A dealer is selling a Ross Macdonald letter with the
following text (I don't know if this 1976 letter "to a
Swedish critic" has been collected, but I suspect quoting it
here is fair use):
"My first two books, 'The Dark Tunnel' and 'Trouble Follows
Me,' he writes,
"were written during the war and it seemed natural that they
should be spy novels. Tunnel was suggested by my experiences
in Nazi Germany in 1937-38; Trouble by my experiences in
Hawaii after I was commissioned in the U.S. Navy. Both books
were written quickly while I was occupied with other duties,
but they were at least a start. My later books are political,
but less overtly so. As Graham Greene inspired those early
spy novels, Raymond Chandler inspired my first detective
story, 'Find the Woman.' I wouldn't describe it, however, as
an imitation of Chandler, though it was certainly influenced
by him. It was my first response to Southern California...I
don't recall that 'Blue City' was intended as a counterpart
to Hammett's 'Glass Key.' I do consider it my first really
serious effort, and it was inevitably influenced by Hammett,
whom I had been reading for half of my thirty years. But
'Blue City' is not in the same class as 'The Glass Key,'
which may well be the greatest of all American crime novels.
H.C. Branson, author of 'The Leaden Bubble' and other
excellent novels, was the first crime novelist
(besides my wife Margaret Millar) whom I knew in the flesh.
He was also, and remains, a fine stylist, able to show a less
experienced writer like myself that mystery genre is capable
of hatching serious fiction. Harry Branson encouraged me both
professionally and personally. It seems to me time that his
brilliant detective novels were rediscovered. Agatha Christie
has been an neinspiration to all her fellow crime writers.
She seems the best and most brilliant and most various
plotter in the field. Her prose is...perspicuous, moving
easily in mood from dark to light. Above all she had a gusto
that communicated itself to both writers and readers. She
loved her craft, and taught us to do the same. "An excellent
and informative letter and signed at the end "Kenneth
Millar/Ross MacDonald."
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