How do you define "Classic Noir"?
When does it stop being "Classic" and start being
"contemporary"? Megan Abbott's THE SONG IS YOU is told from
different POVs (with one predominating) but it's set in LA of
the early 1950s. "Classic" or "contemporary"? She published
it this year.
I think it's possible to get carried away with labels.
As for "depth of character" in "classic noir", if you're
talking about Hammett and Chandler, I think you are dead
wrong in your assertion that they scrimp on character
examination. And then there's Ross MacDonald: deep, deep,
DEEP characters. Or, because he's a little later, does his
work not fall under the header of "classic noir"?
Brian
----- Original Message -----
From: Tim Wohlforth
To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 11:53 AM
Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Who changed the noir
writing ?
Of course taste in writing varies so I will
concentrate on what I
felt was innovative about the book. In the first
place is its scope.
It is a tale of three boys and what happens to
them later in life.
This is set against the changing background of
the gentrification of
two Boston neighborhoods. The book is told in the
three voices of the
main characters while classic noir generally
stuck to a single voice.
The characters are developed at considerable
depth, perhaps more than
some who are used to faster paced thinner books
would prefer. Yet,
again, this is innovative, not when compared to
other contemporary
writing but when contrasted to classic noir.
Thus, while telling a
personal story, it also is a commentary on our
times. It is a novel
in the fullest meaning of that word.
For an example of another tragic novel, this one
from Britain, take a
look at "A Place of Execution" by Val McDermid.
It is by far her best
book and in its own way also a contemporary
classic. Again she
captures a time period and a special place,
really a kind of time
warp place.
My point is not that these are the only "great"
noir novels of our
time. I bring them up to illustrate a kind of
writing and scope now
taking place in the noir field that distinguishes
it from classic
noir. Nor is my point necessarily that these
writers are better than
the noir pioneers. But they are more than
copycats.
Tim
On Mar 13, 2007, at 11:17 AM, Jacques Debierue
wrote:
> --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Tim Wohlforth
> <timwohlforth@...> wrote:
> > Character/description: Lehane's Mystic River,
arguably the finest
> > contemporary crime novel.
> >
>
> Mmmm, I had trouble finishing that one. I didn't
find anything
> original in it. The sense of deja
> vu was overpowering. I don't understand the praise
for this book.
>
> Best,
>
> MrT
>
>
>
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