Review by The Pulp Braggart
Welcome to the first posting of The Pulp Braggart, my replacement site for the currently defunct Fractious Fantasy… which I sometimes felt restricted the areas in which I could roam. By looking, instead, at pulp I can rove through fantasy as well as science fiction, detective fiction, action, adventure, and so on.
In fact my first posting here was going to be a reevaluation of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, published in 1993 by American writer/filmmaker Sherman Alexie through Atlantic Monthly Press, compared and contrasted with the original TV show (1949 to 1957) starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. What better way, I felt, to prove my pulp chops?
This was before a book titled The Condimental Op fell my way.
Yes, that is a deliberate play on words, if you know your Samuel Dashiell Hammett. Hammett’s hardboiled detective The Continental Op made his debut in an October 1923 issue of the pulp bible Black Mask magazine.
90 years later Australian writer-based-in-Japan Andrez Bergen has the cheek to reference and tinker with Hammett’s iconic title. Does he get away with it? In spades – one of the reasons Bergen effectively pushed former Texas Ranger Reid and his native American sidekick off the dinner table of this page. But don’t worry, they’ll return in a future posting; I’m already humming “March of the Swiss Soldiers”, the finale of Gioachino Rossini‘s William Tell Overture.
Instead, here I’m going to serve up a dish best served any which way you prefer, since it so effectively appeases all tastes: Bergen’s aforementioned The Condimental Op, a new book that will be out in July 2013, through British-based publishers Perfect Edge Books.
It’s an anthology in the loosest definition, since the 300+ pages here explore diverse forms of media including the written short story (the bulk of the book), along with comic book art, high-brow visuals, comedy, articles (about Japan, music, earthquakes and film), and a glance at Bergen’s ulterior career subtitling Japanese anime. In the bio notes at the back of the book I note that he’s worked with Mamoru Oshii – the director of The Pulp Braggart favorite Ghost in the Shell.
Genre-wise, this is a broad-minded pulp aficionado’s dream.
It roves through quirky crime fiction (the opening story “Sugar & Spice”), Biggles-style boys’ own fantasy, with tongue-definitely in-cheek (“Victor Victoria”) and seriously sad, moving sci-fi dystopia (“In-Dreamed”). I very much enjoyed the cheeky spotlight on Akira Kurosawa‘s favorite actor Toshiro Mifune (Yojimbo) and the hilarious spotlights on Japanese cultural icons.
Mostly, however, I was struck by Bergen’s voice.
While this does come across in the stories and the articles, it’s most prevalent in his frank, honest, funny interludes between the entries. Here Bergen has done something quite unique in that he’s stitched everything together with a running commentary that places everything in context – very much like the DVD extras commentary people like to watch.
No surprise that the man is a journalist, since it’s a fitting analysis and makes The Condimental Op a surprisingly flowing package of different jewels. The anthology is now available for pre-order through Amazon.
By the way, Bergen confesses that some of this material relates to Bergen’s previous novels (Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat and One Hundred Years of Vicissitude). I’ve read neither and this was in no way an issue to hurdle. However, the anthology did inspire me to unfurl my napkin and go dine on both those books.
The Condimental Op also struck me as a fitting way in which to launch The Pulp Braggart, since it covers such a wide range of styles, much in the way I would also like to do here.
László Löwenstein | THE PULP BRAGGART
In fact my first posting here was going to be a reevaluation of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, published in 1993 by American writer/filmmaker Sherman Alexie through Atlantic Monthly Press, compared and contrasted with the original TV show (1949 to 1957) starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. What better way, I felt, to prove my pulp chops?
This was before a book titled The Condimental Op fell my way.
Yes, that is a deliberate play on words, if you know your Samuel Dashiell Hammett. Hammett’s hardboiled detective The Continental Op made his debut in an October 1923 issue of the pulp bible Black Mask magazine.
90 years later Australian writer-based-in-Japan Andrez Bergen has the cheek to reference and tinker with Hammett’s iconic title. Does he get away with it? In spades – one of the reasons Bergen effectively pushed former Texas Ranger Reid and his native American sidekick off the dinner table of this page. But don’t worry, they’ll return in a future posting; I’m already humming “March of the Swiss Soldiers”, the finale of Gioachino Rossini‘s William Tell Overture.
