{"id":9498,"date":"2017-11-29T21:16:44","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T02:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=9498"},"modified":"2021-05-30T10:42:56","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T14:42:56","slug":"walking-shadow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9498","title":{"rendered":"Walking Shadow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walking Shadow<\/a><\/em> (1994) Robert B. Parker<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I’d not actually forgotten how much I like this story, I’d just forgotten the details. On re-read, I realized that details were just one of the things I liked.<\/p>\n

First, Spenser is more thoughtful and poetic than usual.<\/p>\n

The twenty-three-year-old women who filled the building were restoring makeup, reorganizing hair, reapplying lipstick. The young guys that worked with them were in the men\u2019s room checking the haircut, washing up, straightening ties, spraying a little Binaca. Daisy Buchanan\u2019s. The Ritz Bar. The Lounge at the Four Seasons. Thank God it\u2019s Friday. Children still, most of them, everything ahead of them. Career, sex, love, disaster. All of it still to come, all of it waiting for them while they straightened their ties and smoothed their pantyhose and thought about the first cocktail.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(T)here was no sense that the rain was engendering. That it would bring forth fresh life. Here too the rain seemed almost pestilent as it bore down on the cluttered and makeshift homes that crowded against the slick ocean, where the greasy waves swelled against the waterlogged timbers of the fish piers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The rain never actually seems to stop in the town, and that helps to set the mood for the rest of the story.<\/p>\n

He’s also extra thoughtful.<\/p>\n

I looked at the kids for a moment. They were not something new. They were something very old, without family, or culture; prehistoric, deracinated, vicious, with no more sense of another\u2019s pain than a snake would have when it swallowed a rat. I\u2019d seen atavistic kids like this before: homegrown black kids so brutalized by life that they had no feelings except anger. It was what made them so hard. They weren\u2019t even bad. Good and bad were meaningless to them. Everything had been taken from them. They had only rage. And it was the rage that sustained them, that animated their black eyes, and energized the slender, empty place intended for their souls. The kids saw me looking at them and looked back at me without discomfort, without, in fact, anything at all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In this story Spenser and Susan by a weekend\/vacation house in Concord, and start working on it.<\/p>\n

when we got the back stairwell down, and the rubble cleaned away, we noticed that the beams supporting the open perimeter of the now stairless well rested, at either end, on nothing at all. As far as we could tell, they were held up by the floor they were supposed to be supporting. This seemed to me an unsound architectural device.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I may possibly have confused what house gets sold in Small Vices<\/em>. I’ll have to see which when I read it. (I didn’t think Spenser had sold the cabin he and Paul built. But now I’m not sure.<\/p>\n

This is the first book in which we see Vinnie Morris and Hawk working together with Spenser. It’s interesting how we don’t actually learn much about Vinnie–he remains and enigma far more than Hawk does.<\/p>\n

Vinnie was humming softly to himself. <\/p>\n

Hawk looked up from his book. \u201cWhat you listening to?\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cLennie Welch,\u201d Vinnie said. <\/p>\n

Hawk looked blank. <\/p>\n

Vinnie gave him a sample. \u201c\u2018 You-oo-oo-oo made me leave my happy home . . . \u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cLucky you can shoot,\u201d Hawk said and went back to his book.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then we have the bit of the story that has always stuck me with.<\/p>\n

Though it was hard to be sure in a Polaroid, she appeared to have no body hair. Theoretically this oddity would be an excellent identity clue. But it was of limited practical value.
\n…
\n\u2018Electrolysis.\u2019 And we all say, \u2018Electrolysis? Everywhere?\u2019 and (she) nods like a doctor confirming a diagnosis and says, \u2018Everywhere. My flower is like a polished pearl.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That bit has always <\/em>stuck with me.<\/p>\n

There are lots of meals described–including Spenser cooking, and we don’t actually get Susan seeming like an anorexic in this book, with the emphasis on how little she ears. <\/p>\n

