How much, too, does the drinking give stylistic license to
run wild and
generate the descriptive imagery of the genre: lots of rain
slicked
everything with blurry neon, hyperreal descriptions--almost
caricatures--of
faces and features....
I'm not saying that the writer was drunk, or as Papa said of
alcohol, "the
only time it's not good for you is when your write or when
you fight."
Rather, that it serves as a literary deus ex machina
d
______________________________
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 Bill Hagen
> Sent: Sunday, August 16, 1998 12:25 AM
> To: rara-avis@icomm.ca
> Subject: RARA-AVIS: Chemical Dependence and
Hard-Boiledness
>
>
> Interesting thread, though I don't think we've done
enough
> with what the
> drinking can signify. Take the earlier suggestion
that it's
> connected to
> the Germanic meadhall boozing, which always went
with
> boasting. So is the
> drinking in these novels often a matter of
celebration of the
> male self?
> Or is it a dulling of pain, a softening of the
hardness?
> Does the style
> sometimes become alcoholic (whatever that
means)?
>
> I'm struck by the fraternal aspects of drinking in
Chandler,
> especially
> _The Long Goodbye_, where Marlowe is the reformed
alcoholic,
> committing to
> people (Terry, Wade) who have hit bottom. There seems
to be
> a bond, though
> it doesn't always hold, between those who have known
the
> bottle--the taxi
> driver who won't accept extra from Marlowe when he
finds that
> M. is trying
> to help a drunk friend. The reverse side, of course,
is the
> guy or girl
> who slips you a mickey in your drink, seen as worse
than
> knocking you on
> the head.
>
> Other aspects of drink? The value of bars? Hemingway
famously talked
> about a "clean, well-lighted place," where one could
become
> inebriated with
> dignity. The bar where Mario Balzics goes when he
doesn't
> want to go home,
> where he often argues healthily, seems to be such a
place for him.
>
>
> Bill Hagen
> <billha@ionet.net>
>
>
> #
> # 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/.
>
#
# 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/.