Morse

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Morse

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1Booksloth
Ago 4, 2012, 9:25 pm

I know I've left it a hell of a long time to get round to reading my first Morse book but I just decided I fancied some not too deep, fun to read, murders and thought this would fit the bill. Now I know the book was written in 1975 and was very much a product of its age but, even so - and especially for a series that has such a benign reputation - I was actually quite shocked at the sexist and generally callous attitudes that are portrayed therein. The supposedly much-loved Morse and Lewis spend a fair bit of time discussing whether it is possible for a woman to be raped (finally concluding that it's well-nigh impossible 'if she is unwilling'). Lewis finds photos of a semi-naked female corpe sexually exciting, despite the fact that she has bruises on her breasts, blood in her hair and multiple fractures to her skull. Later on in the book these two cuddly 'tecs go on to discuss their dislike of people who commit suicide on the grounds that they are 'cowardly'.

So here's what I'd like to know - as the series progresses, is there any sign of growth in these two characters or am I going to have to put up with these attitudes for another 12 books? And does the TV series perpetuate this crassness too? As the only person in Ebgland who has never watched that either I was thinking about getting hold of a copy but I'm beginning to think thast might be a whole lot of time I'll never get back.

And - supplementary question here, assuming things don't improve - what on earth is the attraction of this series amongst otherwise normal people?

2oldstick
Ago 5, 2012, 6:44 am

I never watched Morse-I thought it was all visions of Oxford and classical music - and I haven't read any of the books, but I do like Lewis (or, rather, his sidekick, Hathaway) on TV. I may try one now, to see if it is as unpleasant as you say, although I'm not really into detective stories. Perhaps we need to jump to a later book to see if the author has modified his views with the passage of time.
Why I wanted to comment is because you have started me thinking bout another related question-that of books being a product of their time- and should we censor or change books because we no longer agree with what is in them? It fits with this new 'sexing up' of classics and started with Janet and Jane and Noddy. Why can't we leave books as the author intended and if they are sexist or racist recognise that was how people did think in those days.
The poetry book I have just edited was a reaction against this wave of political correctness. Some of us who have lived for over sixty years will always resist the encroaching political correctness, and as it is a book of childhood memories it does reflect how we thought and behaved in the nineteen forties and fifties. The hundred copies are going to friends and relations who, we hope, share our recollections and will get pleasure out of our comments on modern life.
I hope you do get a reply from someone who likes the books and I'm going to check the review section to find out which book to try.

3Booksloth
Ago 5, 2012, 7:36 am

I completely agree with you about leaving books as they are: constant updating and revising to fit in with the sensibilities of the modern reader would destroy the whole point of many novels, (and who would suggest updating the Mona Lisa's hairdo?) even if we do find their values hard to deal with nowadays. And novels can reveal a lot about the attitudes of the times that we might not otherwise be aware of. Having lived through the seventies, I'm only too well aware that these kind of attitudes were prevalent, not least in the police force, but I am a little surprised that this series, both on paper and on screen, seems to remain so popular today with many people. Or was it really only ever the Daily Mail readers who read or watched after all?

4geocroc
Ago 5, 2012, 7:48 am

It's a long long time since I read the Morse books. From memory I recall that the earlier books where definitely more edgy, but to some extent I guess this was reflecting the very male-dominated nature of the police in the 1970s. Far more edgy are the novels by David Peace set in the late 1970s/early 1980s, featuring corrupt, violent, sexist and racist police officers. Like many fictional detectives, Morse is a flawed character and is explored further in the books. He lives alone, works long hours and struggle to form lasting relationships with women. Lewis, in contrast, is a family man - and I think comes across as young and naive in the early books, but he does grow as a character. There is also an interesting class relationship at play between Morse and Lewis, and many of the people caught up in the crimes and murders. As the books develop I think they do adapt to changing attitudes and the main characters also change as they grow older. New characters appear, for example a women forensics expert.

