Kevin Burton Smith <
kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com> wrote:
> And Chandler, as usual, had something to say
about
> it in The Simple
> Art of Murder: "He is a common man or he could
not
> go among common
> people."
>
> On another list, there's been much discussion
lately
> about class in
> mysteries, and I think that's one of the appeals
of
> good hard-boiled
> detective and crime novels -- the ability for
the
> protagonist to move
> from class to class, be it, for example,
Marlowe
> asking questions in
> a "shine' bar or sweating like a pig in
General
> Sternwood's hothouse,
> but always remaining his own man.
I think much (note that I am not saying *all*, so please
don't jump on me with exceptions) detective fiction involves
class-crossing, so to speak. The PI invited up to the
millionaire's mansion a la Marlowe and Sternwood has been
repeated by most writers in the genre, hack or not, to some
degree (one of the good early Parker's in my opinion, is THE
JUDAS GOAT, in which Spenser does just this).
I would argue that this is skillful use of a western cultural
icon, the grail knight. I don't know if this has ever been
written on (detective as knight certainly has, I know, but
detective as grail knight I'm not sure) anywhere, but a grail
knight essentially comes into a situation in which a
leader--like General Sternwood--has become injured and lost
power, often the power to reproduce. The situation has
therefore become stagnant, requiring someone from outside to
bring fresh energy into the closed system and thus providing
renewal. Thus, the HB detective's traditional position as
"outsider" makes him perfect for the task.
G.
===== George C. Upper III, Editor The Lightning Bell Poetry
Journal http://www.lightningbell.org/
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