The Long Firm

Rating:
Summary: Not focussed enough...
Review:
This book started off very strongly and promisingly, but then petered out somewhat and ran out of steam, particularly in the final chapter.

Unfortunately the book was progressed through the mouths of various different characters. There were too many characters talking about too many different things. That made the book very unfocussed. Throughout the book I was left asking myself what is this book supposed to be about?; who is it supposed to be about, as we have characters drifting in and out?; is it heading anywhere?; what point is the writer trying to make in this book?

I didn't understand the title of the book. The 'long firm' aspect seemed to be dealt with in the early part of the book, and wasn't what the book was about, particularly. So why have that as a title?

The plot lines in the book contained far too many cliches. The material seemed to have been put together as 'the sort of stuff gangsters would do'.

All in all: 2 out of 5, only. The book was mainly a waste of time to read, not a satisfying read. The language was very polished, but that didn't make up for this book's other shortcomings. Not a book I could recommend to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: A (...)gangster that isn't one of the Krays!
Review: A nice little introduction to the dark side of swinging 60's London.Rent boys,old lags on bombers,ska loving skins and (...)jewish gangsters, these are a few of the interesting characters we meet in this well written ode to a special time in the Citys criminal history.The second book in Arnotts trilogy flings us around the night clubs,seedy east end drinking dens and aristocratic country estate parties of merry old England following the murder investigation of a rent boy,dodging a bent cop and trying to make some cash at good old fashioned gangsterism.At the same time the author details the changes in english youth culture during that period in a very enjoyable way.Well worth the 5 bob!

Rating:
Summary: A Must For Britcrime Fans
Review: Arnott uses a variety of first-person voices to tell the story of the rise and fall of a '60s London crime boss in this largely entertaining trip back in time. "Mad Harry" is a charming, but mentally unstable gay East End thug, contemporary to, and sometimes mirroring the famous Kray brothers. His story unfolds though the voices of several people his life has impacted, each of which gets its own section: a kept rent-boy, a debt-ridden fading member of Parliament, an aging washed-up actress, a freelance thug (easily the best section), and a hippie sociologist. Each tells how they became enmeshed in Harry's world, and in telling their tale, reveal a little more about him and his enterprises. The sectional narrative leads to an uneven novel, but compelling nonetheless. There are all kinds of cameo appearances, and according to the Times Literary Supplement, in addition to these, many of the characters are thinly veiled depictions of real people. Arnott does a nice job of recreating some of the seedier side of swinging London (including a bit of mod and skinhead subcultural stuff as well!), along with the argot of the times. Well worth it if you're into British crime movies like 1980's The Long Good Friday, 1971's Get Carter, or even the recent Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.

Rating:
Summary: Pleasant Diversion for a Couple of Days
Review: Arnott's book is basically a quick-read, light novel, but it uses some interesting devices from more "serious" literature to make an engaging little book. The book focuses on Harry, a gangster in 60s London, but it does it by portraying him solely through the eyes of others. The book has five sections, each of which is written from within the perspective of each of 5 characters who relate to Harry in markedly different ways. Some characters are handled more effectively than others, but overall it is competently done. The gay sex scenes are described with more enthusiasm than the straight, and the last section in which the relevant character is a professor becomes somewhat didactic, but otherwise it is fairly well-balanced. I enjoyed reading it, and would have been happy for it to continue.

Rating:
Summary: Twilight in the garden of law and justice
Review: Harry Starks is a British recidivistic businessman (gangster of sorts) in the 1960s and 1970s who just happens to be homosexual. Told through various points of view of people who've encountered Starks (a lover, an employee, a friend, a former movie star, a professor), it develops into a brooding, deeply fascinating story on the nature of justice and law. Starks is not a heroic figure, but rather a noble one, in a way, despite his dark moods and his knowledge of torture. Definitely one of the most arresting books in the mystery genre I've read in ages.

Rating:
Summary: 4 hours, 5 coffees, and 9 cigarettes
Review: The life of the homosexual gangster "Harry Starks" as told by various people who came into contact with him: a rent boy; a homosexual Peer of the Realm; a down-at-heel crook; a failed actress; and a criminologist (who visits Stark in prison).

I thought this book was great fun, giving what I thought could be an authentic feel for the seedy side of the "swinging" London of the 1960s. Several real-life figures pop up - Judy Garland and Johnnie Ray, for example - and there are thinly disguised ones ("Gerald Wilman" must surely be Kenneth Williams). "Jack the Hat", one of the narrators, was a real-life villain.

Some parts of the plot work better than others - I thought that the scenes set outside London were less convincing than those in London. The book is a picture of both small and big-time villainy - although London was booming and trendy, society was still repressed (for example, homosexuality was illegal, gays lived in fear of being exposed and were therefore open to blackmail). There was a tension between the good times that many were experiencing and the crime that went with it.

Although Arnott flirts with depicting Stark as the villain with a heart of gold, he draws back from that - in the end, there's little or nothing to redeem Stark.

