Jose,
Re your survey question below:
> Disregarding all other factors (plot,
literary
> value, et cetera) which kind
> of crime novel do you prefer
>
> a) One protagonist and less than six or
seven
> secondary characters
>
> b) Two main characters and between eight and
fifteen
> secondary characters.
>
> c) Two or three main characters and more
than
> sixteen secondary characters?
I honestly can't recall ever having counted the number of
characters, so this is difficult to answer. When I choose a
crime novel to read it's based on other factors, and I can't
recall that the number of characters has ever really been a
significant factor in my subsequent judgment. For example,
I'm less than a thrid of the way through he book I'm reading
now, KNOWN DEAD by Donald Harstad, and there're already more
than sixteen secondary characters with the promise of more to
come. Each one plays a part and I'd be reluctant to tell
Harstad he should drop any of them. On the other hand THE
MALTESE FALCON fits your description of a single lead and
fewer than seven supporting characters (actually, now that I
count them up, there are at least nine supporting characters,
but many are on stage for less than a page), and I'd be just
as reluctant to tell Hammett that he should have added a few
more.
If it helps at all, I generally prefer mysteries where the
antagonist is a major figure from the start to those in which
the identity of the antagonist is kept concelaed until the
end (i.e. whodunits). In the sense that an antagonist who is
know from the start is thus a "main character," I guess I
prefer books with two or more main characters to those in
which a single protagonist is the sole lead. Hope this
helps.
JIM DOHERTY
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