James Rogers (jetan@ionet.net)
Tue, 26 Oct 1999 18:08:14 -0500
At 04:41 PM 10/26/99 -0400, Michael D. Sharp wrote:
>James wrote:
>
>>By contrast, Chandler's women always seem to be
either Saint or
>>Devil, which matches the common male adolescent
mode of perception.
>
>This seems really off the mark to me. I don't see
saint or devil anywhere.
>I mean, there are manipulative, deceptive, mean women
in his novels, but in
>something like the Big Sleep, I don't see either of
the women there as
>devil or saint. Carmen and ... unh, what's her name?
Is it Vivian? Anyway,
>the Sternwood girls/women, while hugely flawed, don't
seem demonic to me.
>Carmen's mental and Vivian is protective of her.
Right? Am I misremembering
>the book? That would be bad (though not
surprising).
>
>And I don't see a single woman in his novels I would
describe as "wish
>fulfillment." I wouldn't wish these women on anyone
(except readers).
>
Well, the Big Sleep isn't
the best example, I guess. But I think that one sees plenty
of it in some of the other novels. "Saint" types would
include, for me, the cop's daughter in _Farewell, My Lovely_
as well as the one Marlowe finally ends up marrying. Demon
types are obviously represented by the really nasty
villainesses of FMV and _Little Sister_, but also , I think,
by many of the women who are represented as sexually
available....for instance, virtually every Hollywood starlet
we encounter in the stories.
Of course, it's possible
I am projecting!
Just to clarify, I am a
huge Chandler fan myself, and have read all of the books over
and over (except _Playback_). I wish that the
"cannibalized" stories were more readily available as I think
they would make a great discussion topic for the group. It is
interesting to see the way RC altered the material to fit it
into the novels. In several cases I may actually prefer the
original pieces to the rewrite.
Let us know when your anthology
is scheduled for publication.
James
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