Old School

Now that I've finished old Trav McGee and Nightmare in Pink (see HERE), I've moved on to more Dick Francis. This time it's High Stakes see (HERE). 

I'm really looking forward to this one. I have never read it and it's among the older version of Dick Francis' work.

Within the first few lines the reader is reminded that this is from a bygone(ish) era. 

There is a close call for the hero in the first chapter where he has to stand stock still in the road to stop a horse van from making off with his horse. Horse vans are always a big part of Dick Francis novels. One of my favorite novels, Driving Force, is all about a horse van driver business owner. 

Regardless, our hero stands in the way of a horse van and actually gets hit by the front grill which Dick Francis describes this way:

"Andy-Fred’s nerve broke first, thank God, but only just. He wrenched the wheel round savagely when the massive radiator grill was a bare six feet from my annihilation and the diesel throb was a roar in my ears."

Now, if you go look at large trucks that shuttle horses around now days, they're no different than what I drive. Big? Sure. But as they are Dick Francis describes? Not really. 

Then I remembered, we aren't talking about now days. We are talking about the 60's and 70's, maybe 80's in some cases. So I did a quick search and you find horse boxes that look much more like Dick Francis describes. 

The same thing happens when I read a Lawrence Sander's novel or even a Trav McGee. This last one (see HERE) took place in New York in the 60's. I have to constantly remind myself of the differences. No smart phones, no quick lookups on Google, life moved at a slower pace, mysteries developed and were solved at a much different pace. 

I think alot of this nuance is lost to readers. Authors write by assuming a certain amount of understanding by their audience, if not, they become overly descriptive and they can slow the pace for the reader, who in a thriller audience generally wants fast pacing. But by not being descriptive there is so much lost to later readers. Did Dick Francis do a good job of describing horse boxes? Not a bit. They're far more intriguing, interesting and overwhelming than he gives them credit for. Got to find that balance I suppose.