Re: RARA-AVIS: Down There with David Goodis

Etienne Borgers (freeweb@rocketmail.com)
Mon, 2 Nov 1998 01:35:26 -0800 (PST) Down There is certainly one of the most striking
readings amongst Goodis works. More close to
hard-boiled by certain episodes of the story, but as
deeply desesperate as Goodis' novels can be.
"Tirez sur le Pianiste" was in fact the title given
to the novel when translated in French for Serie
Noire, the Gallimard collection (published in 1957 in
France).
Truffaut took his film title from there.

I personally did not find Trufaut's film on par with
the book, when I saw it at the time (1959/60).
A good film if you forget about Goodis' book impact;
a miss if you link it to its literary origins.

As for the details of Goodis' life and attempt to
enlighten the behavior of this secretive and complex
personality, Garnier's book remains a must. Not only
a very good biography, it reflects Garnier's
journalist skills and his passion for his subject.

E.Borgers
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6384

---Jay Gertzman <jgertzma@epix.net> wrote:
>
> I'm writing about this David Goodis novel b/c it
made a deep impression
> on me. Goodis called it _Down There_, more apt than
Truffaut's
> alternative, _ Shoot the Piano Player_. Goodis
creates a character who
> is under sentence to death-in-life.
> SNIP
>*******
> Jay A. Gertzman
_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

#
# 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/.