Jim Blue wrote:
... It's interesting (at least to me) that you chose to
compare the styles and effectiveness of the two
MacDonalds
- I remember when John D. sued Ross over the use of his name,
young mystery fans I knew at the time lined up on one side of
the lawsuit or the other on the basis of the work they
enjoyed reading. There wasn't much crossover among the real
devotees; you were either an Lew A. aficionado and found
John
D. too purple and full of hot air, or you loved old Travis
and thought the Archer books were repetitive and dull. I
enjoyed Travis (and the other MacDonald books) as much as I
enjoyed anything I was reading at the time, but I believe I
learned more about writing from paying attention to how Ross
nailed his boards together.
********** Although they do have the same last name, the
reason I compared the two was based on their comparable
popularity in the genre. There was a thread here at one time
mentioning the "big three," and someone noted that the first
two were probably Hammett and Chandler, but wondered if the
third was JDM. I think that if Ross hadn't come along that
JDM might have been a part of that noble triumvirate.
Speaking of JDM, I'm looking forward to reading my first
non-Travis novel, CAPE FEAR (THE EXECUTIONERS), for the
Fifties theme. He wrote for quite a while before Travis
popped up, didn't he?
miker
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