We read The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker for the March 31, 2023 meeting.
There are no spoilers for the top part of this post – the beginning of this post is only a repeat of the information provided about the book that was provided at the start of the month, before the meeting. But…..
Near the bottom of the page, there is a place for our participants to leave comments about the book, and spoilers will likely be included. Don’t scroll down to the comments area, until you have finished the book.
The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker is a PI story set in Boston, published in 1973, the first of 40 Spenser novels. Book Blurb:
Spenser earned his degree in the school of hard knocks, so he is ready when a Boston university (that sounds a lot like Northeastern) hires him to recover a rare, stolen manuscript. He is hardly surprised that his only clue is a radical student with four bullets in his chest.
The cops are ready to throw the book at the pretty blond coed whose prints are all over the murder weapon but Spenser knows there are no easy answers. He tackles some very heavy homework and knows that if he doesn’t finish his assignment soon, he could end up marked “D”—for dead.
Learn more about Robert Parker and the Spenser series of Books….
- A map of Boston showing the locations of 8 scenes in the Godwulf Manuscript. PDF
- Start with this short essay on the importance of Parker to the PI genre written by crime fiction superfan, J. Kingston Pierce. His essay is followed by a number of tributes to Parker by mystery book authors. And a second post (Part 2) with yet more tributes by mystery book authors. By reading the initial essay, and reading or at least skimming the many tributes, you get a good idea of the enormity of the man, his writing, and his influence…. whether you personally like his first book or not!
- A current Robert Parker website with a short biography, list of books, links to interviews with Joan Parker after Robert died in 2010, and links to obituary write-ups.
- Kevin Burton, superfan of private detective fiction, writes his critique of Parker, along with great quotes and viewpoints of other mystery authors.
- Parker got his MA and PhD degrees from Boston University. He donated many of his notes and papers to BU and offered a talk there in 2007. Here’s a background article about his connection to BU.
If you have read the book, write your thoughts on the book and the score you came up with below. This is …
(1) for those who will not be able to attend the meeting. Your comments and score will be read during the meeting.
(2) for those who do attend. Please consider writing some of your thoughts about the book here after the meeting, even if you expressed them in the meeting. This helps provide a “report” to those who could not attend.
Reader Scores and Meeting Report for The Godwulf Manuscript (updated April 3, 9 pm):
The half & half coloring under Selena’s name is because she did attend by Zoom, but after the meeting wrote to change/lower the score she gave in the meeting. See her TWO comments below.
Mike O’Connor began the discussion with a listing of some of the themes or topics that prevail in the Spenser series of books, and on which he invited additional comments:
BOSTON: the city is a character in the novels like London is a character in Conan Doyle’s stories, LA is a character in Chandler’s works or San Francisco in Hammett’s. The first time I read the Godwulf Manuscript, Spenser is carving the Indian in front of the MFA, and that made me a fan for life. Since I first saw that statue in 1961, it has symbolized Boston to me.
THE CODE: the expectation—BY THE SLEUTH HIMSELF—of how he conducts himself as a man, and how he judges other men. My favorite example—and I’ve gone on and on about this over the years is Mickey Haller. Haller operates constantly in a gray area of the law—as a defense attorney that is his world. But he NEVER steps over the line into illegality or unethical conduct. That is the standard he holds himself and what makes him really the epitome of a good man.
FOOD: whether cooking it himself—he enjoys cooking—or enjoying food at the Agawam, or Jake Wirth’s or the Ritz—good food is good food and it is important to Spenser.
HUMOR: the instances in Parker’s books are too numerous to mention. For Spenser—or anyone—to get through life intact, I think humor is required.
MUSICALITY: not everyone requires this but it adds so much to quality of life. One of Spenser’s most appealing characteristics is his complete command of American popular music, and his ability to either quote from it directly or refer to it.
Please write your book reactions and score where it says “LEAVE A REPLY,” below. You can also [nicely] comment on any other participant’s thoughts.
FINAL SCORE 89
My husband was at NU undergrad during the time this book was written. His memories of NU include alot of the political unrest, rallies, so the plot is very accurate. I was grad school at N U too and Prof. Hayden’s name is taken from the majestic Hayden Hall on campus. I particularly enjoyed Spence’s often taking the time to make fantastic meals for himself (i.e. making fresh baking powder biscuits at dinner; buying fresh pumpernickel bread). Bon Appetit!
Lastly, this is the first of the authors books I have read and, thank you mystery book club, I will be reading more. Is there a tie in to the tiger in The Life of Pi who has this author’s name?? How fun
I am thrilled to be back in Robert B. Parker’s world of Spenser. Right from the beginning of The Godwulf Manuscript, the funny repartee and delightful insolence of Spenser had me hooked like in years past. Though it’s only the first of the Spenser books, his personality, characteristics and idiosyncrasies seem fully formed as we’ve come to know them throughout the series. Some of the characters who will appear in the future are also here: Belson, Quirk, Broz. Missing, of course, as two key characters: Hawk and Susan.
This book (as most in the series) is a joy to read, not the least because it is well written. As an English Professor, Parker knew what he was doing around a sentence!
