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The Neon Jungle
The Varaki family run the local grocery store, but tragedy hits the family hard. The sudden death of the matriarch of the clan is followed by the favourite son's death in Korea. The teenage daughter falls in with a bad crowd and there's also the other son, Walter, who has been dipping into the till to fund his escape from Doris, his sharp-tongued wife. Then there are the villains . . .
When their lives intersect the action builds to a bloody and explosive conclusion...
When their lives intersect the action builds to a bloody and explosive conclusion...
175 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
About the author
John D. MacDonald
474 books1,225 followersJohn D. MacDonald was born in Sharon, Pa, and educated at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Syracuse and Harvard, where he took an MBA in 1939. During WW2, he rose to the rank of Colonel, and while serving in the Army and in the Far East, sent a short story to his wife for sale, successfully. He served in the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. After the war, he decided to try writing for a year, to see if he could make a living. Over 500 short stories and 70 novels resulted, including 21 Travis McGee novels.
Following complications of an earlier heart bypass operation, MacDonald slipped into a coma on December 10 and died at age 70, on December 28, 1986, in St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was survived by his wife Dorothy (1911-1989) and a son, Maynard.
In the years since his death MacDonald has been praised by authors as diverse as Stephen King, Spider Robinson, Jimmy Buffett, Kingsley Amis and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Thirty-three years after his passing the Travis McGee novels are still in print.
Following complications of an earlier heart bypass operation, MacDonald slipped into a coma on December 10 and died at age 70, on December 28, 1986, in St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was survived by his wife Dorothy (1911-1989) and a son, Maynard.
In the years since his death MacDonald has been praised by authors as diverse as Stephen King, Spider Robinson, Jimmy Buffett, Kingsley Amis and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Thirty-three years after his passing the Travis McGee novels are still in print.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
October 26, 2014
This is an early stand-alone from John D. MacDonald, a writer best known for his series featuring Travis McGee. MacDonald was a prolific writer, but he was also very widely read and often incorporated social and economic themes into his books as he does here.
The book, which was first published in 1953, is set in a declining industrial city somewhere in the Midwest. At the center of the story is the family that runs the Varaki Quality Market. The patriarch, Gus Varaki, once ruled the family and the business with a strong but benevolent hand, bringing into the business and the family outsiders who had fallen on hard times and who needed a helping hand. In particular, Gus has a close relationship with Paul Darmond, the local parole officer, and Gus has offered jobs and a home to two parolees that Darmond has recommended.
But the family has fallen on hard times, emotionally if not financially. Gus's wife dies and that places a huge emotional strain on him. He later marries again, this time to a much younger woman, and his spirits are briefly revived. But then his middle child, Henry, is killed in the Korean war, and the loss saps Gus of his energy and attention.
In consequence, both the family and the business begin to drift. Gus's other son, Walter, is deeply dissatisfied with his wife and with his life in general and takes advantage of his father's distraction. Gus's only other child, a daughter named Teena, falls in with the wrong crowd and soon has serious problems of her own.
Now joining the family is another troubled young woman named Bonnie, whom Henry had married in California before leaving for Korea. Bonnie sees how things are dissolving around the family, but the question is can she do anything to stem the tide of trouble. More important, does she even care enough to want to?
MacDonald teases out of all of these relationships a compelling story that touches on themes that were particularly relevant in the early 1950s, like juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, social and economic decay, and the place of family in the larger society. The criminal activities that occur in the book are of somewhat lesser importance than these larger issues, and at the heart of the novel is its central question: Are some people simply born bad and beyond redemption, or can people who might once have made a mistake truly change, reform their lives and become productive members of society?
The Neon Jungle is a fascinating and entertaining read and it is one of a number of MacDonald's novels that have now been republished in great new trade paperback editions by Random House. This is very welcome news for long-time fans of MacDonald's who will now be able to fill out their collections, and it's also an opportunity for people unacquainted with MacDonald's work to be introduced to one of the masters of crime fiction in the second half of the Twentieth century.
