RE: RARA-AVIS: Final Words on Ellroy

dspurlock@humana.com
Wed, 20 May 1998 17:39:39 -0400 Doug writes:

<<Think, for instance,
of Spade Hearns' years of yearning for Lorna (in "Torch Number"); his
deep reaction to the song that has united them; his pursuit of her as
motivation and excuse for, say, sticking a loaded gun in someone's mouth
and pulling the trigger. I think the mode works well for Ellroy and
that sentiment is important. >>

I think you can also argue that sentimentality drives a lot of characters
in noir fiction, particularly where a femme fatale figures in the plot, or
a character's obsession with "the way things were" or "the way things could
have been." I think, for example, you see evidence of that in Chandler and
Ross McDonald. Hammet? Well, I'm not so sure of that -- unless it's an
underlying, primarily unspoken sentimentality for a prelapsarian world. --
Duane

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