The TV series was, from what I remember, very different. OK, it starred John Thaw as Morse, who'd previously been in The Sweeney, a far more gritty 70s police drama. But ITV's approach to adapting the Morse novels was to focus on the location - at times it felt like a tourist film for Oxford with the lingering shots of the city's dreaming spires. Morse's interest in the classics, crosswords, opera and classic cars all played well into setting a scene that was perfect for the predominately middle-class audience it must have drawn. I guess it combined the two staples of British TV drama: the historical setting of a costume drama, and the intrigue of a murder mystery. It will have also sold well overseas.

Wikipedia tells me that the TV series was made between 1987 and 2000, so began much later than when the early books were written. They tended to be broadcast at prime time, so those early books will no doubt have been toned down, although I'm struggling to remember. Also, there were far more stories produced for TV than were written as original novels. Indeed my feeling is that some of the later Morse books were influenced by the TV production. Indeed I have a vague recollection that one of later books (The Jewel That Was Ours) was adapted from a TV script. But Colin Dexter did get heavily involved in the adaptations, even those not based on books. He also appear on screen, Hitchcock style, in cameo appearances.

I must confess I stopped watching the TV series after a while. It became a something of a bandwagon and moved away from the original books. In essence I think the legacy of Morse in the public imagination is the TV series, not the books, and people do forget they had their less desirable aspects. Nevertheless, there has been a tendency for crime fiction to become more violent and dark since then, for example David Peace's Red Riding books and even The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

5Booksloth
Ago 5, 2012, 4:20 pm

That gives me sufficient hope to try another book in the series. I just picked up a 2nd hand copy of The Riddle of the Third Mile, which comes quite a few books further down the line so I'll give that a try sometime soon and see if there's any improvement. They are certainly easy, light reads and it's always handy to have a few of those around. I still might give the TV series a try.

6LolaWalser
Ago 5, 2012, 6:09 pm

(Why do I have to join to post, how insular can you get...!:))

Booksloth, if you want to give Dexter just one more chance, I'd suggest The wench is dead. Morse solves a crime committed in the past--few centuries past. Unique concept for the series, I believe, and probably less burdened by the 'tudes you mention.

I saw a few of the TV episodes and liked them well enough, mostly because of John Thaw.

Now I'll go politically incorrect and speculate that someone as plug-ugly as Colin Dexter had no choice but to grow into a woman-hater. Seriously--he could license his mug for a Halloween mask and make a scary killing.

That said, and for instance, not that long ago I read the first book featuring Lovejoy the antiquarian/accidental sleuth, by Jonathan Gash, also dating from the seventies. Practically the first thing our lovable hero does is slap his girlfriend across the face so hard that she falls. Dames! nothing but nuisance, out of bed. I almost dropped the book then and there, but I had promised to read it. The language had verve, the setting was interesting, but I kept being brought short by the absolutely shitty treatment of women. (That has been made into a series with Ian McShane; I have yet to check it out.)

For all that, I too wouldn't dream of changing a word or censoring in any way the products of the past. On the contrary, I'd like them brought forth (when one wants and needs to do so) in their full misogynistic glory. It's part and parcel of learning what the world was--and is--like. Obviously. But, I think we have a duty--or at least a pressing need, some of us--to criticise the past, and we damn well ought to do so. Because the past and those attitudes stink to high heaven, and not only now, in retrospect. To say that that's how people thought then doesn't excuse anything, how could it? It explains the preponderance of such attitudes in culture, but that's it. It doesn't make it better, or even more bearable.

7PossMan
Ago 9, 2012, 2:22 pm

Have never read the Morse books and as far as the TV series is concerned found Morse a rather odious character. Agree with oldstick (post #2) that the Lewis follow-up with Hathaway as sidekick is better. Hathaway is a bit elitist perhaps but in a much nicer way - at least that's the way he comes across to me. As for OP I believe the way we think about about rape has changed greatly since the books were written - after all when I was a child it was legally impossible in England to rape your wife.