The book, which was first published in 1953, is set in a declining industrial city somewhere in the Midwest. At the center of the story is the family that runs the Varaki Quality Market. The patriarch, Gus Varaki, once ruled the family and the business with a strong but benevolent hand, bringing into the business and the family outsiders who had fallen on hard times and who needed a helping hand. In particular, Gus has a close relationship with Paul Darmond, the local parole officer, and Gus has offered jobs and a home to two parolees that Darmond has recommended.
But the family has fallen on hard times, emotionally if not financially. Gus's wife dies and that places a huge emotional strain on him. He later marries again, this time to a much younger woman, and his spirits are briefly revived. But then his middle child, Henry, is killed in the Korean war, and the loss saps Gus of his energy and attention.
In consequence, both the family and the business begin to drift. Gus's other son, Walter, is deeply dissatisfied with his wife and with his life in general and takes advantage of his father's distraction. Gus's only other child, a daughter named Teena, falls in with the wrong crowd and soon has serious problems of her own.
Now joining the family is another troubled young woman named Bonnie, whom Henry had married in California before leaving for Korea. Bonnie sees how things are dissolving around the family, but the question is can she do anything to stem the tide of trouble. More important, does she even care enough to want to?
MacDonald teases out of all of these relationships a compelling story that touches on themes that were particularly relevant in the early 1950s, like juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, social and economic decay, and the place of family in the larger society. The criminal activities that occur in the book are of somewhat lesser importance than these larger issues, and at the heart of the novel is its central question: Are some people simply born bad and beyond redemption, or can people who might once have made a mistake truly change, reform their lives and become productive members of society?
The Neon Jungle is a fascinating and entertaining read and it is one of a number of MacDonald's novels that have now been republished in great new trade paperback editions by Random House. This is very welcome news for long-time fans of MacDonald's who will now be able to fill out their collections, and it's also an opportunity for people unacquainted with MacDonald's work to be introduced to one of the masters of crime fiction in the second half of the Twentieth century.
July 24, 2021
I don't like the term 'dated' when describing a piece of fiction. Since I've been scouring GR looking for good pulp crime reads, I've noticed that term bandied about for this book and that. Here's the thing: books are a time capsule, a view into another time through words and documentation of history. If you unburied a fifty-year-old time capsule, would you scoff at the items within it, accusing the assembler of stocking it with irrelevant, meaningless garbage, or would you be interested in and curious about what each item meant? To me, when an author comments on events that happened before I was born I don't find it irrelevant, but interesting. Or if an author has a way of writing that seems antiquated, even offensive, I should already know what I'm getting into because, yes, it is dated--literally. You can find the date on the copyright page at the beginning of the book.
So what did I think of The Neon Jungle? Well, it's dated. Oh, I already went over that.
I started comparing the book to Raymond Chandler in the first few chapters, so was quite enjoying the ride, but the constant shifts in POVs seemed excessive for such a small book. The tension presented by John D. MacDonald in the final act between characters is great, and the climax is intense, if inconsistent with a few character motivations.
Would I recommend this book? Hm, I suppose it would interest a few noir nuts, but I don't think I'd read it again. I would, however, try another of John D. MacDonald's books. I own a few of the Travis McGee series, so I'm excited to explore those.
So what did I think of The Neon Jungle? Well, it's dated. Oh, I already went over that.
I started comparing the book to Raymond Chandler in the first few chapters, so was quite enjoying the ride, but the constant shifts in POVs seemed excessive for such a small book. The tension presented by John D. MacDonald in the final act between characters is great, and the climax is intense, if inconsistent with a few character motivations.
Would I recommend this book? Hm, I suppose it would interest a few noir nuts, but I don't think I'd read it again. I would, however, try another of John D. MacDonald's books. I own a few of the Travis McGee series, so I'm excited to explore those.
