Re: RARA-AVIS: postmodern noir

Mario Taboada (matrxtech@sprintmail.com)
Wed, 03 Dec 1997 11:05:22 +0000 Leonardo Sciascia is a Sicilian modern master, often mentioned as a
candidate for the Nobel Prize. But I doubt that he could win the Hammett
or the Shamus (or the Thompson)...while his fiction is violent and dark,
it doesn't have the elements of mystery and the atmosphere typical of
noir. He is essentially a social critic.

I would be cautions about extending the boundaries of noir to include
people like Pynchon. "Lot 49" is a delirious fantasy, but I don't see
noir anywhere.

Tim O'Brien, on the other hand, could be safely included. His "In the
Lake of the Woods" could be by Goodis or Charles Williams (if Goodis had
been a better stylist, or the great Williams had applied himself to it).

Everyone has a bete noire. Mine is Joyce Carol Oates. I absolutely hate
everything she writes (but I always buy her books in the remainder
shelf). Her review of Chandler displays her ignorance and priggishness
in all its splendor. If anyone wants to include Oates in any mystery
subgenre, I'll be there guarding the door, roscoe in hand and with
backup around the corner.

Regards, and excuse the less than flawless early morning prose. It would
have been worse in verse!

Mario Taboada
#
# To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to majordomo@icomm.ca.
# The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.