In working through the stories in _Hard-Boiled_, a # of folks
have noted
racial, gender, & class attitudes, some of which would
"not do" for today's
detective protagonists. But these attitudes are hardly unique
to the
pulps: early Edna Ferber is eye-opening, as are many of the
"boys' books,"
like _Penrod and Sam_.
Always liked Chandler's worm's eye view of the rich. More
optimistic than
Hemingway in finding occasional signs of integrity, just as
he found some
decent cops too.
Am fascinated by John Cawelti's take on hard-boiled as a form
that
confronts the real problems of the success ethic in America.
He went on to
say that while the world of the hard-boiled seems
naturalistic, tending
toward fatalism, the protagonists act as if success were
still available to
the resourceful. Believe it's in _Adventure, Mystery, and
Romance_.
Bill Hagen
<billha@ionet.net>
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