Presenting Author - Dick Francis
Posted: Sat May 20, 2017 3:57 am
Dick Francis
Main genre: Mystery / Adventure
Main audience: Young Adult on
Dick Francis, former steeplechase jockey turned mystery writer, wrote over 40 books of mystery. They always, in some way or form involve horses -- and people of the race horse group.
This is on the inner back of the book I just finished To the Hilt.
Harry, of Good Reads, wrote this:
Good points / bad points:
Good points - I've enjoyed all the books I've read of his. Some I like more than others; that's true of every author I've read! But of how many authors can a person say they've sought out and read all of their output they could find -- and this I have done. Another plus is that they are very intelligently written.
Bad points - If you are not into horses, then some of the stories might not grip you so much as they did me, because his knowledge of the equine and their body and mind and emotion and spirit is phenomenal.
Main genre: Mystery / Adventure
Main audience: Young Adult on
Dick Francis, former steeplechase jockey turned mystery writer, wrote over 40 books of mystery. They always, in some way or form involve horses -- and people of the race horse group.
This is on the inner back of the book I just finished To the Hilt.
--Houston ChronicleHe writes about the basic building blocks of life -- obligation, honor, love, courage, and pleasure. Those discussions come disguised in adventure novels so gripping that they cry out to be read in one gulp -- then quickly reread to savor the details skipped in the first gallop through the pages.
Harry, of Good Reads, wrote this:
Short summary of the author: Read the above which was written by others and much more eloquently than I would!What is there to say about Dick Francis? As I think about all of his books (yes, this review covers all of his books, and yes I've read them all) I think about a moral ethical hero, steeped in intelligence and goodness embroiled in evil machinations within British horse racing society - either directly or indirectly. The heroes aren't always horse jockies, they can be film producers, or involve heroes engaged in peripheral professions that somehow always touch the horse racing world.
But more than that, Francis's heroes are rational human beings. The choices made are rational choices directed by a firm objective philosophy that belies all of Francis's novels. The dialogue is clear and touched with humor no matter the intensity of evil that the hero faces. The hero's thoughts reveal a vulnerability that is touching, while his actions are always based on doing the right thing to achieve justice.
Causing the reader to deeply care about the characters in a novel is a difficult thing to do. No such worries in a Francis novel. The point of view is first person, you are the main character as you read the story (usually the character of Mr. Douglas). The hero is personable, like able, non-violent but delivering swift justice with his mind rather than through physical means. This is not to say that violence is a stranger to our hero. Some of it staggering and often delivered by what we would think of normal persons living in British society.
Good points / bad points:
Good points - I've enjoyed all the books I've read of his. Some I like more than others; that's true of every author I've read! But of how many authors can a person say they've sought out and read all of their output they could find -- and this I have done. Another plus is that they are very intelligently written.
Bad points - If you are not into horses, then some of the stories might not grip you so much as they did me, because his knowledge of the equine and their body and mind and emotion and spirit is phenomenal.