I don't consider a professional character any more
"realistic" than an amateur. In some ways it's less so: how
many private detectives, for instance, regularly have
novel-length adventures full of conflict, mystery, action,
damsels in distress and surprise endings?
Actually, I find the very word "realistic" unworkable in this
context. I never considered Lew Archer a particularly
"realistic" character (in the sense that I could actually
find models for his character among living people) or the
stories he finds himself emeshed in particularly "realistic".
As many people have said, the Archer series is basically the
same story over and over again. Thing is, it's a damn fine
story, and every time I reread one of Macdonald's books I'm
utterly persuaded of the truth of what he's showing me.
Yes, sure, sometimes you stumble across a writer like Elmore
Leonard or Ross Thomas who seems to be showing you "the way
things actually work". And I'm sure there's a lot of truth to
what they say. But it's a testament to their skill as writers
that you bought it in the first place.
To sum up: for me the important question is not "is a writer
believable?" but rather "is he persuasive?" Can he convince
you of the truth of what he's telling you? If bringing in the
real world helps him do that, by all means go ahead. Lay on
the cell phones, fax modems, and sattelite technology. If it
gets in the way, though, make up some entertaining lie. It
doesn't matter to me in the slightest. I believe in the truth
of the hardboiled outlook, and that's far more important than
these minor details.
doug
---
Z0MB0Y@aol.com wrote:
>
> Actually, I tend to like the amateurs. The
pro's
> tend to be doing what
> they're doing by rote. Series characters (which
PI's
> and police detectives
> tend to be) seldom get themselves killed, or
even
> seem to be affected by what
> happens. A civilian who becomes interested
for
> personal reasons (because
> someone they care about is killed or just their
own
> obsessive curiosity about
> what's happening) tend to be more interesting
and
> less cozy.
===== Doug Bassett
dj_bassett@yahoo.com
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