Re: RARA-AVIS: The original question about female response

From: Michael Robison ( zspider@gte.net)
Date: 06 Aug 2003


Jay Gertzman wrote (snipped):
> I don't think Sam Spade's secretary
> Effie in _The Maltese Falcon_ takes Sam as seriously as she used to
> after she understands exactly what he means by saying near the end "Your
> Sam's a detective." I think Vivian Sternwood's sarcastic approach to
> Marlow (until the end) of _The Big Sleep_ is well founded. She thinks he
> is in love with his own toughness and the competence he has in using it.

*********** I think Effie has decided that Sam is a cold-hearted son of a bitch. And yes, I think that Marlowe is indeed in love with himself, or, perhaps more accurately, Chandler is in love with him.

I've only read Goodis's SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER, and it seems to me that he did a fine job with the male and female characters in it. The wife, the gymnastic neighbor woman, and the girlfriend seem all to be taken seriously by the piano player. This reinforces your comment about the detectives keeping their integrity and resolve by avoiding female relationships. Every time the piano player opens himself to a woman, the world crumbles.

miker

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