Ah, gee, here we go again.
Besides your say-so, why exactly is Kinsey Millhone not
hard-boiled? And what sort of definition can you come up with
that won't also disqualify, say, Lew Archer or Marsh Tanner
or Travis McGee or Pronzini's Nameless? Or maybe even
Marlowe?
If any trace of empathy, compassion or humanity renders a
character non-hard-boiled, all we're left with is sociopaths
like Hammer, Burke, Race Williams and Ellroy's damaged little
boys.
I'm not saying Millhone is the hardest bitch at the ball, but
she certainly is part of the on-going hard-boiled tradition,
or at least the part of it that started years ago, maybe as
far back as when Marlowe booted Carmen Sternwood out of his
bed.
Oh, and don't you just love when academics get all
hissy?
--
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/
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