Etienne Borgers (freeweb@rocketmail.com)
Thu, 23 Dec 1999 19:55:46 -0800 (PST)
--- Kevin Burton Smith <kvnsmith@colba.net>
wrote:
> And Etienne wrote:
> >Gosh!
> >...this sounds exactly like the second half
of
> Robert
> >Parker's life and Spenser taking
over!!
> >
> >(Sorry, I couldn't resit!)
>
> Why? Someone steal your chair? Anyway, I
digress....
>
> Granted, I know less than Etienne seems to
know
> about the second half
> of Parker's life (alcoholism?), but still....
Like
> it or not,
> Parker's still kicking, and still producing
honest
> work, even if it
> doesn't meet everybody's high standards. A
pulp
> hack? Sheesh!
> .../...
(Heavily Snipped)
That's exactly what I feared! and therefore felt obliged to
add that "I couldn't resist" Trying to signal I was joking...
not that I was buying new furniture. Certainly not trying to
underline or implying that Parker could be an
alcoholic...
And this kind of "joke" I dare to put it on a restricted and
specialist audience as this list, and certainly not on a
radio show speaking about mystery novels, for instance.
Kevin however detected what was the real subject of my
ironical statement, by the development he gave to it in the
second part of his message . Series is a problem as we
discussed it previously here, and as I already said: culprits
are also the readers who always ask for more. Helped by
"pushy" publishers.
What totally disappointed me it is not that Parker tries to
keep his Spenser's series going, but it is all the
compromises he did to keep it... to end producing
professionally crafted uninteresting pieces. And I resent it
really as I considered Parker as a potentially great writer
of the genre, based on the novels I red years ago. Seems to
me that he refused to give all his potential. But hey! Maybe
there is what you could really reproach me for: I was
probably overestimating the literary capabilities of Robert
Parker?
To end, I admit that I don't care about what is happening to
heroes in series from mediocre writers.
And now a truism (concluded from this thread about series,
that followed Kevin's message): Yes, there are good series...
And, no, all series are not good...
But... the risk of capsize is greater in series for most of
the writers.
Kevin's text:
> But Etienne raises a valid point about
series
> characters. There's
> always the danger, particularly in first
> person-narrated series, with
> the hero's identity meshing with that of the
writer,
> a deception
> encouraged by the authors themselves. And
it's
> certainly nothing new.
> Check out the author photos of Ken Millar sporting
a
> fedora on the
> backs of his paperbacks, or Spillane starring
as
> Hammer in a flick.
> Or, yes, Parker posing in baseball cap and
sneakers,
> with dog, about
> the time a dog was introduced into the
series.
(Snipped)
E.Borgers Hard-boiled Mysteries http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6384
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