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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

Pelecanos, Price, Lehane, The Wire & Brit Crime Fiction

Trudy Kockenlocker

22:10 / 15.09.08

**Spoiler Policy**

I have one ep of S5 of the TV series to go. One. Then it's over. So please please please don't post anything to do with what happens in the last ep. Til Sunday night.

So, I've been reading Pelecanos, Price and Lehane as a side project to S5 of The Wire, although I'd read some of their stuff before I'd seen the show (I love a good pOlice novel). Been struck not only by the fact American crime writing is telling these important stories - while the rest of the media churns out paedo scare stories and Midsomer Murders police procedurals - but also the fact whole scenes from novels by Price and Pelecanos in particular are replicated in The Wire.

My second thought was around what such writers say about our own crime fraternity. I enjoy young Brit crime types like Adam Baron or Mark Billingham, as well as the more traditional schools of, say, Rankin or Harvey or Robinson. But why can't I shake the feeling these talented genre craftsmen are somehow lacking, now that I'm immersed in the worlds of their US counterparts?

Whaddy'all think? Any takers?

20:14 / 16.09.08

I;m going to post different spoiler info for the last episode in both of your threads. The information will be contradictory. In one of the threads I will lie, and in the other one I will tell the truth. You are allowed to ask one question of me regarding which thread is telling the truth...

Nah, I'm not.

frenchfilmblurred

21:33 / 16.09.08

Price's 'Clockers' is definitely a massive seminal influence on 'The Wire', so there's some similarities there for sure. I've not read anything by Lehane but read any and all Pelecanos - I've got 'The Turnaround' waiting to be read right now. As a Brit, I have to say that our own crime fiction, to me, is pretty poor compared to the US. Rankin's okay I guess, can't really be arsed with Billingham. Since Derek Raymond passed on there's no one on this side of the pond that really interests me, apart from David Peace, if he counts.

To my great shame I'm miles behind on The Wire - not even finished season four, but will catch up soon.

09:08 / 17.09.08

Absolutely agree with you on Peace. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that he's the standout example of a British writer eclipsing our American counterparts in terms of literary style, at the very least. Enormously subjective view, I know and not one I'll expand on too much here right now but for readers looking for an alternative, challenging depiction of the police procedural, his White Rose Quartet is an immediate recommend.

/offtopica

Trudy, are you calling plagiarism? If so, perhaps you could confront Simon when you meet him on Sunday!

Trudy Kockenlocker

09:13 / 17.09.08

Ron, I think you'll find that's Saturday AND Sunday....

http://www.curzoncinemas.com/editorial/features/wire_weekender

And no, I'm not talking about plagiarism. I think it's more drawing on previous texts to create Simon's political track masquerading as TV...