Pronto, by Elmore Leonard
Apr. 30th, 2011 12:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aBeen a while since I read any mystery/action/cop books. I got to this one via the TV show Justified, which Kimberly and I have been watching the first season of. That show was based on two novels and a short story by Elmore Leonard, of which Pronto was the first (though only the short story is credited for some reason).
I found Pronto ... adequate. The problem may be that I already had the TV show as a model, and the TV show is excellent, a well-characterized southern Pulp Fiction, where half the time you're just shaking your head at the beautiful criminal stupidity. The book isn't nearly as good.
What I found most interesting in the book was the bits that were lifted straight from the book to the TV show: a couple of scenes here and there. Most notably the big stepping-off scene that leads off the TV show (where Raylan gives a crook an ultimatum to get out of town) is the climax to the novel. Which is a pretty interesting difference.
I also found two character details interesting. In the book, Rayland's ex- is referred to constantly as fat. In addition, they have two kids. Neither of these facts is true in the TV show.
Though I enjoyed seeing the things moving from one medium to the other, I'm not particularly enthused to read the other novel at this point.
I found Pronto ... adequate. The problem may be that I already had the TV show as a model, and the TV show is excellent, a well-characterized southern Pulp Fiction, where half the time you're just shaking your head at the beautiful criminal stupidity. The book isn't nearly as good.
What I found most interesting in the book was the bits that were lifted straight from the book to the TV show: a couple of scenes here and there. Most notably the big stepping-off scene that leads off the TV show (where Raylan gives a crook an ultimatum to get out of town) is the climax to the novel. Which is a pretty interesting difference.
I also found two character details interesting. In the book, Rayland's ex- is referred to constantly as fat. In addition, they have two kids. Neither of these facts is true in the TV show.
Though I enjoyed seeing the things moving from one medium to the other, I'm not particularly enthused to read the other novel at this point.