December 23, 2022
The Neon Jungle
MacDonald’s 1953 novel, the Neon Jungle, like many of his early novels, is an ensemble piece with a variety of characters alternating in the starring role. It centers around the Varaki family, who live in a great building adjoining the Varaki Grocery where they all work and includes not just those vein into the family but those who married in – no matter how brief the marriage – and those found by the neighborhood parole officer. It is a family beset and defined by tragedies and those tragedies beget further tragedies.
The opening chapter, however, does not take place at the grocery, but a continent away. Henry Varaki, on thirty days leave before shipping out for Korea, comes across Bonny being beaten nearly to death in an alley and spends the rest of his leave nursing her back to health. Bonny has little left to live for and nothing to recommend her, but Henry has a peculiar kind if grace and marries her to provide for her and sends her off to the family at the grocery. Having no one else, Bonny goes and becomes part of the tribe even after word comes back from Korea that no further word will ever come from Henry. It is ultimately Bonny’s admission into the heart of the family that brings her redemption as she manages finally to look outside herself
Between the tragedy of Henry’s death and the family matriarch’s death, the once proud family suddenly is old and worn even with Old Gus marrying young Jana. Slowly but surely the rest of the family begins to fail, beginning with Teena, who suddenly goes from a bright successful student to a junkie hungering for her next fix and whose so-called friends are ready to sell her down the hall so they can get theirs.
The two parolees the Varaki take in turn out to be Horrors with one involving the family business as a front for dope peddling and the other tricked into it. Throw in some adultery and monetary pilfering and things start to look tragic right up until the final explosive scenes.
As with several of his other novels, there is not one over-arching plot, but a series of vignettes and character studies.
MacDonald’s 1953 novel, the Neon Jungle, like many of his early novels, is an ensemble piece with a variety of characters alternating in the starring role. It centers around the Varaki family, who live in a great building adjoining the Varaki Grocery where they all work and includes not just those vein into the family but those who married in – no matter how brief the marriage – and those found by the neighborhood parole officer. It is a family beset and defined by tragedies and those tragedies beget further tragedies.
The opening chapter, however, does not take place at the grocery, but a continent away. Henry Varaki, on thirty days leave before shipping out for Korea, comes across Bonny being beaten nearly to death in an alley and spends the rest of his leave nursing her back to health. Bonny has little left to live for and nothing to recommend her, but Henry has a peculiar kind if grace and marries her to provide for her and sends her off to the family at the grocery. Having no one else, Bonny goes and becomes part of the tribe even after word comes back from Korea that no further word will ever come from Henry. It is ultimately Bonny’s admission into the heart of the family that brings her redemption as she manages finally to look outside herself
Between the tragedy of Henry’s death and the family matriarch’s death, the once proud family suddenly is old and worn even with Old Gus marrying young Jana. Slowly but surely the rest of the family begins to fail, beginning with Teena, who suddenly goes from a bright successful student to a junkie hungering for her next fix and whose so-called friends are ready to sell her down the hall so they can get theirs.
The two parolees the Varaki take in turn out to be Horrors with one involving the family business as a front for dope peddling and the other tricked into it. Throw in some adultery and monetary pilfering and things start to look tragic right up until the final explosive scenes.
As with several of his other novels, there is not one over-arching plot, but a series of vignettes and character studies.
August 28, 2018
That was DARK.
To a point I was unsettled by the end and I'm not the easily unsettled kind. The Neon Jungle is a post-war Shakespearean tragedy about a family coming apart, following the death of the prodigal son Henry in Korea. It feels like a Coen brothers-inspired novel that takes itself seriously. John D. MacDonald is obviously a master at what he does. His characters are powerful and memorable, but his dedication to their obliteration is haunting.