8reading_fox
Ago 10, 2012, 4:28 am

Morse books and Morse on TV are quite different characters. I've not read all the Morse books in order, merely a few now and then as I've come across them, pretty much the same with the TV

However it should be noted that Morse is a curmudgeonly old man, and has been single for his entire life - some of his backstory does emerge over the course of the series. That's how Dexter wrote him, and that is how he remains. He always has an interest in pornograghy throughout the books (much less so on TV) - likewise his attempts to be attractive to various women he meets. - again this is minimised on TV. Lewis develops more than Morse does, becoming Morse's conscience in a number of issues. How Morse responds to Lewis provides some of the more interesting character interactions. (cf Sherlock and Watson)

I don't recall it being as blatent as you've mentioned in the top post - which story was that? Note that the omnibuses don't necessarily contain the stories in their published/chronological order.

9CDVicarage
Ago 10, 2012, 5:16 am

I've not read any Morse and only watched a very little on TV but I had a very similar experience with Midsomer Murders. Having watched a lot of these I thought I'd try a book. In this instance it was Barnaby's sidekick (his first one) who was a rather unpleasant man - sexist and racist - whereas on TV he'd been a much younger, more naive man. I wonder how much control and adapted writer has on the TV product?

In the Hamish Macbeth series our hero is a tall red-headed man, a fact often mentioned in the books. On TV he was played by Robert Carlyle, who is neither tall nor read-headed. Interestingly, one book in the series, Death of a Scriptwriter, touches on the possible friction between an author and a scriptwriter, although I don't know if this reflects M. C. Beaton's own feelings and experience!

10Booksloth
Ago 10, 2012, 6:15 am

#8 Eeek! Now he sounds even creepier! I wonder what on earth made lovely John Thaw even consider taking the role (maybe it's time I got round to dragging The Two of Us off Mount TBR to see if there are clues). Oops, I hadn't noticed I'd forgotten to say which book I was talking about: it was the first in the series Last Bus to Woodstock.

The point you make about it perhaps not being quite so blatant is a really interesting one and I suspect depends on when you read the books. Don't forget, I've come completely new to them with all my 2012 sensibilities. I suspect there was a lot in there that I might have overlooked if I'd read them back in the 70s.

#9 I wonder how much control and adapted writer has on the TV product? Virtually none - once the rights are sold it's no longer their baby, just like selling film rights - hence some of those adaptations (Hitchcock's interpretation of du Maurier's The Birds is an excellent example) where even many people who have both read the books and watched the film or TV show still have no idea that there is any connection.

I'm going to have to try at least one more of these books eventually (thanks for the suggestion, Lola) but right now the very idea is starting to give me the willies.

11PossMan
Editado: Ago 10, 2012, 2:35 pm

#8 As you suggest I've never noticed Morse on TV to have any interest in pornography. But have always been struck by the way in so many episodes he seems to regard the women he meets as potential marriage partners (as you say make himself attractive to them). And in so many episodes he is thwarted because his "would be bride" turns out to be the killer or otherwise culpable.

12abbottthomas
Ago 10, 2012, 7:41 pm

Not only was Endeavour Morse curmudgeonly but he never, ever paid for his round. I never saw him as a misogynist, although his choice of women was usually infelicitous. He drank more than was good for him but he was a whiz at the Times crossword and loved Wagner - well, Wagner's music. As to why "lovely John Thaw" took the role, Booksloth, it sounds as if you have never watched The Sweeney. After playing Jack Regan in that series, Morse would have seemed an uber-intellectual proto-feminist.

An example of changing attitudes is that, in the Lewis TV series, Lewis's current boss is a woman. Admittedly she usually seems to get things wrong, leaving Lewis and Hathaway to sort them out.

13Booksloth
Ago 11, 2012, 6:07 am

#12 "Shut i-i-i-i-t!" I did watch a few episodes of The Sweeney though I never really liked it but I've always found it hard to think of the 'Sweeney' John Thaw as the same person who was in 'Morse' and later, of course, such gems as Goodnight Mister Tom. It's the actor John Thaw I think of as 'lovely', definitely not the characters he played.