And then there is the technology: Tapes and Walkman players, VCRs, Fax machines, answering machines, and Spenser’s newest toy: a Car Phone. But aside from all the outdated technology, everything else about the story is pretty timeless.<\/p>\n

I looked around me. \u201cThis was originally a studio apartment,\u201d I said. \u201cNow ten men live here.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir.\u201d <\/p>\n

I shook my head. I wanted to say something about how this wasn\u2019t the way it should be. But I knew too much and had lived too long to start talking now about \u201cshould.\u201d \u201cSend me your huddled masses,\u201d I said. \u201cYearning to breathe free.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I really do like this story.
\nRating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walking Shadow (1994) Robert B. Parker I’d not actually forgotten how much I like this story, I’d just forgotten the details. On re-read, I realized that details were just one of the things I liked. First, Spenser is more thoughtful and poetic than usual. The twenty-three-year-old women who filled the building were restoring makeup, reorganizing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,8,43,41],"tags":[106,107],"class_list":["post-9498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-10","category-mystery","category-private-eye","category-reread","tag-robert-b-parker","tag-spenser"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2tc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9288,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9288","url_meta":{"origin":9498,"position":0},"title":"Ceremony, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"September 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Ceremony, Audio Book (1982\/1992) Robert B. Parker narrated by Michael Prichard April Kyle is a pretty sixteen year-old runaway who is working as a prostitute somewhere in the Combat Zone in Boston. Her father wants nothing to do with her, but her mother wants her safe, so Spenser takes on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio Book"","block_context":{"text":"Audio Book","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/audio-book"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Spenser-Ceremony.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9059,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9059","url_meta":{"origin":9498,"position":1},"title":"Looking for Rachel Wallace, Audio Version","author":"Michelle","date":"May 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking for Rachel Wallace, Audio Version (1980\/1987) Robert B. Parker narrated by Michael Prichard I'd somehow forgotten how good this story is. I'd forgotten that at the start of the series Spenser said he had fought in Korea, which would of course make him even older than I remembered. \u201cAnd\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Spenser-Rachel-Wallace.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":89,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/89","url_meta":{"origin":9498,"position":2},"title":"Small Vices","author":"Michelle","date":"July 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Small Vices (1997) Robert B. Parker Okay, so I didn't totally resist, but I've limited myself to just Small Vices, which is one of my favorite Spenser books. Small Vices was my introduction to Spenser. It is also the reason I have some small affection for Burt Reynolds. Back when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comfort Read"","block_context":{"text":"Comfort Read","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/reread\/comfort-read"},"img":{"alt_text":"small vices.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.klishis.com\/Books\/images\/small%20vices.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22553,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22553","url_meta":{"origin":9498,"position":3},"title":"Valediction, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"November 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Valediction , Audio Book (1984) Robert B. Parker narrated by Michael Prichard (Spenser) Spenser continues to unravel as Susan moves to California to work. And starts seeing someone else. Paul is staying with Spenser for summer break, and suggests Spenser take a case for the director of the dance company\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Valediction","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Spenser-Valediction.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":88,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/88","url_meta":{"origin":9498,"position":4},"title":"Bad Business","author":"Michelle","date":"June 30, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Bad Business (2004) Robert B. Parker The danger in reading a Spenser book is that I then want to go back and reread all the other Spenser books. All 28 of them. But as I reread them just a year ago, I'll try to restrain myself. Spenser takes what seems\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"bad business.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.klishis.com\/Books\/images\/bad%20business.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":93,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/93","url_meta":{"origin":9498,"position":5},"title":"Cold Service","author":"Michelle","date":"July 11, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Cold Service (2005) Robert B. Parker I had figured that I was going to have to wait a year, until it came out in paperback, to read the latest Spender book. However, we found a hardback copy at Half Price Books, cheaper than the coming paperback will be, so we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"cold service.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.klishis.com\/Books\/images\/cold%20service.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}