To a point I was unsettled by the end and I'm not the easily unsettled kind. The Neon Jungle is a post-war Shakespearean tragedy about a family coming apart, following the death of the prodigal son Henry in Korea. It feels like a Coen brothers-inspired novel that takes itself seriously. John D. MacDonald is obviously a master at what he does. His characters are powerful and memorable, but his dedication to their obliteration is haunting.
November 22, 2016
I'm going against the grain with this one. Not because the writing isn't strong - it is, with some of MacDonald's most penetrating character and cultural analysis - but because the narrative strategy made it so I never really "bought in."
The point of view is omniscient, but not really wide ranging. The novel begins with a detached several page description of "the neighborhood" as a prologue. Then for the next several chapters each is zoomed in on one focal character. So just when you think the story is about Bonny, we leave her and shift to a chapter about Paul, and then Walter, and then to Teena, and Jana and Vern, and on it goes. Then we circle back around to some of them but not all. Finally, as the novel nears the climax we have a chapter where we rapidly shift amongst the characters in more typical omniscient fashion and that works to lock in the narrative with a propulsive energy. The main defect, though, is that there's never a sense of whose novel this is, never a sense of who we are supposed to be rooting for and who we are supposed to be rooting against.
Great writing at the micro level but it never engaged me at the macro level. One of my lease favorite MacDonald novels.
The point of view is omniscient, but not really wide ranging. The novel begins with a detached several page description of "the neighborhood" as a prologue. Then for the next several chapters each is zoomed in on one focal character. So just when you think the story is about Bonny, we leave her and shift to a chapter about Paul, and then Walter, and then to Teena, and Jana and Vern, and on it goes. Then we circle back around to some of them but not all. Finally, as the novel nears the climax we have a chapter where we rapidly shift amongst the characters in more typical omniscient fashion and that works to lock in the narrative with a propulsive energy. The main defect, though, is that there's never a sense of whose novel this is, never a sense of who we are supposed to be rooting for and who we are supposed to be rooting against.
Great writing at the micro level but it never engaged me at the macro level. One of my lease favorite MacDonald novels.
July 24, 2014
I remain a big fan of JDM's pulp fiction titles published before he began writing his Travis McGee books. The Neon Jungle (Random House reissued it in 2014 which is the version I read) is his 1950s juvenile delinquents novel. I love the way he draws his characters. He also uses a Mike Hammer reference with one of the characters. Great stuff.
March 11, 2019
An excellent crime novel. The characters verge on cliches, but that allows MacDonald to get his story into high gear quickly; the plotting is extremely well done and kept me off-balance and turning pages until the end. The climax hits suddenly - I found it not entirely satisfactory - and perhaps attempts to tie too much together at once.
One problem with the cliched characters is that two of the female characters who serve as occasional points-of-view incarnate misogynist gender roles; these were common to the time period and even used by a few women authors of the time. It's not a big flaw, but certainly one that Dorothy B. Hughes or Margaret Millar, to pick two contemporaries of MacDonald, would not have made.
One problem with the cliched characters is that two of the female characters who serve as occasional points-of-view incarnate misogynist gender roles; these were common to the time period and even used by a few women authors of the time. It's not a big flaw, but certainly one that Dorothy B. Hughes or Margaret Millar, to pick two contemporaries of MacDonald, would not have made.
October 19, 2021
It's been awhile since I had the time to pick up any John D. MacDonald, but it was fun to finally return to him with this book.
Fun, but at the same time, this book was good, but rather bleak. For starters, It opens with sweeping descriptions and I really wasn't sure what I was reading or what was going on. Still, I had enough faith in John D. to continue, so continue I did and soon enough I understood where I was and what was happening.
As usual for John D., the book is filled with well defined characters and it was not entirely clear to me who the protagonist(s) were, nor even clearly the villain(s). In a previous book of his, The Damned, he told a story from the perspective of various different characters, and here we get a little of that but to a lesser effect.
