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Re: RARA-AVIS: Hardboiled Ronin 

On Mon, 13 Jan 1997, David Geelan wrote:

: This query might be one for the FAQ, and may have been discussed
: before: if so, feel free to refer me to the archives!

There is no FAQ yet, but I think this may turn out to be one - whether
there's an answer is another question. :)

: I wondered whether the definition of 'hardboiled' includes some idea
: of a solo narrator/hero/protagonist as an essential element. This is
: the main Chandler/Hammett model. Somthing like Elmore Leonard's
: books, then, which contain many other HB elements, but consist of
: the inter-related story-lines of a number of characters, wouldn't
: actually be HB. What do you think?

That's a good idea.  Leonard and others do *seem* hardboiled
sometimes, but they just don't have *it*.  Not that they couldn't, but
they're doing something different.  There must be some French lit crit
term for being *of* the genre but not *in* it.  

I was looking through a book on Ross Macdonald last night (the bio by
Bruccoli, _Ross Macdonald_, more info on the web site), and came
across this in a footnote:

"A working definition of 'hard-boiled literature' is: realistic
fiction with some or all of the following characteristics -- objective
viewpoint, impersonal tone, violent action, colloquial speech, tough
characters, and understated style; usually, but not limited to,
detective or crime fiction."

If by "objective viewpoint" he means third-person narration, I don't
think that should be there.  Even if he means a certain narrative
detachment, I'd still be leery.  The others all work, but it would be
easy to find hardboiled novels that don't satisfy each of the
requirements.

Brucolli also says Maconald "properly insisted that the hard-boiled
technique is more the result of style or language than of material or
action."  

All the ones I can think of right now do have a single protagonist, be
he hero or anti-hero.  There's the dame, the gang, the cop, or
whoever, but the centre is still one person.

I'd also offer up that a defining feature of hardboiled detective
stories is that the dick gets right in there and mixes it up.  He
doesn't examine train schedules or see what clews people left behind,
he confronts people and wades right into the action.  The Op in _Red
Harvest_ is the prime example of this: he blows the town wide open.
For non-detective stories this doesn't hold, but it's a major
difference between hardboileds and other types of mysteries.

Bill
-- 
William Denton : buff@vex.net     <-- Please note new address.
Toronto, Canada                   <-- I'm not at io.org any more.
http://www.vex.net/~buff/         Caveat lector.

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