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LA Confidential James Ellroy Books

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LA Confidential James Ellroy Books

This is the masterpiece of the L.A. Quartet series. By this point Ellroy had mastered his 'new' staccato cum John Dos Passos panorama style and he had established the foundation for his vision of a nasty slice of American history--the work of behind-the-scenes men motivated by raw need and raw pain. The plot is sprawling but, ultimately, tight as a toad's posterior, and the novel's epigraph (a glory that costs everything and means nothing) ripples across the pages like a blood-red tide. This is an absolute don't miss. Fans of the film will find some significant differences here, but they will not be disappointed.


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LA Confidential James Ellroy Books Reviews

Ellroy's characters, in L.A. Confidential were not well-defined, but they were more than one-dimensional. Not much more, but some. Ellroy tells a story magnificently. He sets the scene quickly putting the reader into the murky atmosphere of 1950s LA. The story gradually opens, sometimes moving very fast. Overall, albeit the heavy prejudice and cloudy morals, the book is excellent reading.
Jame's Ellroy's "LA Confidential" is a remarkable book. Most people know of it only by it's excellent film adaptation. On it's own, it is an incredibly complex, brutal, and utterly facinating look into the LAPD of the 1950's.
The book covers three main characters, as most of Ellroy's work does Officer Wendell "Bud" White", a strongarm cop with a dark past that he uses to fuel his work; Sergent Jack Vincennes, a narc cop who is in love with his Hollywood connections and hides secrets of his own, trying to bury them as the crusading "Big V", and Sergent Edmund J. Exley, a war hero with a celebrated cop family who is driven by his sense of justice and the desire to live up to his father's expectations.
These three occupy the larger canvas of LA in the 50's. The story starts with background on the three and the situation in LA, and moves on to the Nite Owl murders, a brutal slaying of innocents who's solution will eventually drive these men to first work against each other, and then together as the story becomes more entagled in the seedy LA underworld. Each man is noble on a basic level, but has past demons that occasionally threaten to drag them down. The story in wrentching, as are all of Ellroy's "LA Quartet" novel, and fits in nicely with the previous novel "The Big Nowhere", and the next bok "White Jazz".
In "LA Confidential" Ellroy never lets up for a moment. The action is driven along by his breakneck writing style, and his staccato style shows it's first signs in the head of Jack Vincennes. The book is a marriage of tight plotting, facinating characters, and the dark background of LA. It is a triumph for James Ellroy.
A complex, gritty and thoroughly absorbing yarn, you'll be late feeding the cat and you'll cut into your sleep time but you won't be able to put it down. Some characters from the two previous LA Quartet books, some new ones. Officer Bud White, Sergeant Jack Vincennes are central, as is brilliant opportunist Ed Exley.

There is one closing line near the end that will require you to stop reading for a moment to let your ears stop pounding.

This book is superb.
This book was enjoyable but hard to follow due to the authors writing style and use of fifties slang. In the kindle edition there are also a couple of instances where several pages are repeated. There is also quite a lot of racist language. I am kind of surprised that they were able to make such a good movie out of this book.
The film adaptation is one of my favorites. This is far more complex and has major differences with the movie. That’s not bad.

The style is very fragmented but clear. You might want a chart to keep all the characters straight. Great Ellroy.
I have little to add to what has become a large body of praise (all justified). I mainly want to say that in addition to the excellent atmospherics, mood, character/development, noir sensibility etc. the plotting is intricate, well-thought out, sometimes surprising, but always credible - something sorely lacking in many highly praised and popular books these days.
A terrific book--a classic for a reason. Ellroy's creativity with language is a revelation. I will admit I struggled to get into his rhythm for the first fifty or so pages, and for a while felt as if I just wasn't smart enough for the book, but when I did finally get a hold of his language I was completely beguiled and immersed. This is the kind of very-long book that you regret isn't longer because the world building is so comprehensive.
I recommend this book for people who like L.A. Noir. There are several plots and plot twists within each separate plot. As in the movie "Chinatown," Ellroy mixes historical L.A. fiction with fact. You will recognize some of the characters in the novel as negative caricatures of real people if you are old enough. The over done sarcasm and negativity found in the novel distract the reader from its credence. Although the author probably had fun trashing unimpeachable people, such as the character that represents Walt Disney in the novel, it makes it far from realistic at times. Another fault with the novel, which I did not enjoy was the redundant repetition of misleading subplot scenes over and over throughout the novel, until it's conclusion, where every person's motive for this or that is revealed. However, on the other hand, overall, this book has what all L. A. Noir readers find enticing The seamy side of innocence.
This is the masterpiece of the L.A. Quartet series. By this point Ellroy had mastered his 'new' staccato cum John Dos Passos panorama style and he had established the foundation for his vision of a nasty slice of American history--the work of behind-the-scenes men motivated by raw need and raw pain. The plot is sprawling but, ultimately, tight as a toad's posterior, and the novel's epigraph (a glory that costs everything and means nothing) ripples across the pages like a blood-red tide. This is an absolute don't miss. Fans of the film will find some significant differences here, but they will not be disappointed.