In a message dated 9/6/01 10:14:05 PM,
jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com writes:
<< "Hard-boiled" means tough AND colloquial. It implies
a certain "blue-collar" ethos that Holmes and Watson, staid
Victorian gentlemen that they are, simply don't have.
In other words, though they may walk the walk, they don't
talk the talk. And, to be hardboiled, talking the talk is
almost as important as walking the walk. >>
If that were the true test Jim, I'm
not certain Marlowe or Lew Archer would make the cut. Marlowe
certainly didn't see himself as "Blue Collar," only as his
own man. It would also be difficult to include guys like
Spenser and Elvis Cole in the hard-boiled group, though I'm
not sure how hard I want to argue for their HB credentials.
It's a marvelous old chestnut of a discussion, "What and Who
are hard-boiled?" and we've done it many times here, but it's
tough for me to buy working class as a deal breaker for
membership in the club.
Jim
Blue
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