Refinished Th 10/5/17. This is one of my ancient paperbacks and recently was a 'bathroom read' for several weeks. According to the flyleaf I first completed the book in two afternoons- We 4/22/98. And, there's a note that I had to spend $40 to pay Alpha Electric 'to flip the breaker that shorted out from the battery charger'. I have no recollection of this incident, but it might have been a battery charger for my motorcycle? I checked, and Alpha is still around and it's a business out of Riverton. Why would I get an outfit out of town? Who knows....
This is a slim novel, yet remarkably well written. The dialog really crackles and the characters just jump off the page. I wonder how much of this is Schrader and how much is Elman.
I noticed the Richard Elman wrote a kind of memoir about a 1972 Rolling Stones tour that he took in 1972. It's still available at Amazon, but a bit too expensive.
Travis Bickle is a film icon, thanks to Robert De Niro, but this book provides a different dimension to the character.
The author's page at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Elman
Characters-
Travis Bickle- Nightshift taxi driver, Vietnam vet, ISOLATION.
Iris- Young prostitude that Travis feels drawn to- almost like a sister. He wants her 'out of the life', yet she can't imagine that she has a choice.
Sport- Iris's pimp
Betsy- Travis's idolized love interest. She's almost an ethereal character (metaphor for 'feminine beauty'). Betsy works for the politian, Senator Charles Palantine.
Senator Charles Palantine- The rich successful white dude- the polar opposite of Travis and people like him.
The best way to approach this book would be to read it straight through in a couple of sittings- just let the dour, violent, and gloomy atmosphere sweep you away.
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