Thanks for the link. A couple of typos: Bentley and G.K.
Chesterton. I think it's hard to pinpoint the origin of noir.
Perhaps the utterly pessimistic point of view of Franz Kafka
did not hit home until much later in crime literature;
perhaps we read too much into Goodis, Thompson, et al. Loss
of hope is not new in fiction. What distinguishes American
noir, particularly in film, is the contrast with the
optimistic outlook that dominated Hollywood and also the
contrast with the purely social realistic approach (of Ford,
Wyler, etc.). These noir fictions do not try too hard to be
realistic, but the atmosphere and the doom they are
predicated on must have seemed realistic enough to the
viewers and readers. They are still potent, so they must be
touching something vital. That's the magic of noir.
Best,
MrT
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