craigkocur's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
lshum's review against another edition
1.0
I almost didn't bother to finish this book because it was so bad. Plot was tepid and the writing was so blatantly misogynistic that it was painful to read.
kodermike's review against another edition
4.0
As someone who grew up in the 80's, I can only point at this book and say this - this is where all of my favorite TV shows were born. This is where the Rockford Files were seeded, Simon and Simon conceived, Riptide docked. This is where the Burn Notice was lit. If you've ever watched a show where the good guys are only mostly good, and every week they are helping some other unfortunate soul that's been dealt a rough hand fight back, then this book is for you.
The Deep Blue Good-By isn't a deep novel. What it is a great escape from the mundane, to a world where a guy living on a houseboat can solve crimes, right wrongs, and still has time to sip a beer at sunset. While at times a little dated, given the fact that it was published in the 60's, it stands up pretty well.
The Deep Blue Good-By isn't a deep novel. What it is a great escape from the mundane, to a world where a guy living on a houseboat can solve crimes, right wrongs, and still has time to sip a beer at sunset. While at times a little dated, given the fact that it was published in the 60's, it stands up pretty well.
mattydalrymple's review against another edition
5.0
Just read this classic and enjoyed it thoroughly! Although the 1964 take on relations between men and women can read a little jarring in 2015, the characters are wonderfully drawn and the language is arresting--for example, I loved his description of a sterile modern Florida house: "When they are emptied after occupancy, they have the look of places where the blood has recently been washed away." Now I'm on to the second book of the Travis McGee series!
mickeymole's review against another edition
5.0
This was my first journey into the world of Travis McGee. Boy, howdy, what a fun and fine trip! John D MacDonald’s writing is right up there with the best. Not only is this a great story, but MacDonald’s use of the English language is something akin to Chet Baker’s work with a trumpet. Pure magic.
Here’s McGee describing himself:
“...Travis McGee, that big brown loose-jointed boat bum, that pale-eyed, wire-haired girl-seeker, that slayer of small savage fish, that beach-walker, gin-drinker, quip-maker, peace-seeker, iconoclast, disbeliever, argufier, that knuckly, scar-tissued reject form a structured society.”
“I tried to look disarming. I am pretty good at that. I have one of those useful faces. Tanned American. Bright eyes and white teeth shining amid a broad brown reliable bony visage. The proper folk-hero crinkle at the corners of the eyes, and the bashful appealing smile, where needed. I have been told that when I have been aroused in violent directions I can look like something from an unused corner of hell, but I wouldn’t know about that. My mirror consistently reflects that folksy image of the young project engineer who flung the bridge across the river in spite of overwhelming odds, up to and including the poisoned arrow in his heroic shoulder.”
Descriptions of other characters:
“I could see that she was elderly by Chook’s standards. Perhaps twenty-six or -seven. A brown-eyed blonde, with the helpless mournful eyes of a basset hound. She was a little weathered around the eyes. In the lounge lights I saw that the basic black had given her a lot of good use. Her hands looked a little rough. Under the slightly bouffant skirt of the black dress were those unmistakable dancer’s legs, curved and trim and sinewy.”
“Willy Lazeer is an acquaintance. His teeth and his feet hurt. He hates the climate, the Power Squadron, the government and his wife. The vast load of hate has left him numbed rather than bitter. In appearance, it is as though somebody bleached Sinatra, skinned him, and made Willy wear him.”
“She was a tall and slender woman, possibly in her early thirties. Her skin had the extraordinary fineness of grain, and the translucence you see in small children and fashion models. In her fine long hands, delicacy of wrists, floating texture of dark hair, and in the mobility of the long narrow sensitive structuring of her face there was the look of something almost too well made, too highly bred, too finely drawn for all the natural crudities of human existence.”
“A few years ago she would have been breathtakingly ripe, and even now, in night light, with drinks and laughter, there would be all the illusions of freshness and youth and desirability. But in this cruelty of sunlight, in this, her twentieth year, she was a record of everything she had let them do to her. Too many trips to too many storerooms had worn the bloom away. The freshness had been romped out, in sweat and excess. The body reflects the casual abrasions of the spirit, so that now she could slump in her meaty indifference, as immunized to tenderness as a whore at a clinic.”
And, my favorite line:
“She was styled for abundant lactation, and her uniform blouse was not.”
MacDonald certainly knew how to turn a phrase--a brilliant artist using words to paint pictures that jump from the page. There’s something quote-worthy on just about every page of THE DEEP BLUE GOOD-BY.
“The wide world is full of likable people who get kicked in the stomach regularly. They’re disaster-prone. Something goes wrong. The sky starts falling on their heads. And you can’t reverse the process.”
“I had that fractional part of consciousness left which gave me a remote and unimportant view of reality. The world was a television set at the other end of a dark auditorium, with blurred sound and a fringe area picture.”
“People have their acquired armor, made up of gestures and expressions and defensive chatter.”
“He was in a gigantic circular bed, with a pink canopy over it. In all the luxuriant femininity of that big bedroom, George looked shrunken and misplaced, like a dead worm in a birthday cake.”
A special thanks goes out to my great friend, Bobby, who gave me this book.
Here’s McGee describing himself:
“...Travis McGee, that big brown loose-jointed boat bum, that pale-eyed, wire-haired girl-seeker, that slayer of small savage fish, that beach-walker, gin-drinker, quip-maker, peace-seeker, iconoclast, disbeliever, argufier, that knuckly, scar-tissued reject form a structured society.”
