Pulp Fiction discussion

Our March 2025 Group Read for the Neo Noir topic is The Given Day by Dennis Lehane. This is our first Lehane read as a group, but many of us are probably familiar with his work.

Lehane was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and his early experiences in Boston deeply inform much of his writing. Before becoming a bestselling author, he worked in the mental health field, which might explain the psychological depth and moral complexity of his characters. Known for his crime novels, particularly Mystic River and Shutter Island (both of which also had successful film adaptations), Lehane often focuses on the darker sides of human nature and the socio-political forces shaping lives.

The Given Day marks a departure from Lehane’s usual crime thrillers and delves into historical fiction, specifically focusing on the events leading up to the 1919 Boston Police Strike. It’s a sprawling, ambitious novel about two men—Danny Coughlin, a Boston cop, and Luther Laurence, an African-America man caught up in the racial and class struggles of the time—and how their fates intertwine against a backdrop of political unrest, labor strikes, and post-World War I America.

While it may seem like a shift from his typical genre, The Given Day retains much of the dark, morally complex atmosphere we expect from Lehane’s work, and there are clear ties to neo-noir, especially in the way the characters grapple with societal corruption, injustice, and their own inner demons. The political and social tension in the novel, as well as the focus on characters who are morally compromised or forced to make difficult choices, is very much in the spirit of neo-noir.

Chat GPT helped me write this summary, instead of my usual rehashing of Wikipedia. But there are plenty of articles to read about Lehane online, including:

Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_...

Lehane's Top 10 Criterion Films - https://www.criterion.com/current/top...

Interview around the time The Given Day was released - https://www.crimetime.co.uk/The-Given...



Here's a picture of Lehane scratching himself.

I finally got from the library,If He Hollars Let Him Go. For various reasons (medical), I’ve been having issues with my attention span. I doubt I’ll be able to undertake this Lehane book. Never the less, great choice by the group.

Lawrence wrote: "I finally got from the library,If He Hollars Let Him Go. For various reasons (medical), I’ve been having issues with my attention span. I doubt I’ll be able to undertake this Lehane book. Never the..."

Aww, I'm sorry to hear that Lawrence. But do let us know how you like the Himes book.

how's the read coming along? who's in with us?

i have to admit the opening chapter is dragging for me. Lehane does get self-indulgent at times and this whole bit with Babe Ruth is not really grabbing my attention. I'll fight through it and hopefully the story picks up soon.

sorry, I'm still in my 'back to basics' phase and I'm about to start The Way Some People Die instead

I'm seven chapters in, and the writing is very good (strong imagery with the pregnant Italian woman, and the parts with Deacon the gangster). The narrator's telling two stories though, and it's a bit cumbersome in execution; one with Danny and his Irish family and the other with Luther his wife.

Really good so far, but not much with crime or anything noir-ish.