Rating: 
Summary: Does this book really deserve the hype ?
Review: A fascinating psycological insight into the life of a New York burglar. Block utilises the writers craft of suspence to give you one big adventure. An easy read, which you will not be able to put down
Rating: 
Summary: Bookseller/Burglar/Sleuth at It Again!
Review: Bernie Rhodenbarr is at it again in Lawrence Block's fourth "The Burglar Who..." series. In this fast paced novel "The Burglar who Studied Spinoza," Bernie has to turn sleuth once again to prove he is not guilty of anything worse than entering someone else's apartment with his trusty burglar tools and taking valuables easy to carry away and fence them for a quick turn over. This story involves a very rare coin, a 1913 Liberty V nickel. Our favorite reoccurring characters, Carolyn Kaiser who runs a dog grooming parlor, and Ray Kirschmann the best cop money can buy also make play their roles as they have in previous "Burglar Who book..." Lawrence Block does an excellent job telling of burglaries, murder and mayhem. As with other books in this series he does it with a great sense of humor. That's what makes these stories of a burglar who also owns an antiquarian bookshop in New York Greenwich Village fun to read. They are light reading, just right for a cold winter's night in front of a fireplace or a bright summer afternoon at poolside. I'm a true Bernie Rhodenbarr fan and look forward to reading the next on my to read list, "The Burglar who Pained Like Mondrian." When I do a review will surly be posted here.
Rating:
Summary: Bookseller/Burglar/Sleuth at It Again!
Review: Bernie Rhodenbarr is at it again in Lawrence Block's fourth "The Burglar Who..." series. In this fast paced novel "The Burglar who Studied Spinoza," Bernie has to turn sleuth once again to prove he is not guilty of anything worse than entering someone else's apartment with his trusty burglar tools and taking valuables easy to carry away and fence them for a quick turn over. This story involves a very rare coin, a 1913 Liberty V nickel. Our favorite reoccurring characters, Carolyn Kaiser who runs a dog grooming parlor, and Ray Kirschmann the best cop money can buy also make play their roles as they have in previous "Burglar Who book..." Lawrence Block does an excellent job telling of burglaries, murder and mayhem. As with other books in this series he does it with a great sense of humor. That's what makes these stories of a burglar who also owns an antiquarian bookshop in New York Greenwich Village fun to read. They are light reading, just right for a cold winter's night in front of a fireplace or a bright summer afternoon at poolside. I'm a true Bernie Rhodenbarr fan and look forward to reading the next on my to read list, "The Burglar who Pained Like Mondrian." When I do a review will surly be posted here.
Rating:
Summary: Rhodenbarr, as always, is a thoroughly engaging character.
Review: I have enjoyed all the Rhodenbarr books. Rhodenbarr himself and Corolyn Kaiser are charming, and the plot of this book is as imaginative as the plots of all of the others in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, and quick but thoughtful read.
Review: I read this book because I adore Spinoza, and figured any crook who has studied Spinoza can't be all bad, as of course Bernie is not. And Abel, his fence, is not. Abel is simply given to excess. His lifestyle, including his eating habits, he supports through non-legal efforts. Bernie, the narrator, one of Abel's partners in crime, has "pretty much" gone straight, probably because he knows--sooner or later-- crime really doesn't pay. But when you have a hobby...well, you've got to apply yourself to it, at least occasionally. The love interest is early on fairly predictable, but you don't want to bet the farm until the last few pages. The 3 main characters are fully formed. Their needs and fears, their hopes and dreams--everything that makes us human--are explored, Spinoza fashion, through relationships, deeds, and the solving of a murder. Sometimes the "bad" guy gets away, sometimes not. Sometimes the "good" guy gets a raw deal, sometimes not. There is a little bit of everything in this book...men, women, children, animals, relationships, theft, big money, murder, philosophy, psychology... all overlapping in a complex but not complicated fashion. It's the way life does us.
Rating:
Summary: Rhodenbarr, as always, is a thoroughly engaging character.
Review: If you read the publication materials carefully you will notice that the book was copywritten in 1980, but not published till 1997. There are anachronisms in the text that make this clear. Though it reads as if the author and the reader share the same time zone (eastern, very eastern) silver is $20 an ounce, telephone calls cost a dime, and jogging is still a new fad. The plot could also use some revision, because the denoument, which I won't spoil more than it already is, doesn't really convince this reader, who is a very big Lawrence Block fan. What continues to please are the voice, the characters, the relationship between Bernie and his buddy, and the general sense of decency and good humor, so refreshing in a professional criminal. Block's last Matthew Scudder felt a little recycled , too. And his latest is a revival of a character he hasn't written about in almost twenty years. Why all this rehashing? Is he tired? Did he fall off the wagon? Does he have a new and more interesting hobby?
Rating: 
Summary: Not his best from an author who is usually great!
Review: If you read the publication materials carefully you will notice that the book was copywritten in 1980, but not published till 1997. There are anachronisms in the text that make this clear. Though it reads as if the author and the reader share the same time zone (eastern, very eastern) silver is $20 an ounce, telephone calls cost a dime, and jogging is still a new fad. The plot could also use some revision, because the denoument, which I won't spoil more than it already is, doesn't really convince this reader, who is a very big Lawrence Block fan. What continues to please are the voice, the characters, the relationship between Bernie and his buddy, and the general sense of decency and good humor, so refreshing in a professional criminal. Block's last Matthew Scudder felt a little recycled , too. And his latest is a revival of a character he hasn't written about in almost twenty years. Why all this rehashing? Is he tired? Did he fall off the wagon? Does he have a new and more interesting hobby?
