Thanks Sean, and others who replied to my question. I'm remembering more of it now, and am inspired to re-read. Thanks to libraries, because my copy seems to have disappeared from the shelf over the years.
I was thinking that now we've gotten 2 Richlers discussed on the list, we might go for more. the protagonist of Joshua Then and Now has a father who is a thief, and I think the two of them pull off a small caper central to the plot. Solomon Gurskey is said to be inspired by the story of a prominent Canadian Jewish family somewhat similar to the history of the Kennedy's in the U.S. and Barney's Version has its hilariously murderous exploration of criminal guilt and ambiguity. Richler was a satirist. He didn't see humanity headed for any hoped-for salvation anytime soon.
You know, Callaghan (the senior), a Hemingway protege, wrote a dandy noir novella back in the time, and Hugh Garner definitely worked in this genre. Timothy Findlay and Margaret Atwood both wrote mysteries, though I'm not sure they'd be called noir. This list goes on, but my point is that in Canada, and other countries noir, was a mainstream literary pursuit from the get-go and that it's only in the U.S., its country of origin, that it was mainly considered a pop sub-genre unworthy of serious consideration, academic or otherwise. Ironically, most mystery writers in Canada, while they sometimes use some of the noir elements, shy away from noir.
I think Ken Harvey's writing is Canada's best current example of someone writing noir fiction accepted by the "literary" crowd. Mind you, any gathering for the purposes of discussing books can be called a crowd in Canada if at least one of the other voices isn't your own.
Best,
Kerry
----- Original Message -----
From: Sean Shapiro
To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 6:23 AM
Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Re: The Horsemen
I haven't read the book in a long time but I seem to remember Richler was referring to his literary hero Isaac Babel who rode horseback for the Reds and said something along the lines of: 'When a Jew mounts a horse he ceases to be a Jew.' The quote sums up the clash between worldly heroics and traditional morality, the culture clash within the protaganist's makeup. The fact that the RCMP rides horses adds another layer to the metaphor.
Of course I haven't read the book in years so I might be making this up out of whole cloth. Gives me an excuse to pick it up again.
Sean Shapiro
________________________________
From: "gsp.schoo@MOT.com" <gsp.schoo@murderoutthere.com>
To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, March 9, 2009 3:45:10 PM
Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Re: The Horsemen
Yes Sandra, I read it back in the olden days of the 70s, which explains I guess my fading memory. But the snippets that have come back to me suggest that the protagonist fantasized himself as a white-knight Mountie, a symbol perhaps of the integration of St. Urban's ghettoized Jews into mainstream Canadian society. Of course this memory might itself be a flashback from my drug-addled 60s, if only I'd inhaled, but if it is correct then it is my first memory of "horseman" being used in reference to the Mounties.. Are there any other old timers out there with their wits about them still who can verify or dispute this?
MrT: "Watch out, here come the horsemen!" sounds more like the cavalry in a John Wayne western than something anyone would say about the Mounties.
Best,
Kerry
----- Original Message -----
From: jacquesdebierue
To: rara-avis-l@ yahoogroups. com
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 1:18 AM
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: The Horsemen
--- In rara-avis-l@ yahoogroups. com, Sandra Ruttan <sandraruttan@ ...> wrote:
>
> Wow - no idea. I'd have to track that down again. But if it is a
> reference, it validates the idea of it being an outdated term, as I
> think that was originally out in the early 70s, wasn't it?
>
>
There's a certain poetry to it... Watch out, here come the horsemen!
Best,
mrt
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