RATING GUIDE:
6 – Life-Affirming and Life-Changing!
5 – A keeper!
4 – Very good
3 – Passable
2 – I’d rather read
a telephone book
1 – An absolute bomb.
Read at your own risk!
0 – Nothing will compensate for what I lost reading this
book
I have to admit that I am not a fan of whodunits. A friend once lent me some of her prized
Agatha Christie books, but I just ended up returning those books to her (mostly
unread) after a few weeks. However, I
think I might consider giving those Agatha Christie books another go after
reading Robert Galbraith’s “The Cuckoo’s Calling,” an interesting debut novel
from Robert Galbraith.
“The Cuckoo’s Calling” begins
with the death of Lula, a supermodel.
All signs point to it being a suicide, but her brother, John Bristow,
refuses to accept this. So, John
Bristow employs the services of a down-and-out detective named Cormoran
Strike. Strike is nothing at all like
the detective in your head (you know, someone like Benedict Cumberbatch). His business is close to going under, his
body is unfit, he lacks one leg and has the unenviable nickname ever, Pubehead
(to describe his pubic hair-like hair).
But Strike is just like the Tranformers of the eighties --- “more than
meets the eye”. Together with Robin,
his temp secretary (who also has inclinations towards being a detective),
Strike explores London (its posh side and its grittiest side) in order to find
out what really happened to Lula.
The two best things about this
book are (1) the narrative, and (2) the character development. Galbraith’s
writing style is simple yet very fluid.
The description is very good, so good that you wouldn’t have a hard time
imagining everything that the author wants you to see or feel or hear. But what’s better than the narrative is the
character development. I was surprised
to read so much detail. I never thought
something like this would come from a man (sorry, I guess I am
prejudiced). I appreciated the amount
of care that Galbraith put in the details.
The characters really came to life in my mind. It was also interesting that Galbraith created a detective who’s
so far from the stereotype. Yet,
Galbraith succeeded in creating a character who is likeable, dignified and
admirable despite his flaws and shortcomings.
You wouldn’t even mind that his looks aren’t exactly stellar, his hair
looks like it should be on one’s private parts, and was actually a wimp in his
last romantic relationship. He’s still
a hero. In today’s visually shallow
world, that’s quite a feat.
The plot isn’t really very
complex (my seventy-something year old mother, a whodunit aficionado, correctly
guessed the book’s ending without even reading the entire book). Just the same, it’s an entertaining read,
and worth your time. With this book, a
highly popular and successful author gets to reinvent herself (yes, Robert
Galbraith is just a pen name). If you
can, don’t try to find out who this author is until you’re done reading the book
(you’ll be surprised to find out who Galbraith truly is).
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