Rating:
Summary: Bernie Finds Himself Between Burglaries
Review: Lawrence Block is one of our most talented mystery authors. In the Bernie Rhodenbarr series he explores how an ordinary, but intelligent, "honest" person might go about pursuing a life of crime as a fastidious and talented burglar who isn't proud of what he does, doesn't like to hang out with criminals, and really gets a big thrill out of breaking and entering . . . and removing valuables. As you can see, there's a sitcom set-up to provide lots of humor. But the humor works well in part because Mr. Block is able to put the reader in the Bernie's shoes while he breaks, enters and steals . . . and evades the long arm of the law. To balance the "honest" burglar is an array of "dishonest" and equally easy-money loving cops. As a result, you're in a funny moral never-never land while your stomach tightens and your arm muscles twitch as tension builds. To make matters even more topsy-turvy, Bernie at some point in every story turns into an investigator who must figure out "who-dun-it" for some crime that he personally didn't do. It's almost like one of those "mystery at home" games where the victim comes back as the police investigator, playing two roles. Very nice!So much for explaining the concept of the series. The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza is the fourth book in the series. I strongly suggest that you begin the series by reading Burglars Can't Be Choosers and follow it up with The Burglar in the Closet and The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling. Each story in the series adds information and characters in a way that will reduce your pleasure of the others if read out of order. Although, I originally read them out of order and liked them well enough. I'm rereading them now in order, and like it much better this way. The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian comes next in the series. Bernie's friend, Carolyn Kaiser, the dog groomer at the Poodle Factory has a hot tip for him. Wealthy dog-owners, Herbert and Wanda Colcannon will be out of town breeding Astrid, their Bouvier des Flandres guard dog, who normally keeps burglars away from their possessions, which includes Herbert's famous coin collection . . . and which Bernie is already impressed by. Carolyn discovered a taste for breaking and entering while "borrowing" a Polaroid camera in The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling, and now she's a full-fledged partner who insists on joining Bernie in the burglary. Quickly inside the Colcannon's West 18th Street brownstone, they find the place a mess. "Burglars," Bernie announces. But the first burglars mainly made a mess . . . and couldn't open the safe. But Bernie does and finds some jewelry, a Piaget watch, and a nickel. The main coin collection must be safe in a bank vault elsewhere. Carolyn's more pleased with the Chagall lithograph that she takes for her apartment. So far, so good. They retire to visit Bernie's charming fence, Abel Crowe, who had survived being an inmate at Dachau. Bernie knows that Abel is more likely to be generous if he's in a good mood, so Bernie brings Abel a little gift, a 1707 English edition of Spinoza's Ethics, bound in blue calf. Everything goes smoothly until Abel examines the nickel. "Gross Gott!" he exclaims. Bernie has brought him one of five known specimens of the 1913 Liberty Head nickel that the mint denies ever having made. It's worth a fortune. Abel offers a small sum in cash now . . . or to split the proceeds from a more leisurely sale. Bernie and Carolyn agree to wait on their money, and leave happily. By the next morning, everything has gone bad. Unless Bernie finds out what really happened, he's scheduled to be the fly in the soup. I didn't enjoy the mystery to be solved nearly as much in this one as in The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling. In fact, this is my least favorite of the books that Mr. Block wrote in the series. I was disturbed by who Mr. Block selected to be his victims, and found all of the coin collecting details to be not nearly as interesting as the bibliophile content of The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling. Although I wouldn't go so far as to suggest that you skip this one, I suspect that you will be disappointed compared to other books in the series even though the humor and dialogue are wonderfully strong and engaging. But stick with it, the books get much better from here in the series. This book's theme is being careful about whom you trust. Take nothing for granted . . . including loyalty! Donald Mitchell...
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: This book is a good quick read, well-written and a page-turner. The interplay of the characters is entertaining and inviting, even the final "Charlie Chan movie" type scene where the characters are brought together and the murderer revealed -- the only thing missing in the book is the lights being turned off and the quick scuffle as the perpetrator tries to escape. The author uses occasional deft and subtle humor and brings in interesting tidbits from Spinoza.
The description of the first murder crime scene (paperback page 78) led me to a correct guess of the murderer's identity.
And strangely for a book where much of the plot turns around the type of glove Bernie wore for the burglary (rubber, with the palm removed), the cover shows Bernie taking the nickel from the safe while wearing a complete leather glove.
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: This book is a good quick read, well-written and a page-turner. The interplay of the characters is entertaining and inviting, even the final "Charlie Chan movie" type scene where the characters are brought together and the murderer revealed -- the only thing missing in the book is the lights being turned off and the quick scuffle as the perpetrator tries to escape. The author uses occasional deft and subtle humor and brings in interesting tidbits from Spinoza.
The description of the first murder crime scene (paperback page 78) led me to a correct guess of the murderer's identity.
And strangely for a book where much of the plot turns around the type of glove Bernie wore for the burglary (rubber, with the palm removed), the cover shows Bernie taking the nickel from the safe while wearing a complete leather glove.
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