Jennifer wrote:
"I'm not an expert on Situationism but feel that its
influence on Manchette comes through pretty clearly in those
two novels."
I was going to write this even before I read your comment. I
was less than halfway through The Prone Gunman when I
pronounced that I didn't see any of the alleged influence of
Debord, et al. I definitely spoke too soon. You are right
that it comes through, particularly in the last 20-30 pages,
both in the plot ideas and the style. As for my fears that
engaging situationism in a crime novel would lead to the over
the top parody of Steve Aylett, they proved unfounded.
Manchette walks the line perfectly, satisfying the
conventions, while simultaneously twisting them. I was too
quick to say this had no elements of detournement.
A great bit of character description from the book:
"Seated in the darkness of the 504, Martin Terrier listened
attentively to this news. His haggard face at first
registered great perplexity; then it registered worry,
thoughtfulness, or whatever other movements of consciousness
that might cause his face to look the way it did. Once the
news was over, the man started the engine."
I have just started Three to Kill. This seems to be a bit
more unconventional in its telling and more engaged from the
beginning (but still clearly by the same writer, I think
you're right about the translations being faithful). The feel
of this book is not unlike what little I have read of
Calvino.
Part of the introduction to a character in this one:
"Georges Gerfaut is a man under forty. His car is a
steel-gray Mercedes. The leather upholstery is mahogany
brown, matching all the fittings of the vehicle's interior.
As for Georges Gerfaut's interior, it is somber and confused;
a clutch of left-wing ideas may just be discerned. On the
car's dashboard, below the instrument panel, is a mat metal
plate with Georges's name, address, and blood group engraved
upon it, along with a piss-poor depiction of Saint
Christopher. Via two speakers, one beneath the dashboard, the
other on the back-window deck, a tape player is quietly
diffusing West Coast-style jazz: Gerry Mulligan, Jimmy
Giuffre, Bud Shank, Chico Hamilton. I know, for instance,
that at one point it is Rube Bloom and Ted Koehler's
'Truckin'' that is playing, as recorded by the Bob Brookmeyer
Quintet.
"The reason why Georges is barreling along the outer ring
road, with diminished reflexes, listening to this particular
music, must be sought first and foremost in the position
occupied by Georges in the social relations of production.
The fact that Georges killed two men in the course of the
last year is not germane. What is happening now used to
happen from time to time in the past."
I look forward to reading your article, but I think I'll wait
until I've finished Three to Kill.
Mark
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