Comentarios del público
 SOCRATES IS A MAN OF CONVICTION
Always Outnumber Outgunned was my first experience with Socrates Fortlow. He is a man of conviction and loyalty. If he is your friend, he is your friend, if he does not like you, he will not deal with you and does not want anything from you. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had more simplistic, but complex individuals to come into our life?
Socrates is still struggling with his freedom. True to form, Socrates takes in a two legged dog, like he took in the young man in the previous book. He knows that he cannot fix everybody, but he does what he can.
Walter Mosley is one of the best fiction writers of today, I like most of his Easy Rawlins series. Mosley gets it, he writes about what he knows and anytime I read his books, I am there. I grew up in the fifties, so I can hear the music, smell the fish frying, see the cars and clothing.
Mr. Mosley, please write another Socrates, and I would to see Walkin the Dog done on the big screen or HBO like your first Socrates book.
Keep the good work up. My grandson (19) is also a big fan, he likes Fearless.
Fecha: 2005-02-26
 One great character walks and rides LA busses again
_Walkin' the Dog_ is closer to being a novel than the previous stories featuring the menacingly large reformed ex-con Socrates Fotlow, _Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned_. Repetitions of basic information about the characters is rarer. If the stories were published separately, there is no indication of credits.
Socrates remains a compelling figure. He continues to develop, as he manages rage that is often provoked. Unfortunately, his quasi-son Daryl doesn't grow (as a character).
The final chapter/story in the book is particularly gripping, though I remain uncertain that someone conditioned to self-preservation in a long prison sentence would undertake such dangerous public protest. Several non-black, mostly Latino people champion him in his confrontations with police, developers, and coworkers. Mosley's prose is always compelling and any sentimentality rubs against a world of Brechtian pressures and troubles.
Fecha: 2004-12-05
 Tried to like it, but.....
I read this book shortly after I read Devil in the Blue Dress. These are the only two Mosley books that I have read. First, let me say that I admire those novelists who do not stick to a formula of the same character, same type of plot, same type of result, etc., etc (e.g., Tom Clancy, & Patrick Robinson). However, that does not mean that Mosley will score big for every effort.
I very much enjoyed Devil in the Blue Dress, and I wanted to like Walkin' the Dog, but it didn't happen. The author presented a good study of the street language used by his main character and supporting characters. The first half of the book was able to easily keep my interest.
The problem was that the author never decided to make a novel out of his short stories. This resulted in story lines that disappeared and the regurgitating of previously expressed ideas so that I sometimes dreaded turning the next page. How many times did we need to know that Socrates (the main character) is a big, black, "bad man" who has done bad things in his past? Yes, he's big, I get it! He's black, I figured.... Also, months and years seemed to pass without notice or explanation.
The other problem is that the writer wanted to make Socrates a unique philosophical figure. His philosophical ideas, though, are hardly original, complex, or Socratic. The author also has the character use some misleading ideas of Afrocentrism to support his beliefs (e.g., that St. Augustine was black because he was from Africa. He was from the coastal area now known as Algiers, but that would not make him black as anyone familiar with Algiers would know). The latter is not a major problem, but by that time in the story, I was a little irritated by the flow of the book. In sum, I am pleased that Mosley sought a different type of story, at least he is trying to be a legitimate author. He just missed the mark with this book.
