As with all committed writers, form, for Ross Macdonald, was not something to chafe against, but to transmute and develop within its own container. Through his early deference to a rigorous and conventionalized form his later, unconventional art flourished. (Gilbert Sorrentino, "Ross Macdonald: Some Remarks on the Limitations of Form," in Something Said: Essays, North Point Press, 1984, p. 226)
...and of course, the same thing is true for Sorrentino himself.
With The Blue Hammer I have finally finished my reread of all of Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer novels in order. They really are wonderful on so many levels: the plots, the characters, and the language all work together for an unbeatable series of perfectly-crafted detective novels. For further reading, I highly recommend Gilbert Sorrentino's "Ross Macdonald: Some Remarks on the Limitations of Form," appearing in Sorrentino's essay collection Something Said.
Reading List 2025-09-22:
*Nadel, Dan. Crumb: A Cartoonist's Life (started)
*Osman, Richard. The Last Devil to Die (started)
*Macdonald, Ross. The Blue Hammer (reread/started/finished)
*Osman, Richard. The Bullet That Missed (started/finished)
*Shakespeare, William. King Lear (Arden 2nd series, ed. Kenneth Muir) (reread/finished)
*Everett, Walter. The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul (reread/in progress)
*Lambert, Eddie. Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide (reread/selections)
*MacDonald, Ian. Revolution in the Head, 3rd ed. (reread/in progress)
*Pollack, Allan W. Notes on … Series (reread/in progress)
*Riley, Tim. Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary (reread/in progress)
*Shakespeare, William. Othello (Arden 3rd series, ed. E.A.J. Honigmann) (reread/in progress)
