Thats cool that you took the time to write out your thoughts
and share them, John. I found your comments interesting and
insight- ful. I do have a few comments:
John Williams wrote:
> Moderately sucessful - though generally morally and
artistically
bankrupt -
> are the burgeoning ranks of the serial killer
specialists - but that's a
US
> blight as well (then again I suppose serial killer
novels more properly
> belong to the horror tradition than the
h/b).
"Generally" is the keyword here when you talk about the
quality of serial killer novels. Generally, I'll read one by
an author and then I've had enough. But I think that _Silence
of the Lambs_ was a great book. For me, it rattled the
foundations. I like that. I thought that Ridley Pearson's
(sp?) _Undercurrents_ was good, too.
********** then JW says:
> These days the private eye is hard to take seriously
in American fiction
> let alone British fiction.
Well, there really isn't a lot of new P.I. stuff out there,
is there? I read Gores's _Cases_ about an apprentice P.I.,
but it was set in the early 50's. And Pelecanos's Nick,
drunk, stoned, or sober, is very believable. But aside from
those guys, not a lot pops into my mind. Of course, I've been
wallowing in the past for the last few months so my memory is
probably a bit rusty.
********** then JW says:
> ...especially the noir-horror crossover
as
> written by the likes of Chaz Brenchley, Stephen
Gallagher and Iain Banks.
I'll be darned! Someone mentions Iain Banks! He's an
interesting and innovative author. I liked _Feersum Endjin_
(once I got past the pho- netic spelling) and _The Wasp
Factory_, but could have done without
_Excession_. I'm not sure if he's hardboiled, but he
definitely gets the noir tag.
********** then JW says:
> while newer writers - in the US just as
the
> UK - have to struggle to emerge from the shadows of
Ellroy, Leonard et
al -
> and are, ironically enough, in some ways limited by
the very strength and
> popularity of the genre.
Yeah, maybe. But its been like this for quite a while, you
know. Once there's such a thing as a genre, you're stuck with
proceeding someone else. Near as I can tell, the present
writers are doing a darn good job of creating their own
intimidating shadows for future writers.
********* JW says:
> ...that maybe the most interesting way for the
noir/hb writing to develop
> is to move out of the genre confines.
I think this idea has a lot of merit. And I think that the
generally accepted rara-avis definition of hardboiled as
"tough and colloquial" recognizes a lot of room for
stretching within the genre.
In closing I would just reiterate that I enjoyed your
assessment of the UK/ USA hardboiled scene, John.
miker
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