RARA-AVIS: Another Parker Fan
Gerald So (gso@optonline.net)
Mon, 26 Apr 1999 23:19:52 -0400
Echoing Bill Crider's sentiments: Wait a minute. I owe my
introduction to and lasting interest in detective fiction to
Parker.
Sure, Spade, Marlowe, and Archer set the standard,
but to me they always seemed larger than life or maybe somewhat
less
than real. I know Spenser has been accused of the same
superhumanity,
but he was one of the first in the lineage of
hardboiled PIs to be defined by more than his job or his
tough-guy
attitude. He had a multi-dimensional life with other interests
(sports,
cooking, etc.) and friendships.
Readers might have assumed that Spade and Marlowe were
self-sufficient men making their way in the world, but with
Spenser,
they see that independence in action. They have a sense of the
unique
way only he would react to situations.
I think Parker is more criticized when he turns out a mediocre
book
because of his (deserved) reputation for writing crisply,
lucidly, and
regularly.
Also, I once asked Parker how old he envisioned Spenser
being:
"Thirty-nine," he joked.
To do the math, Spenser's Korean War experience puts him in
his
sixties; however Parker said seriously that he sees Spenser
as timeless.
Gerald
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