Jess and George, I think you've put your finger on their
appeal. If one wants mere male wish-fulfillment, there's
Spenser, among others. Albeit the chagrin tinging every TM
novel just makes McGee that much more the Romantic
hero.
MacDonald, as evidenced by THE EXECUTIONERS, was not a
typewriting McGee
(with his paternalistic attitude); though I find McGee a far
more believable kind of "battered knight" (particularly in
his time) than many of the other canonical detective-series
characters.
And I would like to suggest that those who feel Ross
Macdonald's Archer wasn't noir enough...well, perhaps the Lew
Archer short story collection wouldn't satisfy that itch for
you, either, but you should try it. TM
-----Original Message----- From: Jess Nevins [mailto:
jjnevins@ix.netcom.com]
George Pelecanos wrote:
> Commercially speaking, there has never been a
smarter creation than Travis
> McGee. He is the embodiment of male
wish-fulfillment. No nine-to-five
job,
> lives by his own set of rules, resides on a
houseboat, drinks but is not a
> drunk, tall, handsome, good with his fists but not a
bully, etc. All of
the
> women McGee sleeps with are built like centerfolds,
and, more importantly,
> most of them conveniently kick before that
bothersome issue of commitment
> comes to the forefront. So McGee
> is the man we--okay, most of us--would like to see
when we look in the
> mirror.
True enough about him being a male wish-fulfillment creation,
but....well, it's been a while since I've reread them, but I
remember a definite feeling of loss and depression at the end
of a number of the novels. McGee has all the attributes of
male wish-fulfillment, but I think MacDonald was a cannier
writer than that. There's a definite feeling, when the good
women go away, that McGee is alone again, and that that's not
something that is a good thing. And the Lonely Silver Rain
has an elegiac feel to it, as if both MacDonald and McGee
knew that their time was over.
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