Comments on: The Hunter

The Hunter

Artw — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 13:47:37 -0800

The many lives of Donald Westlake creator of noir antihero Parker. (Previously)

By: Red Desk

Red Desk — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:54:37 -0800

I was just saying, after seeing a TV ad, that there was no way that the movie "Parker" could be based on the Parker/Donald Westlake books, mostly because Jason Statham is pretty much the opposite of Parker, action-hero-wise. Guess I was wrong. Thanks, Hollywood, for ruining a great fictional character!

By: Artw

Artw — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:58:28 -0800

Taylor Hackford on the challenges of bringing Parker to the big screen

By: Rangeboy

Rangeboy — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 15:22:01 -0800

The best visual adaptations of the Parker novels are unquestionably Darwyn Cooke's graphic novels, authorized by Westlake, based on three of the early books. This. I highly, highly recommend these to anyone interested in crime, fiction, crime fiction, or beautiful pictures. They're just great.

By: Ardiril

Ardiril — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 15:38:43 -0800

Jason Statham is pretty much the opposite of Parker I've always thought that if Statham quit trying to act, he would be the perfect Parker. At least Statham beats the hell out of Tom Cruise trying to be Jack Reacher.

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 15:50:23 -0800

I bought an extra copy of Cooke's version of The Hunter so I could cut it up, mat, and frame certain panels. Knife poised above the page, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

By: Artw

Artw — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 16:04:16 -0800

Infographics in Cooke's PARKER graphic novels

By: Charlemagne In Sweatpants

Charlemagne In Sweatpants — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 16:57:39 -0800

I still need to read the Parker novels, but I first heard about them in Steven King's The Dark Half, which is basically about Donald Westlake being stalked by Parker.

By: O Blitiri

O Blitiri — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 17:15:51 -0800

The Richard Stark novels are so pitch perfect. Dan Simmons emulating Stark ain't so bad either (Hard Case, etc.)

By: MartinWisse

MartinWisse — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 03:49:12 -0800

Bah. Cooke's artwork is too cutesy and nostalgic for Parker. I like the Dortmunder novels better anyway. Deadpan is an overused expression to describe comedy, but those really are deadpan: if you don't pay attention, you may not realise it is a comedy.

By: soundguy99

soundguy99 — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 06:59:11 -0800

Fantastic Grantland article. Thanks for posting this, Artw. MartinWisse - Hmmmm. I love the Dortmunder books too, and deadpan's a good description of them, but I'd say the fairly broad characterization of his crew (Tiny, Andy Kelp, & Murch) makes it pretty obvious pretty quickly that they're comic novels. IMO, the Parker novels often have a certain level of . . . . I guess you'd call it "black humor." Parker's constant low-level exasperation with "ordinary" human foibles and interactions turns out to be entirely justified (at least in the context of the books) since his plans are so often derailed by other characters behaving in ways that only make sense to them, often because they either don't fully understand the situation, or because they're trying to force reality to conform to their fantasies without having the skills to make that actually happen. Or to put it another way, the Dortmunder novels are the openly comic mirror of the Parker novels - Dortmunder often expresses a similar lack of understanding as to why "straight" citizens behave the way they do, but since they're comedies his reaction is befuddlement rather than Parker's impatience. But both series tend to work from a standpoint of, "This would be so easy and simple if these other idiots weren't doing idiotic things for idiotic reasons." The Parker tone is grim and violent and nihilistic, but the set-up is kind of inherently comic, so the contrast between Parker's ruthless efficiency and practicality and the other characters' unchecked desires and selfishness gains some comedic undertones.

By: BWA

BWA — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 14:41:02 -0800

What I like about Westlake's humor (and his writing in general) is that I never get the sense that he's trying to show me just how gosh darned clever he is. A professional, in other words, not a poseur. Curiously, the Dortmunder books just haven't translated well onto the big screen. (Casting Robert Redford as Dortmunder when Zero Mostel was on hand can only make sense in Hollywood.)

By: rmd1023

rmd1023 — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 17:26:09 -0800

I've heard for years that he was a great writer, but it wasn't until recently that I read one of his books for the first time - "The Score", an early Parker book. Solid and wonderful. It played out in my head in black and white noir film making.

By: Ardiril

Ardiril — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:54:17 -0800

Just try to write a crime novel that doesn't steal something from Westlake.

By: smoke

smoke — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 00:53:11 -0800

That was a great piece of quality journalism, thank you. Additionally, that writer really understands the Parker books and his affection for Westlake is obvious. Much appreciated. I love Parker myself, also find them darkly amusing. Only read one Dortmunder novel (Drowned Hopes), I wanted to like it more than I did in the end.

By: Zed

Zed — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:06:17 -0800

Cooke's artwork is too cutesy and nostalgic for Parker. I thought so, too, before reading it. But in practice I thought it really worked.

By: Amanojaku

Amanojaku — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:18:45 -0800

I actually got in touch with the Library of America people. They don't have any plans to do a Westlake collection, but their Editorial Board is aware of the idea.

By: Artw

Artw — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 07:37:31 -0800

50 years of Parker