RARA-AVIS: Being knocked unconscious

William Denton (buff@pobox.com)
Mon, 12 Apr 1999 12:14:12 -0400 (EDT) I'm reading _Slab Happy_, a Shell Scott book, right now. I'm about half
done and so far it's been two jam-packed days of action, with gorgeous
dames, a couple of gangsters and lots of henchmen, beatings, booze, and
all the rest that make the Shell Scott books so much fun.

At one point, of course, he's knocked unconscious. A hood saps him, and
then eight hoods set in to beating him. (They don't go at his head, and
although they beat him for quite a while, nothing is broken, and even
though he says the pain is intense when he comes to, within an hour he's
seducing an actress.)

It got me wondering about what it'd be like to be bashed on the head. It
seems like Marlowe, Scott, Hammer, and other tough guys would get conked
at least once a book. Not only did they never get a concussion, most of
the descriptions are pretty similar: "Then I felt a crushing blow on the
back of my head, and I heard the sound of my skull cracking, but the sound
was coming from far away. The floor rushed up to meet me, but I stood
still. Stars drifted in the periphery of my vision. I felt myself
turning. A black void opened up before me, and I slid in."

Perhaps it's just good luck, but I've never been coshed. I was knocked
out three times as a kid, but the only time I remember (when someone put a
sleeper hold on me and cut off the circulation to my head), one minute I
was sitting up and the next I was on the ground with people leaning over
me. If anyone here has been knocked unconscious, I'd be interested in
hearing if there's any more to it than just feeling the blow and going
out.

Bill

-- 
William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.vex.net/~buff/ : Caveat lector.

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