blackoxford's review against another edition
4.0
Gentle Elegance
As a newcomer to Alan Hunter, I had no expectations about his style. Many have criticised Gently Continental as an aberration from his usual form. I find it wonderfully original and enjoyable.
Gently Continental is, if nothing else, a book about England, its mores, foibles and its charms. Unlike the usual fictional narrator who disappears into the background of a story, Hunter's initially puts himself forward with wry wit and irony. As details of the crime and those associated with it emerge, the narrator is there to comment on the illogic of the local bumpkins and the procedural wrangling among official agencies. No one is spared, from the local constable to the ministers in Whitehall.
And unlike many murder mysteries which spring the villainous nature of the perpetrator as almost an afterthought if not a downright deus ex machina, Hunter does a slow reveal of all the personalities involved. And it is here that his narrator is at his wittiest and most ironic. I think it is the sustained irony that creates an almost conspiratorial bond with the reader. We and the narrator are above the petty interests and faults of all the East Anglian bumpkins and bureaucratic civil servants.
Above all except Detective Chief Inspector Gently himself, of course, who outranks the narrator and the Reader in terms of insight and skilful observation. The irony comes to a dead halt with Gently's appearance on the scene, and by its sudden absence gives him an immediate presence without the need for description. The narrator disappears entirely in a dialogue between Gently and his witnesses that reads like a film script. Just questions and answers with the occasional bit of stage direction, but no interpretation, and certainly no irony.
It's a remarkable technique which I have encountered nowhere else. Gently's competence is established incidentally, as it were, by the narrative shift. It's a technique that doesn't transfer easily to film in which the sustained irony of the narrator can't be captured except indirectly - precisely the opposite effect of the book. So Gently Continental exemplifies at least one point of superiority of literature over cinema.
Another advantage over cinema is that Gently provides meaning to what is known by others through his presence The local law enforcers only realise the significance of what they know, not when Gently interprets, but when he is merely in the room with them. They become inspired. And they are taken aback by this unexpected inspiration. They even become somewhat self-aware, and appear to learn in his presence.
Finally, it would seem impossible, except in print, to capture Gently's poetic thought processes, expressed in short, clipped, metrical phrases. These demand to be read aloud like an Elizabethan play. Quick, impressionistic, precise, they convey not just thought but the personality of the thinker who is merely enigmatic for everyone involved in the case. The effect is a sort of civilised noir, hard-nosed but articulate, even elegant in the connections made.
So not just a murder mystery but a literary sampler of Hunter's undoubted talents. Highly recommended for the jaded crime-thriller reader.
As a newcomer to Alan Hunter, I had no expectations about his style. Many have criticised Gently Continental as an aberration from his usual form. I find it wonderfully original and enjoyable.
Gently Continental is, if nothing else, a book about England, its mores, foibles and its charms. Unlike the usual fictional narrator who disappears into the background of a story, Hunter's initially puts himself forward with wry wit and irony. As details of the crime and those associated with it emerge, the narrator is there to comment on the illogic of the local bumpkins and the procedural wrangling among official agencies. No one is spared, from the local constable to the ministers in Whitehall.
And unlike many murder mysteries which spring the villainous nature of the perpetrator as almost an afterthought if not a downright deus ex machina, Hunter does a slow reveal of all the personalities involved. And it is here that his narrator is at his wittiest and most ironic. I think it is the sustained irony that creates an almost conspiratorial bond with the reader. We and the narrator are above the petty interests and faults of all the East Anglian bumpkins and bureaucratic civil servants.
Above all except Detective Chief Inspector Gently himself, of course, who outranks the narrator and the Reader in terms of insight and skilful observation. The irony comes to a dead halt with Gently's appearance on the scene, and by its sudden absence gives him an immediate presence without the need for description. The narrator disappears entirely in a dialogue between Gently and his witnesses that reads like a film script. Just questions and answers with the occasional bit of stage direction, but no interpretation, and certainly no irony.
It's a remarkable technique which I have encountered nowhere else. Gently's competence is established incidentally, as it were, by the narrative shift. It's a technique that doesn't transfer easily to film in which the sustained irony of the narrator can't be captured except indirectly - precisely the opposite effect of the book. So Gently Continental exemplifies at least one point of superiority of literature over cinema.
Another advantage over cinema is that Gently provides meaning to what is known by others through his presence The local law enforcers only realise the significance of what they know, not when Gently interprets, but when he is merely in the room with them. They become inspired. And they are taken aback by this unexpected inspiration. They even become somewhat self-aware, and appear to learn in his presence.
Finally, it would seem impossible, except in print, to capture Gently's poetic thought processes, expressed in short, clipped, metrical phrases. These demand to be read aloud like an Elizabethan play. Quick, impressionistic, precise, they convey not just thought but the personality of the thinker who is merely enigmatic for everyone involved in the case. The effect is a sort of civilised noir, hard-nosed but articulate, even elegant in the connections made.
So not just a murder mystery but a literary sampler of Hunter's undoubted talents. Highly recommended for the jaded crime-thriller reader.
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