Kevin is so right. Realism is a narrative strategy,
definitely in fiction, and even in non- fiction, since
writing is representational and selective (comprised of
poisons?). UC Prof. John Carlos Rowe has written smartly
about realism as strategy in (fiction & non-fiction)
representations of the Vietnam War, for anyone
interested.
If Jacques' question is posed in relation to the difference
between today's actual PI versus the actual PI of the
1930s-40s, it is a pretty interesting question. maybe today's
successful PI is hosting the TV show "Cheaters"--or web
hosting. I met a crime writer who spent decades working in a
homicide dept. but i couldn't get into his books, so a search
for the authentic in fashioning a detective seems to me less
important than mastering the craft of good storytelling.
still, good research partnered with good writing can help the
popcorn go down easier.
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Kevin Burton Smith
<kvnsmith@...> wrote:
>
>
> Jacques Debierue asked:
>
> > What exactly does the real present-day PI do?
Surely he can't be doing
> > much "divorce work", or chasing the proverbial
"missing daughter"?
> > Does he even drink or want to? Does he have or
need an office, or does
> > he work from home and his SUV? Who hires
him?
> >
> > I ask these things because life has changed so
much since the classic
> > era of the PI with bottle, pretty and/or
motherly secretary, hostile
> > cops (except for one who remains grudgingly
loyal), etc. etc.
>
> Well, you do realize it was always a fantasy,
right?
>
> Fiction is not real life. Fiction has to make sense
of some sort.
> Real life doesn't operate under those
restrictions.
>
> Even Hammett's so-called "realism" was pretty much a
romanticized and
> tidied-up version of life in the Pinks (a quick
perusal of his
> article "From the Memoirs of a Private Detective" is
mostly tall
> tales and bullshit), just as Chandler's take was a
romanticized
> version of the lone wolf operator.
>
> Despite the claims of "realism," most hard-boiled
fiction is every
> bit as much of a fictional construct as the rosiest
of cozies -- it's
> just that the disbelief is suspended in another
area. When reading
> fiction, we always have to suspend a certain amount
of disbelief --
> some genres may ask us to suspend more disbelief
than others, but
> ultimately all genre preferences simply boil down to
which poisons
> and how many of them we're willing to
swallow.
>
> But who cares if the trappings have changed? In
Hard-Boiled Land, the
> cops are still hostile and daughters still go
missing. Fortunately,
> the streets are just as mean as they ever were. And
whether he's got
> a cellphone in his pocket or a pencil and notebook,
and an iBook back
> at the office or a long-suffering secretary,
eventually, down those
> mean streets a man must go. Even if he's a woman. Or
gay. Or black.
> Or even -- GASP!!! -- non-American.
>
> So yeah, the bits and pieces may change and the
detective himself may
> not be your grandfather's detective, but some things
never change.
> Justice must still be done, and one person can make
a difference, if
> they're hard enough and true enough.
>
> So whether it's Marlowe looking for yet another lost
young girl,
> Archer probing into some 40-year old family scandal
or some new kid
> on the block looking into some fake AIDS drug scam
or a missing rap
> musician , a lot of people will be willing to follow
the detective.
>
> Actual realism isn't the driving factor for fiction
-- it's the
> illusion of reality (peppered with an occasional
universal truth)
> people buy into.
>
> I mean, God help a world where there are adults who
actually think
> something like I, THE JURY is "realistic." I
recently re-read it in
> prep for a local mystery readers group I moderate,
and I tell ya, I
> ended up shaking my head in disbelief so many times
my neck is sore.
> I, THE JURY is as convoluted and artificial as any
cozy ever written.
>
> But what the hell -- it's still a great
read!
>
> Pure popcorn, as the Mick might say.
>
>
> Kevin Burton Smith
> The Thrilling Detective Web Site
> http://www.thrillingdetective.com
>
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