The whole story culminates in what I felt was a detailed and well written, but very stark ending. There are some hints of hope and optimism, but ultimately it felt rather austere.
Most books by John D. MacDonald are worthwhile reads and this one was no exception. I enjoyed reading it enough, but it is not my favorite of his efforts.
Fun, but at the same time, this book was good, but rather bleak. For starters, It opens with sweeping descriptions and I really wasn't sure what I was reading or what was going on. Still, I had enough faith in John D. to continue, so continue I did and soon enough I understood where I was and what was happening.
As usual for John D., the book is filled with well defined characters and it was not entirely clear to me who the protagonist(s) were, nor even clearly the villain(s). In a previous book of his, The Damned, he told a story from the perspective of various different characters, and here we get a little of that but to a lesser effect.
The whole story culminates in what I felt was a detailed and well written, but very stark ending. There are some hints of hope and optimism, but ultimately it felt rather austere.
Most books by John D. MacDonald are worthwhile reads and this one was no exception. I enjoyed reading it enough, but it is not my favorite of his efforts.
November 20, 2014
I'm going against the grain to say that I prefer MacDonald's stand alones over the Travis McGees. This book is one of the reasons why.
McGee is a superficially complex character. He seemingly goes through changes during the book but at the end, reverts to the same character he was at the beginning--as all serial characters should.
The characters in this, and his other stand alone books are complex to the core. Yes, there are issues and attitudes that were considered normal back then but are not now--most especially violence against women. But readers need to keep in mind that times were what they were and more importantly, MacDonald is writing noir...that's NOIR with a capital N-O-I-R. If you want sweetness and light, go someplace else. If you want deep-down dark and gritty--you've come to the right place.
McGee is a superficially complex character. He seemingly goes through changes during the book but at the end, reverts to the same character he was at the beginning--as all serial characters should.
The characters in this, and his other stand alone books are complex to the core. Yes, there are issues and attitudes that were considered normal back then but are not now--most especially violence against women. But readers need to keep in mind that times were what they were and more importantly, MacDonald is writing noir...that's NOIR with a capital N-O-I-R. If you want sweetness and light, go someplace else. If you want deep-down dark and gritty--you've come to the right place.
July 26, 2010
Great book, but then all of JDM's pretty much are.
December 12, 2018
While not a big fan of the Travis McGee stories I really enjoy MacDonald's early stories. This is no exception. there is a whole lot going on here with various people's lifes intersecting. Many of these lives are dysfunctional for many reasons. The story revolves around the extended Varaki family in a small city in 1953. It is initially a happy family that is torn apart by a serious of occurrences that greatly impact the lives of those who live and work in the Varaki family store. Each character brings a whole life history that colors their reactions to these events. MacDonald does a great job of bringing out the often sordid and tragic events that make these people who they are and ultimately what happens to each of them.
Here are the characters:
Gus the patriarch and his young second wife Janna.
Henry, the son who dies in the Korean War early in the story.
Bonny, the broken, battered woman Henry tried to save by marrying her and who becomes a part of the Varaki family.
Walter, the spineless other son and his waspish wife Doris.
Teena, the young daughter who turns bad under the pressure of Henry's death and the increased morbid tone of the house that results.
Paul, the optimistic parole officer who works with Gus to get jobs for young men he thinks are salvageable.
Rowell, the bitter detective who thinks people are either good or bad and once a kid breaks the law they never go back.
Vern, the parole working for the Varaki's with zero empathy who is only concerned with not getting caught the next time.
Jim, the parole working for the Varaki's who wants to go straight
MacDonald does a great job of weaving a tough, gritty, almost noirish story that weaves the lives of these characters together to produce a jolting, explosive result. The pace builds inexorably page by page to the unexpected ending driven by the societal, economic and psychological tensions always present in these characters lives.
Here are the characters:
Gus the patriarch and his young second wife Janna.
Henry, the son who dies in the Korean War early in the story.
