Re: RARA-AVIS: Chandler or Hammett?

From: Alanhorn3@cs.com
Date: 02 Dec 2003

Jim Doherty writes:

<< Chandler had to work harder
 to achieve an authentic American voice than Hammett
 did. >>

You're right, Chandler had to work harder--and it shows.

I appreciate MrT's comment below, which is more or less what I was trying to say in my earlier post.

<< Perhaps the impression that Hammett has been less
 influential is due to a fact: Hammett's style is today the
 standard style for good writing --what Jacques Barzun calls
 "simple & direct" in his handbook of rhetoric. In contrast,
 Chandleresque is now a retro language. >>

Alan H

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