I took Jim Doherty's course at Barnes and Noble on Chandler
and I thought I'd weigh in on it. The reading list covers
Chandler's early works and includes several short stories and
three novels. Jim went to considerable trouble to write a lot
of essays on the various aspects of Chandler's works.
The thing I liked most about Jim's essays is that he offers
sharp insights into Chandler's works, delivered in a
straightforward no-nonsense style, without a bunch of obscure
literary mumbo jumbo. The essays are intelligent and
enjoyable and I left the class with a better appreciation of
Chandler and, I think, a better foundation on which to read
more Chandler.
I had one reservation before taking the class. I know that
Jim tends to be, ummm, somewhat opinionated, and I was
wondering how he would deal with views that ran counter to
his. It turned out that in the class Jim encouraged
dissenting views and was very open-minded.
The only problem that I would mention is that there is a
tremendous amount of assigned reading. I was lucky that I had
already read two of the novels, and I still didn't make it to
the last novel, HIGH WINDOW. I did read all the short stories
(I read Goldfish a while ago) though, and Jim's directions in
what to look for added to my appreciation. Even the one or
two I didn't particularly care for were still worthwhile in
showing the evolution of Chandler's style.
A great class, Jim. Thanks for all the hard work you put into
it.
miker
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