[Let it Ride was published in Canada as Swap]
With some books if a reader doesn’t like a particular aspect (the characters were thin, the writing weak, the story implausible, etc) it is seen as a reflection of the book rather then the reader. But then there are other books, and Let it Ride is one of them, where a readers reactions are a reflection on them. To say you don’t like a John McFetridge novel is to say that you don’t like to be challenged; that you like things spoon-fed to you; that you prefer simplicity. A McFetridge novel won’t do these things and is so much more because of it.
The closest comparison for John McFetridge’s style of writing is a season of The Wire. One of the novels is akin to one whole season. And his unwillingness to hold the hand of the reader on almost any level is almost like a novel embodiment of something that David Simon said in an interview once, “Fuck the average reader”.
Similarly, one of McFetridge’s themes is that institutions supersede individuals. The individual may pass but the institution will continue; the individual may die but the institution will continue; the individual may fall but the institution will continue. The individual is either crushed by or absorbed into the institution. His writing style also subtly underscores this theme. Every character is a cog, a part of the larger narrative as a whole and no single character is given more importance or page time then any other.
One of the things that make McFetridge’s books unique is that he is writing about something that others aren’t. His wheelhouse is organized crime in Canada and its almost open secret history to Americans. Also it has a different face in that the bikers basically own the country. But they are never painted as simple bad guys, but complex and multi-faceted. The other side of the equation is the cops and they are presented in an equally grey light.
In Let it Ride, and all of his books, John McFetridge will not talk down to you or at you but if you let him he will engage you in a conversation. You should take him up on the offer; he has a lot to say.
