<< The ending was so revolutionary, so much of a breach
of everything we hold holy about the good
guys...>>
But Harris was not the first writer, or even the first
suspense writer, to present such a breach. Despite the
conventions of the era, some Gold Medals (to stay on topic,
on some topic) present the bad guy in a good light
(sometimes as a hero), or at least on equal footing with the
good guys. And Richard Stark has become legendary precisely
because he makes you root for Parker and cohorts. While
making you laugh, he also makes you root for Dortmunder and
codogs. And he makes you root for the poor fellow in _The
Ax_.
I have never been wholly convinced by Thomas Harris.
Impeccable technique, fine sense of suspense, but for me,
there is something very commercial about his books, something
exploitive. He doesn't leave anything for me to contribute,
from which I conclude, somewhat arbitrarily, that he is
unsubtle.
Best regards,
MrT
=====
"The difference between the right word and the almost right
word is the difference between lightning and the lightning
bug." Mark Twain
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