Re: RARA-AVIS: James Ellroy's opinion of Chandler

James Rogers (jetan@ionet.net)
Fri, 25 Sep 1998 17:08:31 -0500 (CDT) At 05:56 PM 9/25/98 -0700, Jay A. Gertzman wrote:
>In an interview with Amazon.Com, the excellent virtual bookstore, James
>Ellroy states "I don't think Chandler knew much about people. . . . I
>think that we wrote the man he wanted to be . . . . [his] noble loner
>character was bull----. Solipsistic and self-pitying." It seems to be
>that Marlowe is slipsistic, all right, and he does seem very ready to
>defend himself against charges that he is a mercenary in any way, but
>Marlowe also seems to be able to face clearly his limitations and he
>does seem to take a lot of physical and psychological grief to make a
>statement about corruption. I wonder if anyone who knows more about
>Ellroy than I do can explain what Ellroy might have meant--or why in
>grneral he does not respect Chandler's work. It seems to me that
>Marowe's conservative morality, especially when it comes to vices such
>as pornography, gambling or prostitution, are much closer to what might
>be called bedrock American values than those of many "noire" or "hard
>boiled" characters.
>>

I don't know what Ellroy means by calling Marlowe "solipsistic" and I
doubt that Ellroy does either. Perhaps you can clarify what you believe was
meant?
Ellroy has borrowed a *lot* from Chandler, whether he wants to
acknowledge it or not. I agree that Chandler's books have a distinct flavor
of self-pity but so do Ellroy's. Hemingway, Hammett, even Cain are all open
to more or less the same charge. I have read similar comments by Ellroy in
the past, and I have come to believe that they have at least as much to do
with his invented persona in it's iconoclastic mode as it does in legitimate
criticism....an old Sex Pistols fan like myself can recognize this posturing
a mile away.
I think that Ellroy is a very good writer, but his books are a lot
better than his interviews which latter strike me as a bit "solipsistic".

James
James Michael Rogers
jetan@ionet.net
Mundus Vult Decipi

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