Jack Bludis wrote: Just to pose a question: do we really want
to get into the childhood of characters?
Do we care about the childhood of Phillp Marlowe, Sam Spade,
Lew Archer, Travis McGee or even Mike Hammer?
Isn't childhood the inclusion of a character's childhood the
publisher's, author's, or agent's way of getting into
mainstream?
*************** Sallis did a good job of tying Lew Griffin's
childhood into LONG-LEGGED FLY. It gave depth to his
character. However, leaving the past out of the picture is
not necessarily a negative. Sometimes it adds mystery, an
unknown quantity that adds to the character. It worked for
Marlowe.
More than anything, I believe it's a question of style. The
old hardboiled detective writers kept it lean and mean, nose
to the plot. Too great an indulgence in childhood memories
would have been considered extraneous. It produced a more
idealistic and less realistic character, which Gerald So and
William Denton recently pointed out is simply not as
fashionable as it once was.
But please recall that childhood memories are not entirely
lacking in the old hardboiled. Wasn't the Con Op relishing
childhood memories when he made the comment about something
being funnier than when the hogs ate his baby brother?
;-)
miker
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