John & Carrie (johncarrie@sprynet.com)
Fri, 17 Sep 1999 01:17:50 -0400
Ellroy:
<<I put down Jim Thompson's book "The Killer Inside
Me." I just thought it was shit. I honestly think that most
noir is cliche.>>
Mario wrote:
And I would say that the outrageous Ellroy interview is also
a cliché® The sad thing is that Ellroy has interesting ideas
about the genre -- yet he talks in simplistic terms ("it was
shit" is unworthy of a writer of his stature and
talent).
Perhaps Ellroy should read John D. MacDonald's comments on
Norbert Davis (that he made a bad mistake in despising the
genre that nurtured him, in thinking that he had transcended
it and gone on to better things, etc.).
--------
I share Mario's thoughts on this. It is bullshit, not to
mention snobbish, when someone with obvious gifts turns on
the source that allowed the person to hone his or her skills,
and believe that he or she is above it.
In the first instance, aside from the monstrous egoism, that
something is somehow of lesser value or importance because of
it's status as "low brow culture" is simply untenable in this
day when the boundaries between high and low culture are so
blurred as to be non-existent. Whether or not one subscribes
to any of these notions that can be categorized generally
under the rubric of postmodernism, the fact is that the
notion of "genre" is soemthing that we simply keep alive as
an arbitrary, albeit useful, method of categorizing
things.
Second, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to see Ellroy's
spitefulness. Now, this may all be part of his schtick....but
in the absence of any guidelines to determine whether he's
serious or not, I find it arrogant. Especially when he disses
Thompson. Hell, if Thompson had the luxury of being allowed
the time and resources to work more in depth at his craft who
knows what he could have done. and even within those
limitations....Thompson is a much better more interesting
writer than Ellroy, notwithstanding that I enjoy Ellroy's
writing a hell of a lot.
Just ranting.......
Tribe
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