The Imaginary Blonde by Ross MacDonald or The Way Hard Boiled Should Be

I’ve never read a story by Ross MacDonald, but I’ve read one now, and I can guarantee it won’t be the last. As fun as a Nero Wolfe mystery, with just about the same style and aplomb, but with far more of the hard-boiled attitude. It typifies the genre. The Imaginary Blonde took all of one night (maybe two) to read but not because it was too short, it was hard to put down.

I must have dozed for a few minutes. A dream rushed by the threshold of my consciousness, making gentle noises. Death was in the dream. He drove a black Cadillac loaded with flowers. When I woke up, the cigarette was starting to burn my fingers. A thin man in a gray flannel shirt was standing over me with a doubtful look on his face.

I suppose I marked this one for two reasons. First, I really liked the fact that the dream rushed by the threshold of his consciousness and made gentle noises. That seems like an apropos way to describe a dream. Secondly, I like the rat-a-tat-tat way of describing the events of his waking up.

At one point, the protagonist is looking down at a man who has just been shot to death and he says to the reader, “He was rough looking in spite of his anemia.” What a terrific way to say that he was dead. Later on that same page when a lady sees him coming back he says, “Ellas’ welcome was a few degrees colder than absolute zero.” Both of these are so prototypical of the hard-boiled genre it seems to me.

Later the protagonist is being beaten up by the villain, he states:

“The men in the blue serge held me upright by the arms while Gino used my head as a punching bag. I rolled left and rights as well as I could but his timing improved and mine deteriorated.”

It’s the his improved mine deteriorated that caught my attention.

Finally, one last simile. He says:

“Thank God,” he echoed, shaking his fist at her. She retreated like a schooner under full sail, menaced by a gunboat.”

Just the one vocabulary word.

Circassian – Relating to or denoting a group of mainly Sunni Muslim peoples of the Northwest Causcasus.

This was recommended to me by a very good friend and I’m glad that she took the effort. I like hard-boiled mysteries particularly those that remind me of Alfred Hitchcock short stories, that don’t take themselves too seriously, and are quick, fun reads that offer a look into 1950’s era writing. I look forward to more.