Form time to time on the list, we have discussed the question
of
how realistic hardboiled fiction is and generally come to
the
conclusion that it is a rather romanticized literary
form.
I'd like to take a slightly contrary view. It seems to me
that HB
fiction is unrealistic, in the sense that all fiction is
unrealistic in that
it requires we take certain steps in it's execution like
having
metaphors that actually resolve, and characters that make
sense,
and clearly delineated action.
I believe that HB fiction _can_ be at its most realistic when
it is
also romantic.
I base this belief on a number of observations, just as an
example,
a good portion of the outlaws in my part of the country seem
to
think they are in the middle of a Merle Haggard or
Waylon
Jennings song.
I used to refer to the generational split in a police
department I
covered as between the Sgt. Joe Friday cops and the
Serpico
cops. When I went out on some of their raids the activities
seem to
draw as much from the participant's sense of drama as from
the
needs of police work.
I don't think this is as much a case of life imitating art as
it is both
life and art mining the romantic stripe that seems to run
through
parts of our culture. In fact, one of the things I really
enjoy about
HB/Noir is the effectiveness with which it can deal with the
reality
and consequences of such concepts as the romantic
loser.
Fred
Please note new addresses below:
------------------------
Down on Ponce by Fred Willard
fwillard@bellsouth.net
http://personal.atl.bellsouth.net/~fwillard
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