Further, don't forget the intertextuality of representations
of the police.
We all have a huge river of memories of cop shows, police
books along with
the marketing forces that blurb to us which ones are
supposedly the most
realistic. All of that plays out when we read a detective
story. We can't
help but compare against the other things we've read; authors
can't help by
pay homage to them.
I'd be really curious to hear from the law-enforcement types
here on this
list if they've ever read anything that truly recreates with
complete
accuracy the day to day existence of an officer of the law.
My guess is that
some authors come close to representing the general "look and
feel," but
that none get it completely right--there's always going to be
sacrifices to
reality made for the sake of dramaturgy, etc.
Realism isn't reportage, at any rate. Realism simply pretends
to have an
accurate mimetic; but it never is real--it's simply filtered
through the
mind of the author to "seem real." If the author can sell you
on his
concept of "real" then he's doing a great job.
david
______________________________
David A. Harvey
Freelance Columnist, Reviewer, Journalist&Editor
Exploring the meeting points of humanity&technology
1 Druim Moir Court 215/248-7469
Philadelphia, PA 917/767-6567 (cell/page)
19118
"Most people are awaiting Virtual Reality; I'm awaiting
virtuous
reality."
--Eli Khamarov , Lives of the Cognoscenti
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca [mailto:owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca]On
> Behalf Of joseph
> Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 1998 5:24 PM
> To: rara-avis@icomm.ca
> Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Realism and Reality
>
>
> One of the rules I follow is if your expert in
anything (e.g.
> computers,
> police procedure) be prepared to be disgruntled or
(not often) maybe
> pleasently surprised. Stories are that - stories.
They are controled
> universes where the author can do anything. If he/she
is a
> good author they
> will conform to reality or be realistic (like
real).
>
> Also they must entertain. Would Mike Hammer have
lasted as
> long as he did
> in real life?
>
> An interesting take on real vs fiction is "Dragnet."
In a
> history of the
> LAPD I read the book goes into great length about
"Dragnet" and how it
> helped clean up the image of the LAPD. Not only clean
up. but
> turn it into
> the ideal PD. When in truth James Ellroy is much
closer to a police
> procedural then "Dragnet."
>
> "Dragnet" the story of your (ideal) police dept in
action. BTW I like
> "Dragnet."
>
> Joseph
>
>
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