Bill Crider had this pointed out to him:
>>>>I hit bottom this morning with an article
on the
"Digital/Oral Consciousness" in Chandler's fiction. [The
writer] counted the number of times "thumb" turned up in
Chandler, as well as finger, hand, mouth, and a couple of
other related images, and wrote on the subject which "no
critic has yet seriously treated." I doubt that it's been
treated at all.<<<<
*********** That's a good one, Bill. It's so far over the top
that it's clearly absurd. Hemingway said that you can't write
well without a built-in bullshit detector. My problem is that
I'm not sure about the quality of my detector. I recently
read an essay on Cain's THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, by
Patrick Shaw in his book THE MODERN AMERICAN NOVEL OF
VIOLENCE. He emphasizes the significance of the
automobile/truck in Cain's book, and how it plays a key role
in many of the significant parts of the novel, and then, of
course, goes on to philosophize upon its meaning. I don't
deny that there are cars in the novel, but I could not
develop a warm feeling for Shaw's insistence upon the
symbolic nature of them. Nevertheless, I find it slightly
intimidating to question the views of a guy who has a PhD in
literature.
miker
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