Bonny, the broken, battered woman Henry tried to save by marrying her and who becomes a part of the Varaki family.
Walter, the spineless other son and his waspish wife Doris.
Teena, the young daughter who turns bad under the pressure of Henry's death and the increased morbid tone of the house that results.
Paul, the optimistic parole officer who works with Gus to get jobs for young men he thinks are salvageable.
Rowell, the bitter detective who thinks people are either good or bad and once a kid breaks the law they never go back.
Vern, the parole working for the Varaki's with zero empathy who is only concerned with not getting caught the next time.
Jim, the parole working for the Varaki's who wants to go straight
MacDonald does a great job of weaving a tough, gritty, almost noirish story that weaves the lives of these characters together to produce a jolting, explosive result. The pace builds inexorably page by page to the unexpected ending driven by the societal, economic and psychological tensions always present in these characters lives.
March 22, 2024
This is a story about the Varaki Quality Market and the three storey enclave beside the market that houses the family and employees. Gus is the head of the household and married to a much younger woman, Jan after the death of his wife. His son Henry while on leave from the war rescues Bonny from almost dying on the streets of San Francisco. After marrying Bonny and settling her at the market, Henry later dies in the war. Walter, Gus's other son is married to a pregnant Doris, both very unhappy with their situation. There is also Vern who was given a chance while on parole to work at the market. Other players are Paul the parole officer, a hard nosed neighbourhood police officer and a new kid from the parole office. Much bad luck and unhappiness seems to surround the market and MacDonald goes off on his typical rambling speeches about what is wrong with the world. While I usually find the MacDonald an easy and interesting read, I particularly did not like the rather abrupt ending.
October 25, 2018
I'm a big fan of John D. MacDonald, one of the last century's most prolific thriller authors, only back when he wrote, they didn't call them thrillers or crime thrillers, they just called them best sellers. The Neon Jungle came out in 1953, and I always caution myself to overlook the bumps that may be caused by clear historical differences between then and now. Other than painting a picture of a simpler time, like going to the meat market versus today's mega stores, the differences weren't that great. The title connotes somewhat of a sinister story, but, I was shocked by how lawlessness then is almost exactly like lawlessness is now. The Neon Jungle is a good story. Some parts aren't pleasant, but most crimes and their aftermath aren't pleasant. MacDonald did not create a main protagonist who the reader could follow page by page. I think it was an experiment by MacDonald, but it works and the reader will be satisfied with the ending.
September 22, 2021
Early thriller from Travis Magee creator John D. MacDonald (from 1953, when MacDonald was 36) is a bit dated, particularly with reference to the women characters, but the plot, just as with everything MacDonald ever wrote, is taut and suspenseful, and the dialogue is great, particularly that involving protagonist Paul (a probation officer) and the neighborhood cop who believes no one, once gone bad, ever changes. The story begins with Bonny, a young wife with a troubled past, losing her soldier husband as a casualty of the Korean conflict. She hooks on with her late husband's family grocery store, run by her husband's father (Gus), and also employing Bonny's husband's older brother, Walter, Walter's pregnant wife also lives there, as well as former convict Vern, who Paul, a probation officer, placed there but doesn't trust. The inner city neighborhood is a tough place, and MacDonald gives us heroine adicts, pushers, and others higher up in the drug supply chain. MacDonald creates true to life characters, and although there are a few too many heaving busoms by today's enlightened standards, MacDonald creates here a story and characters such that you cannot help enjoying how it all plays out.
August 26, 2020
Definitely on the darker side for JDM. This one starts gritty and dirty and every time you think there's a little hope on the horizon for one of the many characters, you get pulled right back down into the dark underbelly. This book is fantastic at keeping you on the edge, building to one of the most gruesome finales of MacDonald's many books. The style used by MacDonald in this book to present from different perspectives is an interesting one. There are some elements that keep me from giving it the extra star but this is in the top 10 of favorite JDM standalone books.
