Billed as a "surfing novel," but it's much more...

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	• Tapping the Source Kem Nunn Thunder's Mouth Press, 2005 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 32 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Surf life in Huntington Beach

This is a great book about the dark side of surfing life in Huntington Beach, California. Having lived there for a decade I felt like I was back there again. Kem Nunn is an master story teller.

Noir at its Finest!

"Tapping the Source" might be the quintessence of everything that's right about modern noir. I know that sounds really artsy and pretentious, but it's true. The reason why it's such a great modern noir lays in Nunn's writing, which unloads his story without any self-awareness, something that, by definition, is almost unheard of in traditional noir stories, yet it works so well here.

What it lacks in pretension it makes up in angst, but not in the raw, unadulterated, "I've been listening to too much Kurt Cobain" kind of angst. No, the story's protagonist, Ike Tucker, shows a kind of restricted, almost refined angst as he sifts his way through a crash course in post-pubescent adulthood while searching the ruddy beaches of California for clues about his murdered sister.

What makes this book even cooler is the supporting cast. While Ike is a cool character, developed so precisely that reading about his experience will bring back old hangovers and headaches from your own late teenage years, the real character development happens to the characters that interact and ultimately influence Ike. They're well explained and detailed throughout the story, each of them permanently decaled by the flaws and failures of their life, all of which are brazenly worn on their sleeves.

I could go on forever, because quite frankly, "Tapping the Source" may be my favorite book ever. But I wont, because this is really one of those books that should mean different things to different people, and that sole fact makes it worth picking up.

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Billed as a "surfing novel," but it's much more...

It's a very dark, gritty, hard-hitting mystery that is nearly impossible to put down. But it is also a story that poignantly juxtaposes the beauty and philosophy of surfing against the ugliness, immorality, violence, and loneliness of Huntington Beach. I felt a real sadness for the characters who had experienced the spiritual joy of surfing, but whose lives were now dirty with drugs, pornography, and unfulfilled dreams.

My first thought was that the writing was very much like Raymond Chandler, but without the sarcasm and humor. But then, Chandler wrote in the 1st person, a viewpoint that leaves lots of room for sarcasm and humor, depending on the character. "Tapping the Source" is written in the third person, with omniscient insight into the thoughts of Ike, the protagonist. Even so, Nunn pays homage to the Chandler technique of hard-hitting, efficient prose.

I could identify to some degree with Ike's "Deliverance"-like journey, not because I have lived through anything like it, but because of Kem Nunn's masterful evocation of the emotions and fear that a young innocent would feel. At times, the book got into areas that were almost too dark and repulsive to me. I'm not sure if the passages were overly sensational or true-to-life (like I said, I haven't lived through anything like this).

The book is billed as "The all-time great surfing novel," but "surfing novel" is too restrictive. It implies that only people into surfing would enjoy this book. I have an interest in surfing (especially after seeing "Step Into Liquid"), but have never surfed. That didn't stop me from loving this book. Kem Nunn weaves the surfing theme into the book, not gratuitously, but organically, so that it becomes important to the story. But it isn't so surf-heavy as to put off those who have no interest in surfing.

A great mystery, thriller, and coming-of-age story, written in efficient, evocative, and poetic prose.

I'm going back for more of Kem Nunn.

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Not much surfing, but a good mystery...

If you want to know where some of the loonies in "John from Cincinnati," came from, check out this story. Not so much as surf novel as it is a novel that has surfing in it, just like the show. Still, a fairly good mystery, even if the ending is a bit contrived. A good "I've got nothing better to read," novel.

reviews: 1, page 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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