Doug Bassett wrote:
> Regarding Cornell Woolrich: I wanted to mention
that
> I, too, have to be in the mood for
Woolrich/Irish.
> I've only read a few things by him (WALTZ
INTO
> DARKNESS, I MARRIED A DEAD MAN, one
half-remembered
> book under the Irish pseudonym which had to do with
a
> man and a woman spending one night in NYC
racing
> against time to prove the man innocent of murder)
and
> based on that I think the guy's
overrated.
I've always felt that Woolrich was much better as a short
story writer than as a novelist. His plotting generally makes
heavy use of coincidence, which is less of a problem at the
shorter length. For me, his novels feel padded, stretching
the idea and the coincidences out to absurd length. Of
course, everything he wrote is absurd to some extent. Readers
who feel that a story simply must make sense should skip
Woolrich. But there are rewards. Nobody has ever done a
better job of capturing the desperation, dislocation and
paranoia of a meaningless universe where God is out to get
you, and innocence is never enough to save your ass. Try
NIGHTWEBS, a fine, fat collection of Woolrich's short
stories, edited by his biographer, Francis M. Nevins,
Jr.
BobT
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