Now and Then (Spenser) by Robert B. Parker Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Now and Then (Spenser)
Book Review: Spenser is Fading Away
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me first say that I have read all the Spenser novels and the associated books. I have a solid grounding in "Spenser Lore". You really need to have that background to be able to understand and enjoy this book. If you tried to pick this up as your first entry into the Spenser world, you would probably be very confused, since so much of it relies on back story.
Way back in the dawn of time, Susan ran off on Spenser. After great trials and tribulations they got back together again, but it has always gnawed at Spenser's psyche that it happened. He has dealt with MANY cheating spouses since then, but for whatever bizarre reason when this particular man comes into his office and tells Spenser of his adulterous wife, Spenser hits his breaking point. For whatever reason, it suddenly becomes the neon-bright symbol of the scar in his past.
This then infects (ahem, affects) everything that goes on. Even though there are serious terrorist issues at work, and stories of FBI agents being compromised, Spenser pretty much ignores all of that end-of-the-world concern that would have Jack Bauer looking for someone to torture. Instead, Spenser meanders along, doing his usual stirring up the hornet's nest and sitting back to see what happens.
I adore Spenser. I adore the series. I am very aware that Spenser by this point would be over seventy years old, that there are so many books out that it must be challenging for author Parker to come up with new sparse-but-snappy dialogue. I gave Parker great credit for his description of the "tarnished knights" protecting the lady who herself was slightly tarnished. Not too long ago Spenser would be a spot-free glowing boy scout and Susan his beacon of perfection. I like very much that the Spenser world is getting even a tiny glimmer of reality in it. I like the bright glints of wit. "Has Timmy fallen down a well?" Spenser asks of his pup.
That being said, this is almost Spenser Lite. The plot is one of the mildest, simplest I've seen. It feels watered down. In another section a poem is hinted at, which I love, and then the book actually lays out the meaning and poem in great detail - as if we were too dense to "get" the reference on our own. The final resolution of the issue feels very wrong for MANY reasons which I can't go into here for spoiler reasons.
What it really seems to be is that Parker isn't writing more Spenser novels as much as he is tidying up a few loose threads in preparation for Spenser to retire. I am very much in favor of wrapping things up neatly - but even so, a series as great as the Spenser series should go out with a strong, vibrant finish. Instead, it feels as if it is petering out with a tired sigh, which is a great shame. I would almost wish that Parker would decide "OK the next book will be Spenser's last" and give it a real full experience and give us that final memory with Spenser.
Book Review: Spenser now & then
Summary: 2 Stars
Spenser NOW & THEN (2007) set me on a mission of detection--to compare and contrast Robert B. Parker's 1st Spenser novel with this one, his last, before he died at his desk writing still more Spenser tales (subsequently published.) It is my contention that the 1st novel is often the best an author has to offer, maybe not in writing, but in the having of something to say--the big idea rattling 'round his or her brain that is. Parker's 1st, THE GODWULF MANUSCRIPT, was published in 1973 and so there is a record of thirty-four years (he wrote 34 Spenser novels.) from first to last. Parker is an author/writer worthy of envy. He did what many writers aspire to but few accomplish--he created a character and a career and a good living for the rest of his life. Looking at Parker's book's author photos on the jackets of the books gives me the impression Spenser was a man Parker wished he was (not at all unusual for authors). He-Spencer- was fearless (on the outside). This line is uttered, in code, in both the 1st and last book. Indeed, the stories are very similar as are the hero and the villains. Spenser has calmed down some in the 2007 version and become a little less antisocial, but not much. I wrote down the characteristics of Spenser as I read NOW & THEN. I wrote: Clever, Strong, Quite, Smart, Healthy, Tough, Protective, Honest, Sentimental, Sensual, Sexual, Competitive, Confident. When the GODWULF MANUSCRIPT (a terrible title btw) took place (The early 70s and in