There’s been some ongoing discussions in the various newsgroups about Will Murray’s humorous essay, “Stop Me from Reading Another Spider,” which is posted on Chris Kalb’s The Spider Returns site. So that got me thinking about my reading habits.
Lately, I’ve been reading five to 10 Doc Savage books back-to-back every so often over the summer in preparation for the Arizona Doc Con’s quiz time.
I can read one after the other without feeling as if I’m about to overdose on Doc. Except for the occasional lug nut by someone other than Lester Dent, the Docs are well paced, cleanly written and pretty entertaining.
I can do the same with The Shadow, though it has been a long time since I’ve read more than three or four consecutively. The same with The Spider. I can’t say I’ve read many other pulp series in CostCo-like bulk quantities. Except…
Operator #5, and those really get to me. I can only handle about one of those at a time. I feel as if Oppy is going from one situation to another with very little actual plotting, and that gets old rather quickly.
Any other pulp series that are fun to read in small doses, but should be avoided in larger ones?
– William
You’re a better man than I am, William. I would say — and recently have said — that it’s generally a bad idea to read consecutively more than two stories in any hero-pulp series. If you happen to get three or four of the better Docs or Shadows, you’re ahead of the game. But if you happen to pick the same number of those lame early and mid ’40s issues, you’re begging for trouble, IMO.
I have just finished rereading the three novels in Max Brand’s “Whistlin’ Dan” series (originally published in ALL-STORY and ARGOSY ALL-STORY), a project I undertook with the knowledge that the three stories are connected. But I found it tougher sledding than I’d anticipated, even though I consider those three novels to be among Brand’s best (and therefore, by extension, among the best Western pulp yarns ever printed). It was just too much of the same thing. I’d have enjoyed them more if I’d spread them out, and Lord only knows how many years it’ll be before I attempt reading them again.
If there’s a man alive who’s read more than three consecutive Phantom Detectives without having his brain turn to mush, let’s hear from him.
Amen on the early and mid-’40s Docs and Shadows, Ed. They can wear thin pretty quickly. I’ve been focusing on the ’30s stories mostly.
I haven’t tried consecutive Phantom Detectives yet (and probably won’t!), but I’m considering plowing through several Captain Futures when I take a break from my latest batch of Docs. I must confess I haven’t read any of those stories before, so I’m not sure what I’m in for.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read ANY pulp hero series in large doses. I have been reading the paperbacks series THE DESTROYER over the past three years, and I’ll chainread three stories within a single weekend, then not read any for another six months. I’m about due for any “Destroyer” getaway soon.