can Bernie merely walk around a building, now he has to deal with security cameras. He doesn’t look up information in encyclopedias, but Googles them instead. He learns about burner phones and Internet book dealers. In this way, Bernie has already changed with the times but he’s still the same old Bernie.
All the while, Block is also taking us all on a trip down memory lane. He references a number of the past adventures (no harm if you haven’t read them, although what are you waiting for?) which leads us to a rather interesting observation made by Carolyn near the end of the book regarding Bernie’s night time activities and his interesting relationship with law enforcement. It’s something we, as readers have obviously seen (that’s why we keep reading) but by having Ms. Kaiser point it out, and Bernie to flat out reject its implications, is a wonderful nod to the fluid nature of the books and their internal reality.
Enough of that, though, this book stands on its own quite nicely. As a former rare book seller, I greatly appreciated the insight into that world, especially the peek behind the curtain of the original holographs and association copies and the shout outs to Button Gwinnet, the unsung hero of founding father collectibles is priceless (almost literally). The way the various threads of the plot tie together make for a characteristic Rhodenbarr “wondering why I called you all here” unraveling and a certain moral ambiguity we love to see in our favorite burglar.
Finally, there’s “Juneau Lock,” the mythical location of great Chinese food and one of the reason why these books and characters are so great to return to time and again. While it’s got nothing at all to do with the main mystery, it has everything to do with the lives of our heroes. And in the end, that’s really what we’re interested in and why keep checking back. We want to see how the gang is doing, even if they never change. We do, and we can appreciate them on new levels every time. So whether this is the final adventure we read about, we’re left with the impression this is certainly not the final adventure Bernie will be having. And that makes me happy.