Kevin wrote:
>Nah. When you write about an era, you should write
about it, not
>worry about someone thirty years down the line. To
write about
>Pelecanos' (and my) generation, and not mention the
pop culture of
>the time is to miss an important aspect.
>As for music, well, for some people -- and a lot of
people around
>George's age -- music does matter. Vitally. And music
is often a
>powerful distinguishing trait.
>Hell, who smokes Fatimas these days? Who drives a
Duesenberg? Doesn't
>make the Op stories any weaker...
>The idea is to open yourself up to another era,
another generation,
>another world; not wish for books to be set in some
bland,
>colourless, neutral time.
************** An era can be evoked without leaving those
that weren't there clueless. I believe I mentioned that
O'Hara, Heath, and Gores did a good job of it. Sixty years
later a lot of people know know that a Duesenberg is a fancy
car. And they can figure out from context that a Fatima is
some kind of exotic cigarette. Now I understand that after
300 years the whole damn language is gonna change and what's
written now will sound like Chaucer, but Pelecanos is making
subtle and significant references that are obscure before the
ink is dry on the page.
And yes, one of the great opportunities of reading is to open
yourself up to a different era. My point is that if you don't
understand the musical references, then an important part of
the book is closed to you. A typical reader cannot "open"
himself to the era because the references are obscure.
Pelecanos is only evoking the era to those who already know
about it. And I am only talking about the narrow sense of the
music references here, too. The alcohol, drugs, and racial
tension come through loud and clear even for the musically
challenged.
I really didn't mean to make a big deal out of it.
Melville's
"Call me Ishmael," doesn't mean much to somebody who hasn't
at least read the Cliff Notes for the BIBLE. James Joyce just
ain't gonna be as much fun if you don't know that Ulysses is
Latin for Odysseus, and that he made a long strange trip a
long time ago. Obscure references are a time-honored literary
tradition. What am I beefin' about?
miker
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