Instead, here I’m going to serve up a dish best served any which way you prefer, since it so effectively appeases all tastes: Bergen’s aforementioned The Condimental Op, a new book that will be out in July 2013, through British-based publishers Perfect Edge Books.
It’s an anthology in the loosest definition, since the 300+ pages here explore diverse forms of media including the written short story (the bulk of the book), along with comic book art, high-brow visuals, comedy, articles (about Japan, music, earthquakes and film), and a glance at Bergen’s ulterior career subtitling Japanese anime. In the bio notes at the back of the book I note that he’s worked with Mamoru Oshii – the director of The Pulp Braggart favorite Ghost in the Shell.
Genre-wise, this is a broad-minded pulp aficionado’s dream.
It roves through quirky crime fiction (the opening story “Sugar & Spice”), Biggles-style boys’ own fantasy, with tongue-definitely in-cheek (“Victor Victoria”) and seriously sad, moving sci-fi dystopia (“In-Dreamed”). I very much enjoyed the cheeky spotlight on Akira Kurosawa‘s favorite actor Toshiro Mifune (Yojimbo) and the hilarious spotlights on Japanese cultural icons.
Mostly, however, I was struck by Bergen’s voice.
While this does come across in the stories and the articles, it’s most prevalent in his frank, honest, funny interludes between the entries. Here Bergen has done something quite unique in that he’s stitched everything together with a running commentary that places everything in context – very much like the DVD extras commentary people like to watch.
No surprise that the man is a journalist, since it’s a fitting analysis and makes The Condimental Op a surprisingly flowing package of different jewels. The anthology is now available for pre-order through Amazon.
By the way, Bergen confesses that some of this material relates to Bergen’s previous novels (Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat and One Hundred Years of Vicissitude). I’ve read neither and this was in no way an issue to hurdle. However, the anthology did inspire me to unfurl my napkin and go dine on both those books.
The Condimental Op also struck me as a fitting way in which to launch The Pulp Braggart, since it covers such a wide range of styles, much in the way I would also like to do here.
László Löwenstein | THE PULP BRAGGART
Review by Nerd Culture Podcast
The Condimental Op (a riff on The Continental Op by Dashiell Hammett) is a collection of short stories, comics, art, and articles, and serves as a kind of DVD Bonus Features for Bergen's work, especially Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat, with cover art by his six-year-old daughter Cocoa.
I love this sort of thing. I’m mad for Special Features. Want proof? I bought the blu-ray of Prometheus, a film I hated, just because it had a great collection of special features and I wanted to see if they redeemed the film in any way (they didn’t).
My favourite short story here is 'Victor Victoria', a Biggles-ish type romp. Great stuff. Followed closely by 'Revert to Type', which features Andrez’s "Investigators of the Paranormal and Supermundane", Roy & Suzie (who also show up in a couple of other stories).
It also includes some pieces on living in Japan, and if you’re interested in Andrez’s career as a musician (as Little Nobody), you’ll be happy that he writes about the music industry as well.
Overall, The Condimental Op is not as essential as his novels Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat and One Hundred Years of Vicissitude but they do make a great package together, much like a DVD boxed set, and help round out the Andrez Bergen experience.
NERD CULTURE PODCAST
I love this sort of thing. I’m mad for Special Features. Want proof? I bought the blu-ray of Prometheus, a film I hated, just because it had a great collection of special features and I wanted to see if they redeemed the film in any way (they didn’t).
My favourite short story here is 'Victor Victoria', a Biggles-ish type romp. Great stuff. Followed closely by 'Revert to Type', which features Andrez’s "Investigators of the Paranormal and Supermundane", Roy & Suzie (who also show up in a couple of other stories).
It also includes some pieces on living in Japan, and if you’re interested in Andrez’s career as a musician (as Little Nobody), you’ll be happy that he writes about the music industry as well.
Overall, The Condimental Op is not as essential as his novels Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat and One Hundred Years of Vicissitude but they do make a great package together, much like a DVD boxed set, and help round out the Andrez Bergen experience.
NERD CULTURE PODCAST