September 22, 2022
A family business is starting to unravel. One son has been killed in Korea, leaving an odd wife. The other is married to a shrew. The teenage daughter has just started doing drugs. And the local drug lord is using the store to pass his products. Everything seems to be spinning towards disaster - can anything or anyone stop it? Another fast-paced, desperate novel by John D. MacDonald that you'll find incredibly hard to put down. He really seems to get you inside the minds of his characters, and into the horrors of their desperation. Tough, unpleasant and brilliant.
August 8, 2018
Where the strong and the lucky survive
MacDonald had been called a Calvinist. He certainly preaches the old time religion in this story. It becomes the salvation from the law of the jungle. The predators get their comeuppance.
The characters are well drawn. It did take me a while to get them straight in my mind.
The Korean war death at the beginning underlines the role of luck and chance.
MacDonald had been called a Calvinist. He certainly preaches the old time religion in this story. It becomes the salvation from the law of the jungle. The predators get their comeuppance.
The characters are well drawn. It did take me a while to get them straight in my mind.
The Korean war death at the beginning underlines the role of luck and chance.
January 7, 2020
Have read many books by this fine author. Midway through I felt this one was the darkest of any I read previously. A little too dark, I found myself not liking the characters and not caring what might happen to them. But in the end it was terrific writing and and a story worth reading to be sure.
November 30, 2021
One of the standalone Travis MacDonald novels (ie, not featuring MacDonald's detective Travis McGee). The writing is still vivid, the sentences as sharp as broken glass. But this novel has a slow first half, and the characters are less appealing than the McGee book.
May 4, 2019
Another great read by JDM. When the pressure gets too high there will be an explosion and someone will get hurt.
July 5, 2019
quick read and didn't want to put it down
March 8, 2022
Trashy trash but kind of fun in a big dumb way
September 2, 2023
A stinker. Mostly an edu-melodrama about teens on heroin, that shifts to a ridiculous bloody sudden ending.
December 1, 2014
another from macdonald...he has a pile of stories, hey? i mean a big hopping pile of stories and in this kindle edition dean koontz gushes about the stories, says he...forget the word he used...but he ignored the stories for some time before he read one/some and was hooked, read many over and over.
i've read a few from macdonald...something blue...figured to give a few of them a go...see what gives. onward and upward.
finished...good story...reminds me of watching a play...a black and white t-v show from the ago...small cast of characters nothing more nothing less...conflict...resolution. something about social issues mayhap. bull of a cop...once bad always bad...social worker once bad possible to change...others who fit that billing. bonnie...there, i think i was looking for more...something...more information, a reason why...had a sense of being told rather than being shown.
curious manner, the telling...a kind of flyover...things in general, neon...then to the particulars...
had this sense of a scientist who is somewhat interested in the take, but not invested in it...black red some win some lose...no real sense of...what is the word? passion. no sense of that looking into the abyss the abyss looking back at you...or how's it s'posed to go...something about obsessions...have your obsessions and your obsessions having you...there is that sense in this story...macdonald tossing in ingredients.
and heh! there's this line or two at the end that brings to mind the old black and white shows...the guy grabbing girl...this sense of that's okay. ha ha ha ha! i can imagine some of the more enlightened crowd reading this and taking a dim view of some happenings herein.
good writing...seemingly accurate portrayals save for bonnie, who seems...unreal or something. she played such a large role in the story...and you know...perhaps she embodies that sense of the disinterested scientist...only concerned about her own navel...and then she is awakened from that slumber. hmmm. i dunno. onward, upward.
i've read a few from macdonald...something blue...figured to give a few of them a go...see what gives. onward and upward.
finished...good story...reminds me of watching a play...a black and white t-v show from the ago...small cast of characters nothing more nothing less...conflict...resolution. something about social issues mayhap. bull of a cop...once bad always bad...social worker once bad possible to change...others who fit that billing. bonnie...there, i think i was looking for more...something...more information, a reason why...had a sense of being told rather than being shown.