Entertaining stuff.

Rating:
Summary: An Offer You Can't Refuse
Review: The Long Firm is a gripping novel of the 1960s London crime syndicate headed by gay mobster Harry Starks. Arnott's juxtaposition of the two elements (the mob & homosexuality) provide a truly uncommon combination and tension that's utterly fascinating. The atmospheric work is amazing as well. The underground scene vividly comes to life, is driven by a solid plot, peopled with excellent characters (especially Harry himself), and given great period touches...and it even includes a guest appearance by Judy Garland. The Long Firm is a bold and successful literary undertaking that really delivers on it's promise...and makes the reader an offer he/she can't refuse. Seedy, sensational, and a truly unique gay historical/cultural treat.

Rating:
Summary: The great story of a minor villain
Review: THE LONG FIRM is an excellent crime novel with an unconventional approach. It tells the story of London crime boss Mad Harry Starks from the first-person viewpoints of several of his associates through the 1960s and 70s: his rent-boy turned house-boy Terry; closeted politician Lord Thursby; aging freelance villain Jack the Hat; failed sex-symbol and minor actress Ruby Ryder; and finally, socialist criminologist Lenny. Arnott's description of scams such as 'the long firm', demurrage, airport rackets and pornography smuggling is fascinating, and so detailed that it feels almost autobiographical. He has also done a superb job of capturing the seedy side of London in the '60s.

When we first meet Harry, he is singing "there's no business like show business" while heating up a poker to torture a former lover, and despite his charm and his attempts to seem respectable, we never forget how dangerous Harry really is. The plot mostly concerns Harry's attempt to build up his own empire in the shadow of the Kray twins, with some assistance from a corrupt vice squad detective who wants to see all of London's porn business run by one firm. Occasional touches of humour lighten the sleaziness, but can't dispell it, and the book never becomes a comedy. Even if you're not normally a fan of crime fiction, but are looking for a well-written character-driven novel, THE LONG FIRM is well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: The great story of a minor villain
Review: THE LONG FIRM is an excellent crime novel with an unconventional approach. It tells the story of London crime boss Mad Harry Starks from the first-person viewpoints of several of his associates through the 1960s and 70s: his rent-boy turned house-boy Terry; closeted politician Lord Thursby; aging freelance villain Jack the Hat; failed sex-symbol and minor actress Ruby Ryder; and finally, socialist criminologist Lenny. Arnott's description of scams such as 'the long firm', demurrage, airport rackets and pornography smuggling is fascinating, and so detailed that it feels almost autobiographical. He has also done a superb job of capturing the seedy side of London in the '60s.

When we first meet Harry, he is singing "there's no business like show business" while heating up a poker to torture a former lover, and despite his charm and his attempts to seem respectable, we never forget how dangerous Harry really is. The plot mostly concerns Harry's attempt to build up his own empire in the shadow of the Kray twins, with some assistance from a corrupt vice squad detective who wants to see all of London's porn business run by one firm. Occasional touches of humour lighten the sleaziness, but can't dispell it, and the book never becomes a comedy. Even if you're not normally a fan of crime fiction, but are looking for a well-written character-driven novel, THE LONG FIRM is well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: London of the shadows
Review: The Long Firm
Swinging London in the 60�s, but forget London of Cliff Richard and Summer Holiday, more a London of the shadows; gangsters, corrupt police, rent boys and a decayed and decadent aristocracy. This is the story of Harry Starks, club owner, racketeer, porn king. He is violent and sadistic, a believer in Queen and country, Judy Garland fan, depressive and gay.
We first meet Harry through the eyes of one of the young rent boys he takes up and employs to run an illegal business scam, (The Long Firm of the title). Harry�s story is filled out by Lord Thursby, Jack the Hat, Ruby Ryder and Lenny the sociologist. Arnott has done his research, the decadent and corrupt peer of the realm has echoes of the scandalous Profumo affair, Jack the Hat (Mc Vittie) was a known gangster and associate of the notorious Kray twins, Ruby Ryder the Rank Starlet could be Barbara Windsor (the blonde buxom one in the Carry On movies) with her involvement in London�s underworld. Lenny the sociologist is a cruel characterisation of the inept idealist. Arnott has used Harry Starks to provide a thumbnail sketch of how the UK progressed from the cosy days of P.M. Harold Macmillan to the social maelstrom that was the legacy of Thatcher�s Britain. We see glimpses of the nascent National Front and its hatred of Asians; the pervasiveness of the drug culture, and the importance of dress to define class, tribe and social standing � that appearance was everything to these men ��my hippy aesthetic didn�t impress them at all .It didn�t look confrontational, it merely looked sloppy.�
This book has a gritty realism that is essentially English and specifically London flavoured. Think Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels, The Long Good Friday, The Krays, yes they are all movies and can it be any surprise that the BBC are already filming this as a 5 part series?