Clockers

Rating:
Summary: A Tough Novel with a Moral Core
Review: If your only previous exposure to drug pushing, rough cops, and life in the projects has been from the movies and bad detective novels, stop here; Clockers is going to be a great read. Violent (but not as much as is portrayed in similarly-themed films), curiously honorable (ditto), and occasionally hopeful, what this novel does best is solidify the sensations of fear and necessity that propel individuals to behave in ways that oscillate from the truly heroic to the basely inhuman. But the real reason to give yourself over to this novel is the truth of its writing: the central characters are always authentic, the minor characters are more than wallpaper to the scene, the reality is never romanticized, and the material never sacrifices its moral core for the sake its story. In a way that has become lately rarer to find, the moral core is the story-the last book I read that was as ultimately self-affirming was The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Clockers is engaging, complex, and a step up for those who are more familiar with the staged shadows of their favorite cliched gumshoe. This is certainly an entertaining novel, but it's also one that, like its main character, bursts at the seems with tell-tale reflections of its time and place. Theme and situation are inseparable in Clockers. You probably wont ever find a novel about life on the 1990's urban underside quite like this.

Rating:
Summary: Dempsey NJ
Review: Its a fictional city in jersey, but spike lee set it in brooklyn, but it works better in jersey, Strike is an interesting character, I read this book 10 years ago. Not your typical drugdealer story.

Rating:
Summary: Dempsey NJ
Review: Its a fictional city in jersey, but spike lee set it in brooklyn, but it works better in jersey, Strike is an interesting character, I read this book 10 years ago. Not your typical drugdealer story.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, an excellent piece of Literature
Review: One the wittiest, darkest, most complex murder mystery since L.A. Confidential (The book a Classic masterpiece, the movie nothing more than good entertainment) Rocco and Strike are perfect players for Richard Prices character study of cops and dealers, the good and the bad, the black and white and the brown who all seem to be misunderstanding eachother rather than truly listening to eachother. Price was able to get me so into the charcters complex persona and agendas that when he uncovers the answer to the mystery I realized that I had become as blind as Rocco firy detective and Strikes mentally confused and conflicted drug dealer. The Clockers are as deadly as they are sad and as angry as they are full of it. (That doesn't include Rodney, Buddha Hat, or Errol Barnes, who all have an evil and dangerous aura that, unlike most hoods, truly is dangerous.) The film was surprisingly faithful to the novel and its message, although I was dissapointed that they took out such charcters as Buddha Hat and Futon and Peanut and Champ and didn't focus on Thumper at all and waited till the end to bring out the rage and fury of Andre until the end of the movie. The book, though, is a classic example of urban tension and decay and depression and hopelessness and the good people who are taken down because of it. But also how an act of mercy can bring hope to the most hopeless clocker and the most burnt out detective.

Rating:
Summary: Very good mystery/thriller involving drug dealing.
Review: Richard Price has an ear for street dialogue and he knows how to give his characters depth and dimension. As much as I loved Price's "Freedomland", this book is an even greater accomplishment.

There are no one-dimensional characters here. Everyone is real. Strike, the clocker, deals drugs and damages the life of a young boy. Yet there is goodness, awareness and a glimmer of hope inside him. Sometimes we hate him, sometimes we pity him, sometimes we admire him. Rocco the homicide cop is equally vivid, a hero in some ways, a tragic figure in others. These are people we care about because they're so full and real. Even Rodney, Strike's boss, a badass dude for sure, dispenses some truths and solid advice when he's recruiting clockers in lockup.

As deep as the characterizations run, the book surprisingly evolves into a whodunit. By the time you realize this, you're so involved with the characters, you have a steep investment in how it all turns out. There were times I laughed out loud, there were times I cried, and there were times I had to put this book down and reflect on the poignant truths that reveal themselves to these people.

As a fan of crime fiction and police procedurals, this book stands apart from the genre. There is action, to be sure, but "Clockers" is a character study in a gritty environment, and you feel the threat and wear of imminent violence on every page. Yet you'll find some decency as well.

