文章基本信息

标题：Fer-de-Lance
作者：Jacqueline Edwards
期刊名称：Kliatt
印刷版ISSN：1065-8602
出版年度：2005
卷号：May 2005
出版社：Kliatt

Fer-de-Lance

Jacqueline Edwards

FER-DE-LANCE. Rex Stout. 1934/1993. Read by Michael Prichard. 7 cds. 8.6 hrs. Audio Partners. 1-57270-388-1. $29.95. Cardboard; plot, author, reader notes. SA

TOO MANY COOKS. Rex Stout. 1938/2000. Read by Michael Prichard. 7 cds. 8.3 hrs. Audio Partners. 1-57270-392-x. $32.95. Cardboard; plot, author, reader notes. SA

Stout's series of Nero Wolfe-Archie Goodwin detective mysteries is notable for its colorful, pointed dialog and larger-than-life characterizations. Wolfe, equally famous for his genius and the volumes he eats and drinks, sits rooted in his comfortable desk chair, sending his tough-talking, manly man sidekick Goodwin out into the world to uncover clues and bring them back to him so he can use his remarkable deductive powers to solve the crime. In Fer-de-Lance, the first Wolfe mystery, he solves the link between the murders of a poor Italian immigrant and a distinguished college president. In Cooks, the gourmand is pried out of his New York brownstone to a gathering of the world's best chefs only to find one of them murdered during a food-tasting challenge.

Pritchard becomes the definitive Goodwin, the first-person teller of these tales, catching the arch tones of the tough-guy detective. Other characterizations do not vary widely. The novels, deeply rooted in the culture of their time and place (1930s USA), exhibit the chauvinism and bigotries characteristic of their day. And, because the language is so successfully evocative of the commonplaces of the 1930s, it will--rightly--give the contemporary listener offense. At the same time, Cooks includes a scene clearly demonstrative of Stout's support for the embryonic Civil Rights movement. Jacqueline Edwards, Bedford, MA

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.