In The Cut by Susannah Moore

Does it make me shallow that the only reason I wanted to read this book was that I saw the film? And that the only reason I saw the film was because it starred Mark Ruffalo? Probably. But all the same, I wanted to read it for a long time, mainly because I really liked the film. I actually found the film's noir-ish atmosphere inspiring. I liked the way the main character seemed unable to resist the bad-cop, because he was so damn sexy. So... I read the book.

The book is very short. To be honest, I think it is more novella than novel. It is a thin book, not in small type, and with a considerable number of lists in the prose. It's brief. Slim. Scanty. However, that aside (as a fast reader, I like big books. Really I should read Dickens and Tolstoy and thick challenging tomes, but actually, I like fairly instant gratification), it's an okay read. It trips along, it's even quite exciting. I liked the prose. I think in a way I was spoilt by having seen the film, because apart from the ending, they are pretty much alike. In which case, I think the author's done an amazing job at creating what my recent 'how to write' book's author called 'the fictive dream'. But I wanted more. More eroticism (the author, in the DVD extras for the movie, said she read alot of erotica and pornography while preparing this book. It did not really show. It was pretty pedestrian.) and fewer viscera.

I still found it inspiring, though. I'd really like to be able to create the same foreboding, noir atmosphere for my book.