“I tried to look disarming. I am pretty good at that. I have one of those useful faces. Tanned American. Bright eyes and white teeth shining amid a broad brown reliable bony visage. The proper folk-hero crinkle at the corners of the eyes, and the bashful appealing smile, where needed. I have been told that when I have been aroused in violent directions I can look like something from an unused corner of hell, but I wouldn’t know about that. My mirror consistently reflects that folksy image of the young project engineer who flung the bridge across the river in spite of overwhelming odds, up to and including the poisoned arrow in his heroic shoulder.”
Descriptions of other characters:
“I could see that she was elderly by Chook’s standards. Perhaps twenty-six or -seven. A brown-eyed blonde, with the helpless mournful eyes of a basset hound. She was a little weathered around the eyes. In the lounge lights I saw that the basic black had given her a lot of good use. Her hands looked a little rough. Under the slightly bouffant skirt of the black dress were those unmistakable dancer’s legs, curved and trim and sinewy.”
“Willy Lazeer is an acquaintance. His teeth and his feet hurt. He hates the climate, the Power Squadron, the government and his wife. The vast load of hate has left him numbed rather than bitter. In appearance, it is as though somebody bleached Sinatra, skinned him, and made Willy wear him.”
“She was a tall and slender woman, possibly in her early thirties. Her skin had the extraordinary fineness of grain, and the translucence you see in small children and fashion models. In her fine long hands, delicacy of wrists, floating texture of dark hair, and in the mobility of the long narrow sensitive structuring of her face there was the look of something almost too well made, too highly bred, too finely drawn for all the natural crudities of human existence.”
“A few years ago she would have been breathtakingly ripe, and even now, in night light, with drinks and laughter, there would be all the illusions of freshness and youth and desirability. But in this cruelty of sunlight, in this, her twentieth year, she was a record of everything she had let them do to her. Too many trips to too many storerooms had worn the bloom away. The freshness had been romped out, in sweat and excess. The body reflects the casual abrasions of the spirit, so that now she could slump in her meaty indifference, as immunized to tenderness as a whore at a clinic.”
And, my favorite line:
“She was styled for abundant lactation, and her uniform blouse was not.”
MacDonald certainly knew how to turn a phrase--a brilliant artist using words to paint pictures that jump from the page. There’s something quote-worthy on just about every page of THE DEEP BLUE GOOD-BY.
“The wide world is full of likable people who get kicked in the stomach regularly. They’re disaster-prone. Something goes wrong. The sky starts falling on their heads. And you can’t reverse the process.”
“I had that fractional part of consciousness left which gave me a remote and unimportant view of reality. The world was a television set at the other end of a dark auditorium, with blurred sound and a fringe area picture.”
“People have their acquired armor, made up of gestures and expressions and defensive chatter.”
“He was in a gigantic circular bed, with a pink canopy over it. In all the luxuriant femininity of that big bedroom, George looked shrunken and misplaced, like a dead worm in a birthday cake.”
A special thanks goes out to my great friend, Bobby, who gave me this book.
alby829's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
fredosbrother's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
tamaralgage1's review against another edition
When I was in high school I lived on the tunes of Jimmy Buffett. There is a song which talks about Travis McGee in Cedar Key. At the time and the years that followed I thought the name was made up by the songwriter. But, discussing books with friends can be educational. I learned that Travis McGee was a fictional character in a series of books by John McDonald (also referenced in the song) and thus peaked my interest.
This book finds Travis McGee docked in Ft. Lauderdale taking life as it comes. It's a light hearted, slow paced, take it as it comes book. McGee has a unique way of making money and worth the effort to read the book. I look forward to the next book.
This book finds Travis McGee docked in Ft. Lauderdale taking life as it comes. It's a light hearted, slow paced, take it as it comes book. McGee has a unique way of making money and worth the effort to read the book. I look forward to the next book.
literatetexan's review against another edition
4.0
I bought this book because I love Stephen King, but I'm running out of Stephen King books to read. Earlier this month I read The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, and the author suggested that when you're out of books to read by your favorite author, find out who that author's influences are, and read them.
So I picked up The Deep Blue Good-by by John D. MacDonald. This is the first book in the Travis McGee series, and I can't wait to read the next twenty books in the series. MacDonald's prose is snappy and stylish. He reminds me of Hemingway in places, but somewhat less literary.
Travis McGee specializes in recovering stolen items for people in exchange for half of the value of what he recovers. Of course, being a beach bum, he only works when he's running out of money. I won't spoil any more of the plot, but I will see that the book was riveting and shouldn't be missed. This is as good a crime novel as you're likely to read.
So I picked up The Deep Blue Good-by by John D. MacDonald. This is the first book in the Travis McGee series, and I can't wait to read the next twenty books in the series. MacDonald's prose is snappy and stylish. He reminds me of Hemingway in places, but somewhat less literary.
Travis McGee specializes in recovering stolen items for people in exchange for half of the value of what he recovers. Of course, being a beach bum, he only works when he's running out of money. I won't spoil any more of the plot, but I will see that the book was riveting and shouldn't be missed. This is as good a crime novel as you're likely to read.
liliales's review against another edition
4.0
He sure had a way with poetic device. I kept wanting to read passages aloud. And Travis McGee seems to see the world rather as I do. I liked how he put things, pretty often. It'll be interesting to see how his character developed over twenty years of stories.