curious manner, the telling...a kind of flyover...things in general, neon...then to the particulars...
had this sense of a scientist who is somewhat interested in the take, but not invested in it...black red some win some lose...no real sense of...what is the word? passion. no sense of that looking into the abyss the abyss looking back at you...or how's it s'posed to go...something about obsessions...have your obsessions and your obsessions having you...there is that sense in this story...macdonald tossing in ingredients.
and heh! there's this line or two at the end that brings to mind the old black and white shows...the guy grabbing girl...this sense of that's okay. ha ha ha ha! i can imagine some of the more enlightened crowd reading this and taking a dim view of some happenings herein.
good writing...seemingly accurate portrayals save for bonnie, who seems...unreal or something. she played such a large role in the story...and you know...perhaps she embodies that sense of the disinterested scientist...only concerned about her own navel...and then she is awakened from that slumber. hmmm. i dunno. onward, upward.
July 30, 2015
John D. MacDonald who is best known for the Travis McGee series of mysteries, also wrote many fine stand-alone novels, typically published as paperback originals during the post-WWII era, the most popular of which is The Executioners, adapted twice for film as Cape Fear. After decades of being out of print, Random House is finally issuing these titles in trade paperback. The Neon Jungle (1953) is a naturalistic portrait of an unnamed American city, featuring an ensemble cast of characters. The focus is on the Varaki supermarket run by Gus Varaki a generous and compassionate (though overly trusting) man who is willing to give parolees a second chance by offering them a job and lodging. When his son Henry is killed in the Korean War, the family is thrown into turmoil. Gus neglects his young wife Jana. His daughter Teena falls in with a fast crowd who introduces her first to marijuana, then to skin popping heroin (!) His son Walter (disgruntled by his thwarted ambitions, discontented working in the family business and unhappy with his nagging wife) has begun to extort money from the supermarket as part of a plan to abandon his pregnant wife Doris. An employee, an ex-con named Vern, is using the supermarket delivery service as a front to distribute narcotics. All these elements converge in a violent and explosive climax with Gus being manipulated into an act of murder by Vern, whose villainy approaches Iago-like proportions.
August 13, 2012
This 1953 novel came at the beginning of John D. MacDonald's novel writing career. His first novel, The Brass Cupcake (1950), was only three years earlier. The novel is dated by the reference to the Korean War and is draggy at times but ultimately rewarding.
Henry Varaki rescues Bonny from a back alley beating, nurses her back to health, marries her and sends her home to his family before going off to be killed in Korea. At the Vakaki family market business, Bonny helps out but is unresponsive and spends her time in self pity until shocked out of it by parole pfficer Paul Darmond. Newly alert, Bonny realizes that Henry's older brother Walter is stealing from the till and delivery man Vern is sleeping with father-in-law Gus' young wife. Plot lines combine in an explosive finale.
Henry Varaki rescues Bonny from a back alley beating, nurses her back to health, marries her and sends her home to his family before going off to be killed in Korea. At the Vakaki family market business, Bonny helps out but is unresponsive and spends her time in self pity until shocked out of it by parole pfficer Paul Darmond. Newly alert, Bonny realizes that Henry's older brother Walter is stealing from the till and delivery man Vern is sleeping with father-in-law Gus' young wife. Plot lines combine in an explosive finale.
August 20, 2015
WOW - this book was written in 1953 but could have been written yesterday - timeless!! It doesn't take place in Florida or the gulf region which surprised me, as all of his other books I've read do. This could have taken place anytime or anywhere. One of his VERY BEST!!
June 20, 2007
was what it was
June 25, 2009
Brilliant descriptions.Interesting arrangement of events.Some sentences were as short as just one word and I liked that technique.
August 30, 2012
brilliant from beginning to end.john d macdonald what more can you say.
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