Charles Bukowski’s fiction novel, Pulp, is a cunning tale of a personal investigator who must leap through many strange obstacles in order to escape death. Christopher Friesen, a writer for The Thrilling Detective, wrote a review evaluating the value of Bukowski’s writing. Friesen is incorrect in his perception that Pulp is written poorly and that Nick Belane’s alcoholism lacks meaning; to the contrary, the novel is replete with underlying symbolism and literary merit.
In Bukowski’s mystery novel, Nick Belane thinks of himself as, “the best dick in L.A.,” (Bukowski 37), who can solve complex detective cases at a steep price of six dollars an hour. He is constantly trying to find his next fix of alcohol and picks fights at every bar he steps …show more content…
Friesen begins his critique by introducing his topic, Pulp, and immediately claims that the work is “a very good example of bad writing,” (Friesen 1). He then gives a general summarization of the book. While doing this, Friesen’s confirms his rather adverse opinion when he states that, “Belane manages to close his cases, [...] not through powers of detection, but by dumb luck,” (Friesen 2), inserting his assessment that the novel’s composition is childish and immature. After Friesen completes his outline of the work, he concludes that, “most fans of hard-boiled detective fiction will be disappointed,” (Friesen 3). Contrastingly, he does point out that “there are a few polished ingots amidst the dross through,” (Friesen 2). However, the majority of his comments throughout the review are negative and evince the fact that he did not enjoy the book in the least. This point is yet again confirmed when he closes his critique stating that fans of Bukowski “should [not] bother reading [Pulp],” (Friesen …show more content…
Friesen claims that the “ridiculous cases [...] don’t go anywhere, with magic realism,” (Friesen 2). The first issue with this statement is that no evidence is given to back up Friesen’s argument. Without having read the book, how is one supposed to trust the position this author makes without proof to back it up. The second issue arises because Pulp displays an exceptional amount of content dealing with magic realism. Specifically, when Jeannie Nitro, the space alien, devolves another space alien into his true form. Belane recalls that, “there was a purple flash and instantly Billy [, the space alien,] was turned into a furry snake with one moist eye and began wriggling rapidly across the floor,” (Bukowski 140). This example clearly portrays an element of magic realism that Friesen believes to be nonexistent in the novel, causing it to be poorly written. Contrary to the statement made by Friesen, the investigative cases dealing with magic realism do go places. The elements of magic realism present in this story, have a very defined purpose. These cases are very relevant to the plot and Nick Belane’s character. For example: When Belane speaks to Jeannie Nitro, she informs him that she is leaving earth because of the,
In Bukowski’s mystery novel, Nick Belane thinks of himself as, “the best dick in L.A.,” (Bukowski 37), who can solve complex detective cases at a steep price of six dollars an hour. He is constantly trying to find his next fix of alcohol and picks fights at every bar he steps …show more content…
Friesen begins his critique by introducing his topic, Pulp, and immediately claims that the work is “a very good example of bad writing,” (Friesen 1). He then gives a general summarization of the book. While doing this, Friesen’s confirms his rather adverse opinion when he states that, “Belane manages to close his cases, [...] not through powers of detection, but by dumb luck,” (Friesen 2), inserting his assessment that the novel’s composition is childish and immature. After Friesen completes his outline of the work, he concludes that, “most fans of hard-boiled detective fiction will be disappointed,” (Friesen 3). Contrastingly, he does point out that “there are a few polished ingots amidst the dross through,” (Friesen 2). However, the majority of his comments throughout the review are negative and evince the fact that he did not enjoy the book in the least. This point is yet again confirmed when he closes his critique stating that fans of Bukowski “should [not] bother reading [Pulp],” (Friesen …show more content…
Friesen claims that the “ridiculous cases [...] don’t go anywhere, with magic realism,” (Friesen 2). The first issue with this statement is that no evidence is given to back up Friesen’s argument. Without having read the book, how is one supposed to trust the position this author makes without proof to back it up. The second issue arises because Pulp displays an exceptional amount of content dealing with magic realism. Specifically, when Jeannie Nitro, the space alien, devolves another space alien into his true form. Belane recalls that, “there was a purple flash and instantly Billy [, the space alien,] was turned into a furry snake with one moist eye and began wriggling rapidly across the floor,” (Bukowski 140). This example clearly portrays an element of magic realism that Friesen believes to be nonexistent in the novel, causing it to be poorly written. Contrary to the statement made by Friesen, the investigative cases dealing with magic realism do go places. The elements of magic realism present in this story, have a very defined purpose. These cases are very relevant to the plot and Nick Belane’s character. For example: When Belane speaks to Jeannie Nitro, she informs him that she is leaving earth because of the,