I'm a great admirer of FIGHT CLUB -- both the novel and the
movie, which I thought was one of the best films of 1999. I'm
not sure if FC is hardboiled or not, but I'm certainly
willing to consider the idea. It certainly has the requisite
focus on the underbelly of society, as well as the
essentially romantic idea of a charismatic individual leading
us through the minefields. The very overt political themes
are a little unusual at first, but the more I think about it
the more I realize that the hb approach has been used before
as a way to critique American society: Himes and Spillane
come to mind, as well as, more subtly, Ross Macdonald.
The one non-hb element in the book, I think, is the language
-- it's a very ambitiously literary book with a diffracted
storyline, post-modern attitudes, etc. For me the
straightforward hb "style" is an important part of the hb
approach.
Both the book and the movie are highly recommended.
doug
--- Jay Gertzman <
jgertzma@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Could the novel _Fight Club_, by Chuck
> Palahaniuk,be described as noire
> or hard boiled? It deals in frightening
mental
> states, and certainly has
> powerful criticism of the society which produces
the
> criminals (in this
> case urban terrorists). It locates evil not in
the
> hearts of people who
> want to die to destroy the system, but in
corporate
> power.
===== Doug Bassett
dj_bassett@yahoo.com
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