Despite your complaints of his repetitiveness, he and his
body of work has
stood the test of time. He over-shadows many writers who
created new and
varied plots, themes, and characters, who didn't repeat
themes.
I just started reading Nolan's biography, which I find
fascinating. A great
read.
Geraldine
At 10:58 PM 3/15/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Geraldine:
>
><<On the contrary. As a lurker, I have to step
out and say that I, for
>one, did not feel cheated. What I loved about
Macdonald was the depth of
>his stories. I am going to have to read his bio
because after reading
>his books, I was convinced he came from an
exceptionally dysfunctional
>family. Why else does his root of crime go so far
back?>>
>
>I am convinced that at a certain point he felt
compelled (perhaps to the
>point of obsession) to write about the long-term
consequences of
>people's actions. My comment, however, had little to
do with the
>author's reasons for writing what he did; I was
referring to his
>palpable dependence on a formula.
>
><<Perhaps the attitude that crime has no
history, that we have made
>ourselves comes out of the shortness of American
memory. While we
>celebrate the 200th anniversary of this country,
others are talking
>about thousands of years of civilization. While Los
Angeles tears itself
>down and reconstructs new streets, neighborhoods and
communities,
>Europe, Asia and the rest of the world is bound to its
past.>>
>
>All of this is true, but I don't see what it has to do
with my post, or
>with Ross Macdonald's themes, or with his constant
reuse of them after
>The Galton Case -- unless you are talking about people
in the United
>States wanting desperately to forget where they came
from. There is
>certainly enough of that. However, I doubt that this
is the right forum
>to discuss one of our great national neuroses and
myths. I also doubt
>that Ross Macdonald's novels could be stretched to a
giant metaphor
>covering an entire country's desire to deny its past.
In my opinion,
>this is better accomplished by fictions that, working
from inside a
>given group, reveal how it interacts with the
mainstream (I am using
>this unforgivable word for lack of a better one) and
how it remains
>different -- for me personally, Henry Roth's _Call It
Sleep_ and its
>incredible late sequels, as well as Bernard Malamud's
works, do that
>marvellously. They invoke specific images, specific
codes, specific
>languages, and a specific ethos.
>
>Did I say that this was not the right forum?
>
>Regards, and apologies for rambling wildly
off-topic.
>
>mt
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