Re: RARA-AVIS: Subjective Matter

Fred Willard (fwillard@mindspring.com)
Tue, 25 Nov 1997 01:33:35 -0500 >>Why must lists act so anal? I belong to a few
>that aren't, and those are the ones I enjoy the
most. When was the last time
>anyone had a good laugh while reading this list?
>
>This is a set-up, right? If we talk about this
subject, how we laugh and
>what we laugh at, we're not talking hard-boiled,
right? Then this guy from
>Toronto comes down on us like an Artic Front. Is
that what you want? That
>will be funny?
>
>Actually, Sandra, we get our laughs when 1) we
are attacked. But
>"pecksniffs" is not quite up to standards, as
anyone who remembers the
>Lance Chronicles can tell you. Also, we have fun
2) when we spin theories,
>tell tall tales, and swap half-baked ideas on
stories. Fred and Kevin have
>already stirred up things. The Freud is flying
already.
>Bill Hagen
><billha@ionet.net>
>
I'll try to turn this into something that relates
to the list -- really.

But first... I think there are probably a number
of different perspectives toward hard-boiled
fiction held by members of this list, historical,
critical - some may be collectors, some serious
readers, and so on.

I think it's really useful to have a focus, and to
have the list owner remind us of it.

I would like to state my perspective very briefly,
If I may, just to see if others may share it.

I really see hard-boiled as a movement that has
found lively expression in books and film.
Screenplays are hard-boiled fiction in a dramatic
format just as hard-boiled novels are fiction in a
narrative one.

I also see film as informing fiction as well as
the reverse. Just as examining Tarentino's
self-referencing modernism, Ellroy's historical
noir as represented in film, and the NYTimes
article on noir fashion, all relate to the modern
problem of the genre trying to escape settling
into pastiche and/or parody.

As I read the group charter, I was under the
impression these would be considered on subject.

I fully appreciate the value and attraction of
reading the greats of the genre and look forward
to doing so. But I'm hoping we can have some
lively talk on issues like the above as well.

Fred

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