tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post9215667082395531915..comments2024-02-14T03:20:23.057-08:00Comments on Pop Sensation: Paperback 885: The Scarab Murder Case / S.S. Van Dine (Graphic 89)Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post-50507258288654400502015-06-10T13:11:03.091-07:002015-06-10T13:11:03.091-07:00I sampled S.S. Van Dine back in my early teen year...I sampled S.S. Van Dine back in my early teen years, on the recommendation of John Dickson Carr, who'd written that Van Dine handled suspects "with dexterity." (Maybe that was some kind of special suspect-handling tool?) Alas, no. Philo Vance is annoying, polysyllabic, over-educated and always willing to show it off; and the plots aren't that good either. Van Dine wrote 12 in the series; I gave up after 4. <br />To be fair, they do date from the mid-1920s. <br /><br />Ellery Queen modeled their detective, Ellery Queen, on Vance, because the Vance books were best-sellers in their day. But EQ had the sense to modify Ellery and make him more likeable, and fallible, over 45 years.Benzadmiralhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16762681617545684805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post-36888247609113173492015-06-06T08:39:12.851-07:002015-06-06T08:39:12.851-07:00Clearly the author was left alone with the back co...Clearly the author was left alone with the back cover blurb and a blue Sharpie just before they went to press...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post-28567995506707771282015-06-05T00:55:00.290-07:002015-06-05T00:55:00.290-07:00A much classier version of 'Dagger of the Mind...A much classier version of 'Dagger of the Mind' http://salmongutter.blogspot.com/2015/05/paperback-884-dagger-of-mind-kenneth.htmlAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05097441437159417314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post-39820416178225286102015-05-26T15:56:41.442-07:002015-05-26T15:56:41.442-07:00Ogden Nash famously wrote of Van Dine's recurr...Ogden Nash famously wrote of Van Dine's recurring detective hero:<br />"Philo Vance needs a kick in the pance."<br />Does he ever....<br />Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09363685364481896091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post-23209148821303811862015-05-26T00:57:38.594-07:002015-05-26T00:57:38.594-07:00I've read some of Van Dine's mysteries, an...I've read some of Van Dine's mysteries, and they're mostly second-rate imitations of British Golden Age mysteries being published on the other side of the Atlantic. This cover looks like it belongs on something a lot more hardboiled--and a lot more interesting!vintagehoarderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16712215159631487676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4660994103025515363.post-73139562630565447162015-05-25T16:27:11.991-07:002015-05-25T16:27:11.991-07:00Yow, it's pointy boobs versus pointy dagger! A...Yow, it's pointy boobs versus pointy dagger! And judging by that limp, yielding hand, the boobies have already won.<br /><br />Re. page 123: Oh, great; for the next week or so I'm going to have Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" stuck in my head, only with all the "celebrate"s replaced with "cerebrate"s.<br /><br />Cerebrate good times, come on!<br />(Let's cerebrate)<br />Cerebrate good times, come on!<br />(Let's cerebrate)<br />...Karlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05827682993126698431noreply@blogger.com