Andrew wrote: Anyway, I'd also like to say that though I've
only read The Zebra Striped-Hearse and a Lew Archer short
fiction collection, Ross McDonald is special to me, because
he was the first hard-boiled writer I ever read.
*********** I finished THE ZEBRA-STRIPED HEARSE about a month
ago.
I'm glad I gave him another go after the mediocre DARK
TUNNEL. Ross looks to be coming from the Chandler camp, both
in plot and the word play. The plot involves the wayward
crazy daughter of a rich guy
(Chandler's BIG SLEEP and LONG GOODBYE). I have heard that
Ross wrote one book over and over, and with only two under my
belt I can already see the pattern developing. I'll cherry
pick a couple more and then move on.
One difference from Chandler, in the little that I've read,
was the center of turbulence. Chandler's work has got a
spotlight on Marlowe, whereas Macdonald's emphasis is on the
wounded family, with a more subtle involvement from Lew.
Macdonald's work is less self-conscious.
Macdonald's use of simile and metaphor was interesting.
Rather than just random images, there was an overall theme to
them that projected an ethereal, other-worldly background to
the novel. It was obviously intentionally conceived. I
believe the device was meant to pan out from the intense
tunnel vision focus and give it that ennobling big-picture
panorama. I can't say I found it wholly effective. Eudora
Welty liked it, though.
One of the great advantages of the detective novel is its
built-in propensity towards the sad vignettes of the lost and
lonely. In this Macdonald excels. Bluesy.
miker
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