Clockers

Rating:
Summary: An unconventional murder mystery with street credibility
Review: Clockers is a murder mystery, complete with suspense and a twist ending, cloaked in an unconventional, raw street setting. The novel possesses more street-smarts than any other book I've read, fiction or not. The dialogue, internally (i.e., in the characters' own heads) and externally, was tough and vibrant, and employed street vernacular which rang credible without sounding clichéd. Many authors tell tales of drug dealers and ghetto crimes, but rare is the account from a drug-dealer's point of view. A troubled, intelligent, calculating drug-dealer, no less, who considers the repercussions of his every move.

All of Clockers' characters were realistically flawed, able to invoke both sympathy and disgust. Strike, the ulcer-stricken dealer, was in constant turmoil as he struggled between trying to earn enough from his illicit trade to get out of it, and attempting to help others avoid being dragged into the same web. Rocco, the homicide detective and delinquent family-man, had a love-hate relationship with his work, and sought a mission through which to justify his continued involvement in the force. Victor (Strike's brother) was an honest, hard working black man who had risen above the allure of the street life around him, but wrestled with his own demons and internal sense of justice. Everyone's paths met with the murder of a lesser character, at which point the cat and mouse game was afoot.

Lesser, but no less interesting plot lines abound: Strike's education of his would-be apprentice, Tyrone; Strike's efforts to free himself from an unhealthily dependent relationship with drug kingpin Rodney; and Rocco's schoolboy interest in being shadowed by a cocksure filmmaker with an interest in a police picture. Also fascinating and seemingly credible were the lessons in police and ghetto-civilian dealings: crooked cops being paid for protection; dealers ratting on one another to escape arrest; and unlikely, yet highly effective, working relationships between cops and dealers born from years of coexistence. Lastly, the issues broached by Clockers are current by today's standards, including AIDS, the questionable efficacy of drug busts, and the shiftlessness of ghetto kids who turn to pushing in the absence of concerned adults.

Rating:
Summary: "Crime and Punishment," ca. 1992.
Review: I first stumbled onto Richard Price with a fifty-cent used copy of "Ladies' Man." It was engaging and fun, kind of like an unusually smart episode of Seinfeld with an NC-17 rating. It convinced me to give "Blood Brothers" a try and after that, forget it. I went forward to "Samaritan," back to "The Wanderers," and tracked down copies of his screenplays in between. I couldn't read enough of this guy.

However, Clockers remains Price's grand achievement to date. It's a crime novel of unusual depth that bears more in common with Dostoevsky than Elmore Leonard. Some reviewers have said Clockers fails as a mystery. I'll be the first to agree: as a genre mystery, Clockers does fail. But it's not a genre mystery. It's a map of the landscape, both urban and personal. It's a novel of morals and it's a tragedy. Price follows the drug-dealing Strike and detective Klein as their stories head inevitably towards collision. Both men are working to do the right thing, but are put directly at odds by forces out of their control. This is tragic to the capital T. Price accomplishes many astonishing feats here, not the least of which include making the world of Demsey real enough to touch and developing deep sympathy and understanding for both Strike and Klein without ever trading his gritty style for schmaltz. Price has incredible powers of observation, his eye for character and ear for dialogue, doubtless honed by his time working in housing project administration.

I absolutely disagree with the reviewer who claims that Price falls short of Lethem, Gibson, and Leonard. Perhaps, if you evaluate a book solely by slickness and cleverness, he doesn't measure up, but Clockers has more heart than Jake LaMotta and Price has an eye for detail that would put the Splendid Splinterer himself to shame. Don't get me wrong: I really loved Motherless Brooklyn, Out of Sight, and Virtual Light, but those books are empty in comparison.

Finally, I think Spike Lee's film adaptation was deeply flawed and does not do the novel justice, primarily because there's too much in Clockers to fit into a feature film. This problem was only exacerbated by the fact that Lee fragmented the film by bringing in his own soapbox issues (violence in video games, the need for strong parental figures) to crowd out more important plot elements. Even if you didn't like the movie, give the book a chance. And then go watch "Sea of Love," a Price screenplay that was done well.

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: 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.