I don't think that classic hardboiled writing was ever meant
to be
shocking; rather, it was a form of naturalism and a window
into a less
cut-and-dried world than that presented by the
garden-variety
traditional mystery or puzzle. You don't need psychos like
Lecter in
order to tell an interesting hardboiled story. Every day, in
every city,
there are real stories that would make for good hardboiled
fiction
material. Many of these stories involve ordinary people in
strange
situations.
What is worrisome is that some authors impose hardboiled
packaging on
stories that are either imitative of the classics
(wisecracking PIs,
Chandlerisms galore, etc.) or are mere sketches for movie
deals.
I don't think that hardboiled crime writing has a bright
future (it
hasn't had a bright present for a long time...), but I do
think that
more and more it will be sold and viewed as "mainstream"*
literature. In
a sense, this is an advantage, for by casting off the "genre"
label it
can bring paying** readers who are not mystery fans. Writers
like Walter
Mosley, Kent Anderson, James Sallis, and Teri White, for
example, have
an appeal that goes well beyond the typical thriller-writer.
They invest
heavily in characterization and downplay (or avoid entirely)
the cliché³¼br> of the genre. I would like to think that the
future of hardboiled crime
belongs to this kind of writer and not to the
rehashers.
Regards, and apologies for the length of this.
mt
* A word I detest, but it is the appropriate one here.
** On the subject of non-paying readers (i.e., library
patrons) and
their effect on the writer's kitty, I refer the reader to
several
persuasive if rather drunken-sounding rants by Panagios
Valcanas on
Usenet groups.
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