For an exciting and totally involving journey into the inner city and the world of cops and dealers, it doesn't get any better than this.

Rating:
Summary: Gritty And Great
Review: Richard Price has an ear for street dialogue and he knows how to give his characters depth and dimension. As much as I loved Price's "Freedomland", this book is an even greater accomplishment.

There are no one-dimensional characters here. Everyone is real. Strike, the clocker, deals drugs and damages the life of a young boy. Yet there is goodness, awareness and a glimmer of hope inside him. Sometimes we hate him, sometimes we pity him, sometimes we admire him. Rocco the homicide cop is equally vivid, a hero in some ways, a tragic figure in others. These are people we care about because they're so full and real. Even Rodney, Strike's boss, a badass dude for sure, dispenses some truths and solid advice when he's recruiting clockers in lockup.

As deep as the characterizations run, the book surprisingly evolves into a whodunit. By the time you realize this, you're so involved with the characters, you have a steep investment in how it all turns out. There were times I laughed out loud, there were times I cried, and there were times I had to put this book down and reflect on the poignant truths that reveal themselves to these people.

As a fan of crime fiction and police procedurals, this book stands apart from the genre. There is action, to be sure, but "Clockers" is a character study in a gritty environment, and you feel the threat and wear of imminent violence on every page. Yet you'll find some decency as well.

For an exciting and totally involving journey into the inner city and the world of cops and dealers, it doesn't get any better than this.

Rating:
Summary: Gritty and Honest Fictional Portrayal Of Drug Dealer's World
Review: Richard Price's "Clockers" is a gritty, honest, brutally realistic portrayal of a young drug dealer trying to go straight, set in a bleak urban landscape of a fictional New Jersey city (In reality it is Jersey City, since Price mentions real streets in his gripping narrative.). Strike, the young dealer, is a mesmerizing protagonist, neither hero or villian, trapped by dire circumstances in his drug-infested, criminal world. Rocco, a delinquent husband and father, is a lackadaisal detective who finds new strength and appreciation for his work after trying to untangle a complex web of clues related to a bloody gangland-style homicide inside a local restaurant suspected of having strong ties to drug dealers such as Strike. Although I am quite impressed with Price's bleak tale, I can award it only four stars since it falls short in literary quality to some of the best work written in a similar vein by the likes of Elmore Leonard, William Gibson and Jonathan Lethem.

Rating:
Summary: Gritty and Honest Fictional Portrayal Of Drug Dealer's World
Review: Richard Price's "Clockers" is a gritty, honest, brutally realistic portrayal of a young drug dealer trying to go straight, set in a bleak urban landscape of a fictional New Jersey city (In reality it is Jersey City, since Price mentions real streets in his gripping narrative.). Strike, the young dealer, is a mesmerizing protagonist, neither hero or villian, trapped by dire circumstances in his drug-infested, criminal world. Rocco, a delinquent husband and father, is a lackadaisal detective who finds new strength and appreciation for his work after trying to untangle a complex web of clues related to a bloody gangland-style homicide inside a local restaurant suspected of having strong ties to drug dealers such as Strike. Although I am quite impressed with Price's bleak tale, I can award it only four stars since it falls short in literary quality to some of the best work written in a similar vein by the likes of Elmore Leonard, William Gibson and Jonathan Lethem.

Rating:
Summary: ONE DAMN GOOD BOOK!!!!
Review: Richard Price's "Clockers" is easily one of the best books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. It is a riveting tale of ruthless detectives, the guilty, the innocent, racism, drugs and hope.It is a book that makes us care about its characters including Strike, Det. Rocco Klein and many others. It is a book about the state of the drug problem in America as well as a tight, captivating murder mystery. Spike Lee made a wonderful, gritty film from the novel and both are urban masterpeices.

Rating:
Summary: The devistated American urban landscape...
Review: Richard Price's Strike is an unforgettable character - a teenage drug dealer with moral fiber, smart enough to save his money and not draw attention to himself with a flashy lifestyle, who secretly feels protective of his young "clockers" and learns to respect the cop that investigates him for a murder he didn't commit.

Great story, great writing.