God protect us and deliver us from political correctness and
deconstructionism-revisionist post-modern criticism or
whatever the hell one wants to call it.
Detective fiction is fiction.
John Williams wrote:
> > DW wrote:
> >
> > >The early Spenser's were great,
> > >Parker revolutionized the PI in the
seventies, I think. I mean, my info
> > >has never really been that great, but who
else has given the PI a steady
> > >relationship, made him tackle a sensitized
world, and have a PC code
> while
> > >not being exactly PC. (I don't think
shooting two people in a park is
> > >exactly PC).
>
> Actually one thing I really hate about the Spenser
books is the way Parker
> invents minority characters - Hawk, Rachael Wallace
- and then has them
> spend their whole time telling Spenser what a great
guy he is - thus
> attempting to con the reader into subliminally
thinking that real black
> people,
What is a "real black person" and what is a "real lesbian",
let alone a "real etc, etc"? Do you real think that all
African-Americans and all lesbians are identical clones? If
Jesse Jackson is a "real black person" then what is Clarence
Thomas and what is Magic Johnson? Will the "Real Black
Person" please stand up?
> .lesbians, etc, etc think Parker's lumbering mixture
of fifties macho
> gallantry and seventies political chic is really
cool.
>
> Linked to this is another thing I really hate about
the Spenser books - the
> way Hawk is forever saying hey I'm not a
stereotypical black man - look I
> like fancy food! - immediately before he does a
whole lot of stereotypical
> big bad black guy stuff.
Does that mean that no big bad black guys like fancy food?
How do you define fancy food? Is it the same as "Gourmet"
food, a la Martha Stewart? Or is it ham hocks and collard
greens, which is pretty fancy if you were brought up in
Greenwich CT or Oak Park.
>
>
> Also surely it's not an either/or to criticise
Spenser for being at heart a
> Marlowe clone and also to deplore the way Parker
self-consciously tries to
> get out of this trap by simultaneously being talkier
than Chandler - the
> ghastly Susan stuff - and dumber than Chandler ever
dreamt of being - the
> sub James Bond stuff in Catskill Eagle et
al.
Wow!!
>
>
> Finally, Mr Pelecanos is surely right to point out
the influence Parker has
> had on younger writers. However, if you look at the
work of a basically
> very fine writer like Dennis Lehane you can
attribute almost everything
> wrong with his books ( the Hawk-like figure of
Bubba, the overblown endings)
> to the tawdry influence of Parker.
Please pass the stereotypes.
>
>
> John
>
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>
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