Fecha: 2004-09-01
Releasing the Mind-Forged Shackles to Become Free
Mr. Mosley has written a brilliant book that explores the concept that freedom begins and ends in the mind. The physical world may put hand cuffs or handicaps on you, but you choose how you respond to those limitations. The roads you choose not to take limit your freedom far more than what anyone else will do to you. This is a timeless novel that will probably be considered a classic in the future. I encourage everyone to read it. You have much to gain.Socrates Fortlow is an ex-con who is just trying to survive. His dreams are haunted by memories of his small cell and the murder he committed that placed him there. The book opens to find him operating like a future butterfly in its cocoon. He is constrained by his violent feelings, his distrust of progress and good fortune, and his discomfort with people. Like many who have sinned (all of us), he has many good qualities. He is mentoring a teenager he works with, will do more than his share of the work required, quietly endures mistreatment by white people, and cares for a badly handicapped dog who has only two legs. His great strengths are that he is interested in controlling his own actions (rather than just striking out in blind anger) and making the best moral choice (taking full responsibility for his actions). Throughout the story, Socrates develops and finally emerges from his cocoon, and begins to seek out new opportunities and experiences. As a result, he grows as a person and as a moral force. Gradually, he begins to lose the mental bonds that hold him back from fulfilling his mighty potential. The book is filled with much violence, hatred, and inhumanity. That backdrop will disturb many readers. Yet, for many people, life is like a battleground, and what is portrayed here is realistic in terms of inner city life for many black people. On the other hand, the book is filled with much love, generosity, and caring. Seeing how these positive and negative forces confront and affect each other is extremely interesting in the plot that Mr. Mosley has developed. You will find it difficult to anticpate what will happen next, because of Mr. Mosley's inventiveness. Like the Greek Socrates, Socrates Fortlow asks many questions and his questions help others to find their own solutions, as well. You will find yourself pondering the questions, long after you close the book. The dog, Killer, is an astonishing metaphor for Socrates' life (and indeed our own), and will help every reader to appreciate the nuances in this story. As much as I enjoyed the Easy Rawlins series, this book vastly transcends those fine books to move into the rarified air of great literature. Many will see the obvious similarities to Les Miserables, but I found Socrates Fortlow to be a greater creation than Jean Valjean was. Also, Mr. Mosley does a better job of character development with Socrates Fortlow than Victor Hugo did with Jean Valjean. After you finish this story, think about where pessimism has stolen choices from you. What else can you choose to do that will set you free from the limitations of your mind? Like Killer, realize that you may need some help from others in order to accomplish everything you potentially can. Choose to live free of your preconceptions!
Fecha: 2004-05-11
TO BE A POOR BLACK EX-CON IN SOUTH CENTRAL L. A.
The dozen interconnected short stories in Walter Moseley's _WALKIN' THE DOG_ do a lot more than just describe several incidents in the life of his protagonist, Socrates Fortlow. Socrates, as many of the readers of this review probably already know, is an ex-convict who was convicted of murder(evidently a crime of passion -- his wife was in bed with his "best friend"), served his time, and is now trying to live out his life working an honest job as a grocery bagger, while serving as a mentor for a teen aged boy, and lovingly caring for his two legged dog, "Killer." A pervasive problem is that too many people, including a racist cop or two, just won't leave him or his conscience alone. One very bad cop, in particular, has brutalized, raped, and murdered defenseless black victims. In addressing this, Socrates does NOT resort to violence, but, wearing a sandwich board listing the rogue cops acts of violence, walks up and down across the street from a police station. When people begin to take notice of him, the police order him to move. He refuses because he believes his actions are legal. When the police try to remove him from the street using excess physical force a crowd including TV reporters and cameras shows up and a riot ensues. Although Socrates is jailed and manhandled, he is released in three days With apologies from the mayor and police chief, and the rogue cop is let go. In line with his personal philosophy, Socrates, having accomplished his self appointed mission, gives no interviews and does his best to disappear "into the woodwork." This episode is one of the 12 linked short stories in Mosely's novel. Socrates, like his namesake, is a bit of a philosopher, but the kind who has more questions than answers. One of the big questions that he has a strong need to deal with, revolves around his own anger. He tries to deal with this omnipresent anger by participating in a discussion group and gradually bringing them around to a discussion of black anger in a white dominated society. He does, when forced to, resort to what we might call physical violence, but only when severely provoked as in the case of a young, very physical, mugger who is determined to do Socrates severe bodily harm. He does, but Socrated prevails by the end of the confrontation. I felt that Mosely, in this book, gave me some insight into what life is like for poor members of an underclass (in his books, black) in a society that seems determined to keep the class structure status quo. For this reason, along with its readability, I can recommend _WALKIN' THE DOG_ without reservation.
Fecha: 2004-04-07
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