14Noisy
Ago 11, 2012, 7:08 pm

I loved the Morse series on telly, and only came to the Morse books many years later. I read all the stories in order over a year or two, and randomly reviewed some of them. I never over-analyse stuff on the tv: I either like it; find it bearable; or loathe it. Morse, I loved.

The books and the tv were like chalk and cheese. In the books, Morse was the young whipper-snapper with a degree and Lewis the elderly Sarge with a family (although towards the end of the series this turned about to match up with the tv series). The intellectualism of Morse is carried over very strongly, though.

I had a strong reaction to the OP, thinking that it was focusing on entirely the wrong aspects of the books, and not letting the story be the thing. However, I now recall that there are some books where all I remember are the typesetting errors and not the story, so who am I to cast a stone? Anyway, I've never bothered too much about the plot in whodunnits - basically because I can never guess the perpetrator. So, I could never figure out why I found the plot so annoying in the early books of the series, with Morse shooting off in all directions that seemed unconnected to what had gone before. It was only towards the end of the series that I finally twigged: the plot has almost nothing to do with the character of the books, and they are really all about the character interactions.

I rated them all as good or better, but it was only when I got to the last one - The Remorseful Day - that it fully clicked and I ignored the story and just concentrated on the characters. Perhaps I should go back and re-read them (if only my tbr pile wasn't acting as a wall in my house ...).

15Booksloth
Ago 12, 2012, 7:27 am

#14 Sadly, it was the characters I found so annoying! I'd completely agree with you about the plot though. as far as I could tell in the book I read, Morse was about as good a detective as my maiden aunt (with apologies to my maiden aunt).

16CliffordDorset
Ago 12, 2012, 8:03 am

I've steered to windward of detective writing since I devoured Agatha Christie in my early teens (after Blyton and Biggles. and was later bored to death by Rendell, and I always suspected that the TV Morse was as much the product of the scriptwriters as of Dexter, but I found Thaw's version one of the most watchable things on TV. Culture these days means anything you want it to mean, but Barrington Pheloung's musical commentary to Morse's love of Mozart and Wagner did much to reinforce Thaw's delightfully acerbic irony. Still not tempted by the books, though ...

17jbbarret
Ago 12, 2012, 2:44 pm

>8 reading_fox:, 11
I remember that in one TV episode he did seem to be overly defensive of the works of Alma Tadema.

18reading_fox
Ago 14, 2012, 10:17 am

Booksloth - one series you might prefer is PD James's Inspector Dalglish books. He, like Morse, is a cultured intelligent english detective, set in rural england with an appreciation of the art and buildings around him, but he has a much more caring side, and a greater appreciation of the people around him. Which doesn't make the victim's or suspect's lives any easier, but doesn't have that same level of antipathy that you've expressed concern about.

19Booksloth
Ago 15, 2012, 5:58 am

#18 Thank you, RF. I've never really been attracted to Dalglish so far (and I'm a little put off PD James at the moment by the sheer awfulness of Death Comes to Pemberley) but I always appreciate any suggestions and I'm adding that series to my mental 'give it a try' list. Should I read them in order or doesn't it matter?

20ed.pendragon
Editado: Ago 16, 2012, 5:37 am

Can anyone tell me if it's worth reading more of the Gervase Finn* books? He is an Oxford professor, as idiosyncratic as the TV Morse (though I suppose all fictional detectives are idiosyncratic), who solves crimes while pursuing his academic career. I've only read The Case of the Gilded Fly, the first in the series, which I found marginally entertaining, but want to know if it's worth pursuing further volumes.

I enjoyed Dalgliesh on TV while never reading the books, but I suspect that was largely because of his sympathetic portrayal by Roy Marsden.

* Sorry, I meant Gervase Fen; Gervase Phinn is a successful Yorkshire author.

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