My rating for The Godwulf Manuscript: 98
I’d like to edit my rating on The Goldwulf Manuscript. As I’m sure was obvious, I was caught up in the joy of reading a Spenser book again, something I hadn’t done in a long while. I was reveling in being reacquainted with his wit, his acceptable insolence, and his strong sense of purpose once on a case, and the promise of future relationships with Hawk and Susan. So my rating of the book was based more on the totality of the Spenser canon than on this specific book.
Taking a few steps back and providing a more objective evaluation of The Goldwulf Manuscript, I would still rate highly the writing, the use of setting, Parker’s ability to keep the reader engaged, and the tying up of all the loose ends. But I would have to acknowledge the moral flaw in Spenser’s behavior with the Orchard ladies and the seemingly gratuitous fisticuffs with Sonny (apparently sanctioned by Broz). With this less emotional involvement, I would rate the book 89.
I have been known to change my score, too. Luckily, I got your change in time to get it into the final average.
Miscellaneous observations:
Funny how what was once contemporary, sounds a lot like historical fiction. At one point Spenser tells Lt Quirk that “the MDC people” brought in the bodies from Jamaica Pond. The Metropolitan District Commission police (and everything else about the MDC) is long gone. Then, there were the clothes throughout the story: like “slacks with a medium flare, blue paisley flowered shirt with short sleeves, blue wool socks, mahogany-colored buckle boots with a side zipper, broad mahogany belt with a brass buckle.” Also, we read that Spenser took Terry to the restaurant at the top of the Prudential Tower; the Top of the Hub was new then – now, finally, it closed just two years ago. Jake Wirth’s next to his office on Stuart Street was still around when we did the Spenser tours in 2014; it closed just a few years later.
Mike mentioned the theme of “Humor.” Parker is one of the best when it comes to writing a wisecracking detective. Just a few in this book: First, his description of Mark Tabor as a “zinnia” made me laugh. The bit about there being so many “flakes” in the English Department is very much an “in-joke” since Parker taught there himself; so that made me chuckle.
When he searched Cathy Connelley’s apartment, he says: “It wasn’t a very big apartment. I could search it in a couple of hours probably. I didn’t know what I was looking for, of course, which would slow me down, because I couldn’t eliminate things on an is-it-bigger-than-a-bread-box” basis.’ ” I thought the reference to the old Twenty Questions game was fun.
Spenser frequently reminds us that his name is spelled like the poet. In addition there are various references to poets. Lines from poems pop into his mind with ease, but there is never an indication he took courses in college; we are left to think he is a self-taught renaissance (but macho) guy. For instance, at the end, as he leaves the Copley Plaza mess for the police to wind up, some one asks him what had happened, and we read, “ ‘It was a lover’s quarrel,’ I said, ‘with the world.’ I wondered what I meant. I didn’t even remember where I got the phrase.” Parker surely knew that Robert Frost liked the phrase so much he had it written on his grave marker.
Similarly, after finding the body of Cathy Connelly in her bathtub, he says to himself: “Big patches of paint had peeled off the ceiling. I thought of a line from a poem: ‘Even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course/Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot.’ I forget who wrote it.” But once again, Parker knew the phrase was from the the poem “Musee de Beaux Arts” by W. H. Auden.
I found several instances where we see the character of Spenser just beginning to clarify. Here was a good example: On his second visit to Mark Tabor, he is more determined to get the information that would connect Dr. Hayden to the stolen manuscript. It read like this:
“Let me go, Mr. Spenser. I don’t know anything else.”
I realized I was still holding Tabor half off the ground. I let him go. He sank onto the bed and began to cry.
I said, “Everyone gets scared when they are over-matched in the dark; it’s not something to be ashamed of, kid.”
He didn’t stop crying, and I couldn’t think of anything else to say. So I left. I had a lot of information, but I had an unpleasant taste in my mouth. Maybe on the way home I could stop and rough up a Girl Scout. …”
He goes from threatening and scaring Tabor to comforting him. But when he reflected upon leaving, he realized that roughing up the weakling was something not quite right.
The book is chock full of such little gems. I don’t feel that it is his best work at all (my fav Spenser novel is Early Autumn). But the book is very similar to the others in the way that the character, for all his many flaws, has a fierce desire to help the victims of crime. That is where the hero comes in, and the rest, is just pure entertainment.
Godwulf Manuscript is Parker’s first of the Spenser series and not a good example of the series ~ Parker/Spenser are not the caliber of the Connelly/Bosch series but they are both excellent authors/detectives in their own right.
Spenser/Bosch both have strength of character and ethics ~ Parker’s Godwulf Manuscript is entertaining, and a good read despite some incidents in the book. They are classic loner detectives who operate within and despite the system. Both offer humor/wit ~ the Boston setting and the social times are fascinating to read ~ 50 years ago this was written ~ great social and political examples of the times.
A tribute to Parker that he is still being read and enjoyed by most ~
Score of 90 still stands.
Dick, I did leave a comment and score for Godwulf Mystery. don’t know why you didnt get it. my score was 68. I couldn’t attend meeting unfortunately. I’m not a Parker fan and aside from Boston settings I did not enjoy the book
Anne, I added your score to the chart and adjusted the average (down from 84 to 83) accordingly.