The Curious Eat Themselves

The friend who recommended this novel to me said they had mixed feelings about it, and now I understand why. ‘The Curious Eat Themselves’ is a wonderfully titled noir-ish murder mystery set in 1990s Alaska and starring a frankly slapdash Defense Investigator (do these exist in the UK?) called Cecil Younger. I think lists might help to explain my feelings about it.

The Good
- A really strong sense of place. Alaska and its residents seem pretty messed up, but Straley evokes them very vividly. The details all add up: use of light planes to get around everywhere, absence of entertainment that isn’t food or alcohol, trees everywhere. You can really feel the cold emptiness and inhospitable climate. There’s a visceral sense that this show more place is hostile to human life and a minor mistake could kill you.
- Some interesting character dynamics, especially Cecil and his housemate Todd. The narrator is most appealing when he’s chatting with friends about topics unrelated to the murder. Most of the background characters are intriguingly idiosyncratic.
- There are flashes of excellent deadpan humour.
- A convincing depiction of the amoral profit-seeking of oil companies.

The Bad
- I liked basically nothing about the central mystery. A woman has been raped and, after trying to get justice, murdered. By different men, as it turns out. The rape happens under repugnant circumstances while she was working at a oil compound (or whatever you call an onshore oil rig). During the investigation, various men suggest that she acted flirtatious, was a tease, and otherwise try to excuse her rape. Then, we learn that her throat was slit by another guy, who she trusted and even loved. And he did it just because he felt like it! This motivation, “I was in a murdering mood,” is distasteful and flimsy. I don’t understand why Cecil accepted it. The additional murder of the pilot merely added to the sense that Alaska is a land of terrible decisions - why would a corporate employee default straight to murder without even trying to intimidate or buy the pilot off? And then let Cecil onto the plane carrying the corpse?
- No-one in this book is any good at their job. Cecil is reactive, spends most of the time running away, and doesn’t actually solve the mystery: it’s explained to him. The police officer, Doggy, is even more inept. I got the impression that Alaska is a place where you can easily get away with very serious crimes. Perhaps that was the point? The oil companies seem disorganised and inclined to hire murder-happy loose cannons, which doesn't seem great for shareholder returns.
- The treatment of women was pretty troubling. The main female character is a naked corpse. While Hannah took a lot more initiative than Cecil, there was no obvious reason for the scene where she bangs him. No other female characters gets any pagetime to speak of. The rape investigation is not handled well by anyone.
- The dog dies!

The Ambivalent
- I liked that Cecil didn’t carry a gun, then was disappointed when he uses someone else’s later on.
- The detailed descriptions of skinning and gutting animals weren’t very pleasant for a vegetarian. I couldn’t decide whether they really served a narrative purpose.
- The ubiquity of alcoholism was depressing and at times reminded me of [a:David Foster Wallace|4339|David Foster Wallace|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1466019433p2/4339.jpg].

On balance this novel was well worth reading, though, as my previous knowledge of Alaska was entirely gleaned from The Simpsons Movie. None of that conflicts with ‘The Curious Eat Themselves’, although the novel manages much greater depth. I appreciated the insight into a strange and seedy corner of the world, and some of the deadpan narration, without liking the events that transpired. show less

I used to live in Alaska and Straley is superb at evoking that landscape and society of the region. His prose is beautiful and evocative. Unfortunately, the pacing really suffered in this novel. The detective, Cecil Younger, doesn't so much solve the mystery as trip over the solution. There's a lot of meandering to and fro. Stars for his prose and sense of place, the plot not so much.

Gret description of orcas eating seals and people hunting deer. Straley loves Alaska--its cold, wetness, and distances. He isn't so hot about big energy, air travel and drop-in environmentalists. He doesn't mind the thrown-together feel of the cities. The book digs in on you as you read. And you shiver a little wondering why are some people so bad and others so good. But if you made everyone middling muddlers what kind of mystery would you have?

John Straley's details put you in the scene. You can hear the sound of the floatplane's engine change, feel the lift as it pops through the pass. His images of people are as specific, and as spare. His Alaska is bitter, not idealized. And his Alaskans have warts, but you are glad to have met them.

Creek Street is a collection of buildings built on pilings along the creek. A hundred years ago it was the red-light district of Ketchikan, AK. As Cecil Younger stands there today, the police are pulling the body of a young woman, Louise Root, from the waters. Her throat has been slit. She was Younger’s client. She had hired him to the expose corporate cover-up of the rape she had suffered at a nearby gold mine. Also watching is Hannah, Louise’s friend and Younger’s former lover.

Younger feels he needs to finish the job. The police want him to stay out of it. The mining corporation wants to pay him money for information on an environmentalist. And Younger is fighting his own demon, his desire for a drink.

I’ve seen Southeastern show more Alaska. It’s beautiful. It’s gray. It’s damp. It’s chilly. And it is obvious that the author knows it much better than I do. This was the second in a series. I'm glad there are more. show less