In my continued effort to read many of the classics and novels that were highly regarded in my writing classes, I read Gorky Park. I wish I could remember why they regarded it so highly. It was probably due Martin Cruz Smith’s extensive use of detail to set-up a scene. While it was thorough, I found it really slowed down the pace of the novel. Perhaps the audience in the West during the Cold War-era thirsted for details of life behind the Iron Curtain and enjoyed that level of detail, for me it was a bit too much.
Aside from the large amount of details, another problem I had was the reader learns the identity of the killer very early on. Once I knew, I wondered why I should read another 300 pages about a dreary investigator with a crappy life.
What turned the novel around was a trio of secondary characters who became more and more important to the investigator as the book plodded along. They really brought him to life. As their roles increased I began to wonder what would happen next to these relationships and finally I was hooked. It took awhile to get there, but it paid off in the end.
A recommended read if you have free time and have an interest in Russia during the Cold War.
