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Craig

A curiosity for Harlan Ellison fans, but does not stand well on its own merit

Avaliado nos Estados Unidos em 5 de junho de 2014

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I am a big fan of the Hard Case Crime imprint (having read 47 of their books) and Harlan Ellison (having read 11 of his books), so I was very excited last year when HCC announced they were going to reprint his long out-of-print first novel Web of the City.

Harlan rather famously infiltrated a real-life Brooklyn street gang at the age of 21 to do research for several short stories and this novel. The result was perhaps some of the most authentic examples of juvenile delinquent pulp fiction ever written. (This was a short-lived sub-genre of the pulps, intended to excite younger readers and shock adults with lurid depictions of teenage violence.)

In addition to this novel, Ellison's street gang short stories were collected in The Deadly Streets (1958), Children of the Streets (1961), Gentleman Junkie and Other Stories of the Hung-Up Generation (1961). He also published a nonfiction autobiographical account of this time in his life, Memos from Purgatory (1961).

This book deserves recognition for jumpstarting the career of a writer who would later go on to revolutionize the field of science fiction, but the truth is it's not very good on its own merit. Ellison has always had a verbose, bombastic, and sometimes almost lyrical quality to his voice. It works great in high concept stories like "Repent, Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman" and "I Have Mouth & I Must Scream", but it fits neither the tone nor pacing of a suspense novel. The detective/mystery elements of the plot were handled amateurishly. While Ellison may have nailed the social aspects of 1950's street gangs, he clearly did not understand drug culture--the effects of narcotics, the economics of the trade, etc.

I would recommend this book only to hardcore Ellison fans who want to see how his career started.

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Aaron C. Brown

Not just bad Harlan Ellison, just plain bad

Avaliado nos Estados Unidos em 7 de fevereiro de 2014

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Like other reviewers, I am a big Harlan Ellison fan, but this book is derivative, unpleasant and cliched. Think of an arc from the gritty realism of The Amboy Dukes in the 1940s to the romanticized youth gangs of Broadway's West Side Story and Hollywood's Rebel Without A Cause in the mid-1950s--Web of the City lies in an unfortunate middle ground.

Although Ellison reportedly joined a gang to research this novel, the characters and situations are impossible to believe. It seems to be drawn from early 1950s magazine articles on the horror of youth culture, but with more unpleasant violence than would be allowed by mainstream publishers. The book's attempts to shock are transparent. Even worse are the attempt to make the characters cool, which are pathetic.

Three short stories are included. No Way Out is taken verbatim from novel, with a different ending pasted on. It works better in that format, but it's still not very good. No Game for Children is also a so-so short story. It's no better than No Way Out, but more interesting as it's possible to see some early Ellison style. Stand Still and Die is the best of the three, although the protagonist is such an idiot and the ending confrontation so silly that doesn't rise to the level of good.

I don't understand why Hard Case decided to reprint this where there is so much great out-of-print crime fiction from the same era. Actually, I do understand, they figured correctly that the author's name would sell some books. But I think they'll lose more by tarnishing their brand than they'll gain by sales.

In any event, read it at your own risk.

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Elisabeth Altruda

Gonna' give it another try

Avaliado nos Estados Unidos em 29 de junho de 2013

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First off: I LOVE, LOVE ELLISON. I've taught his "'Repent, Harlequin,' said the Tick-Tock Man" in all my college classes. I've heard the man speak about his background and writings. I've watched his "City on the Edge of Forever," the Trek fan favorite, a million times. So I started Web of the City and didn't make it very far. OK..it's his first novel. It's Brooklyn. It's the 50's. It's all too familiar to me since that's my life, too.
Brooklyn, the 50's, the gangs. I'm trying. I really am. One more time....

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Jon Khoury

Just doesn't work

Avaliado nos Estados Unidos em 28 de abril de 2013

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Sorry Harlan, I tried to be patient; it just didn't work for me. Mostly the language that stopped me up, just didn't feel real.

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