Boston) Spenser was 37 years old (Parker was 41), a Korean War veteran, single, former cop turned PI, former heavyweight boxer, and a very violent, hard-drinking, junk food eating, apolitical, hyper-sexual, wise cracking, large athletic, observant, smart, well-read always-gets-the-girl, always-gets-his-man man. A man's man. A Clint Eastwood 'Man With No Name' type. For example: Spenser, in the span of 24hrs, screws both his employer (a 43 yr.old married socialite) & her daughter (a 20yr.old victim of all sorts of 'Things'); and insults just about everyone else, wolf's down 9 Big Macs, eats a dozen donuts, drinks gallons of coffee and several pints of bourbon, beats up boys and men, breaks laws right & left, cracks wise, sleeps little and cooks up some great meals. But there is this - if not for the heroic action of the large, unattractive, dull, wife of a weak university professor, Spencer would have been killed by a skilled outlaw hired enforcer thug. But in the end, Spenser survives a bullet wound, the case, the law, and gets still another girl who fell for his charms. Now, in NOW & THEN, it is 2005 and there are still more radical, weak, anti-government, murderous, radical professors to be dealt with. Spenser has a girlfriend, a 'shrink,' and is still in Boston. He's now (doing the math) at least 69 years old and horny as he ever was, but he keeps his lasciviousness confined to 'his' girl. He's made some friends, anti-social professional killers, who he has do most of his work. Spencer now is mostly a thinker, but still packs a mean & powerful punch (in and out of bed.) Parker now, as writer & author, doesn't bother with much of anything other than clipped and snappy dialogue between Spenser and his pals, girlfriend, bad guys, and the cops. I recommend the early Parker, if you like "Manly-men" fantasy tales. Here's to Robert B. Parker, cheers.
Book Review: The last of a unique series
Summary: 3 Stars
Having read all of the Spenser novels (36 by my count) I want to share my views on the series now that Robert B. Parker has died. Now & Then is a kind of summary book in that Parker brings back most of the gang from previous books. Susan and Hawk, of course, and Vinnie and Chollo two shooters who appear when Spenser is in trouble and Quirk, Belson and other Boston legal-types. It is as though Parker knew he was writing his last book and wanted to give them a final curtain call.
Like the last few books in the series this one is weak and is more of a reminisce about his past relationship with Susan. The wit seems forced and repetitious, the violence (10 people are killed) gratuitous. I listed a rating of three stars but what I really mean is five stars for the early novels and fewer for the last ten or so. This latter group seems to have been just dashed off, unlike the earlier books which presented Parker's philosophy about crime and life. For Parker crime results from dysfunctional families. Susan is, of course, a stand in for Parker's real life wife, Joan, to whom he dedicated all the novels. Spenser is Parker's fantasy of who he would have like to have been. Spenser is unique among PI's in that he uses his wit as well as his fists and his gun with equal adroitness. Much of the fun of the series came from Spenser's repartee with adversaries as well as wutg Susan, Hawk and other supporting characters.
The early books in the series had a time line with the characters aging with each book. But it became apparent after 20-25 books that Spenser could not continue to perform as Parker wanted him to so he stopped the aging process and for the last 15 or so books Spenser and the other characters remain frozen in time. I wrote to Parker at one point when Spenser was clearly too old to engage in the activities Parker was asking him to do. I did a kind of satire with Spenser and Hawk going to McDonald's for coffee and being charged the price for senior citizens and thus realizing they were getting old. Parker did not answer but the aging process did stop. Parker gives away Spenser's age in Now & Then by having him say on page 276 that he fought Joe Walcott. The real "Jersey Joe" Walcott was in his prime in the late 1940's, thus for Spenser to have fought him he would have to be 70-80 years old in the present (Parker was 77 when he died.) One way to stay young and virile, I guess, is to create a character like Spenser.
I recommend the Spenser books to anyone who likes a good tale, told with wit and charm. But you should start from the beginning and read them in sequence.
More Now and Then (Spenser) reviews:
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