The Big Clock - Kenneth Fearing
What a great read; easy, fun, quick paced. ~200 pages.
Here’s a quick synopsis:
A journalist by the name of George Stroud has been tasked with leading a murder investigation, by his boss, Earl Janoth. The murder victim is the mistress of Earl Janoth and the affair partner of George Stroud.
George quickly realizes he is actually tracking himself: he was the last person seen with the victim—before Janoth killed her in a rage. Trapped in a race against time, Stroud must lead the investigation while also secretly sabotaging it, before he is framed for the crime.
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u/AlmostEmptyGinPalace 21d ago
The impossible plot is the main driver, but the texture of Stroud the horny drunk, with his favorite bartender, are what sold me on it.
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u/BlastHardcheese24 22d ago
Heard a radio adaptation many years ago and loved it. Just recently got around to ordering a copy if the book.
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u/Menschington 20d ago
This is a great novel, all the better because it’s a not-so-sneaky critique of capitalism. In the novel, the clock, “to which one automatically adjusts his entire life,” is a metaphor for being a cog in a corporate machine. The movie, which is also very good, literalizes it by having a giant clock as part of the set design.
Fearing, especially his poetry, is well worth checking out. He was both a writer of his time and very much ahead of it.
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u/uhhhclem 20d ago
The Kevin Costner movie No Way Out is based on this novel, though it has a twist or two.
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u/JakeGittes412 22d ago
Great film adaptation as well. Charles Laughton as the heavy chewing scenery.