RARA-AVIS: Hardboiled Character Traits - Balzic

From: Mario Taboada ( matrxtech@yahoo.com)
Date: 29 Apr 2002


Given the definitions put forth, I think we have to work by example, so I'll start with what I know best:

Mario Balzic *can* be very tough but isn't always; in fact, he can also be very soft. He does not have supreme self-confidence, though once he chooses a path, he goes and does it. He is definitely colloquial and working class.

Because Constantine's portraits cover a lot of ground beyond the mere adventure or the solution of a crime, his characters can't be pegged easily. One can safely say that he works within the hardboiled procedural tradition, but that's all. Such a description doesn't even give a hint of what goes on in his stories.

It occurs to me that crime literature may have moved beyond the hardboiled vs. cozy (or dark vs. light, etc.) dichotomy, which was never all that clear-cut to start with.

Regards,

MrT

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