Let me put on my writer's hat for a moment.
I never look at plot vs. character as an either/or
proposition, mainly because I don't write that way. So why
should I look at what I read that way?
Most crime fiction is interesting because of the characters.
Noir grabs its adherents because something about a villainous
or a doomed protagonist draws us in, often because of a
"There but for the grace of God go I" mentality. Hardboiled
heroes are outsiders and get to thumb their nose at the
establishment in ways most of us (even those of us whose jobs
are depicted in these stories) never get to do. I could go on
and on about thrillers, cozies, police procedurals, and so
on.
If what we read was completely plot driven, why read so much
hardboiled or noir or whatever? With hardboiled, you'd be
finished with THE MALTESE FALCON. Noir, go even further back
and read about Satan's fall from heaven. But it's not the
plots or the archetype, it's the characters. Each character
reacts differently to the same situation, and each one is an
amalgamation of the writer's experience along with aspects of
his/her own personality. Sometimes it works, sometimes it
fails miserably. You can take Lehane and Parker and hand them
the same basic plot. Lehane gives you A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR,
and most people think, "Wow. This guy's onto something." But
then you take DOUBLE DEUCE. Same story. Unfortunately, it
filled with cariactures.* This makes two points. One is that
different writers will have different levels of success with
a story based on how they draw their characters. The other is
that no two writers will write the same story with the same
plot.
I don't believe crime fiction, when done even moderately
well, is plot driven at all.
Jim Winter
*Subjective opinion. YMMV.
Northcoast Shakedown
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0975857185/northcoastexi-20/104-2029551-1867167
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