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September 10, 2004
Review of Little Scarlet by Walter Mosley
Just finished
The very watchful among you may have noticed that this book went off my AllConsuming Currently Reading lists last week. I would like a "read" list from AllConsuming. Erik says it is on the to do feature list when he has an extra weekend.
Anyway. The Easy Rawlins murder mystery Little Scarlet, Walter Mosley's latest. You will notice that I tend to read two types of books. I call them "thick" and "thin". Basically ones that make my brain hurt and ones that put it at ease. Little Scarlet and all Walter Mosley in general fall into the second category. Plane and bedtime reading when the brain wants to be entertained and not work too hard. But this is not all trash. Walter Mosley with Easy Rawlins weaves alot of history and social struggle into his books. This one is set in the race riots of Watts in 1967. Easy is enlisted by the white Deputy Director of LAPD to help them solve the apparent murder/rape of a black woman by a (supposed) white man in the middle of the heat of the moment. The national gaurd is out trying to keep order. A black man can't drive or walk down the street in Watts without being stopped. So the Deputy gives Easy a letter telling the police to let him go about his business which pulls him out of many situations. One is when he is getting a ride from his friend Mouse who is driving a load of stollen goods from Watts to a distributor outside. Mosley doesn't mince any words when describing the reversal of fortune of the black men suddenly getting respect from white cops. The black man being oppressed by the white man is in all Mosley's books, but in this one, it is particularly heavy. And the hero Easy gets some good licks in against the man much to his surprise. But of course in the end he is right back where he started, a black man in a white city trying to make a better life for himself and his family.
The three main conflicts in Easy's life (and in all his books) are the white police, fidelity to his girlfriend, and the temptation of the street criminal life (as lived by his antithesis Mouse). He is constantly tempted by other women. In this one, the lilth young Juanda. He resists heroicly and ends up giving her money to go to college instead of sleeping with her. His killer friend Mouse, "the most dangerous man in LA", keeps the threat of death and crime close at all times. Easy is tempted and at times pulled close to the edge just by being around Mouse. He also must fight daily the urge to just kill his foes as Mouse does without compulsion. The police are the constant simbol of blind authority. In Little Scarlet, a white cop extends his hand in sincere friendship to Easy, something he has never had in other books. If you are a frequent reader of Easy Rawlins books, you will see quite a bit of character development in this one. Easy overcomes another set of challenges to his fidelity, his straight legit life, and his conceptions of law and authority. There is material progress along the path of "maybe I will make it in this world afterall".
In mystery category I give Little Scarlet a 8/10. If you are a fan, it is a must read to continue the story. If you are not, it is an enjoyable, entertaining read.
Posted by Martin at September 10, 2004 1:22 PM
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