--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, DJ-Anonyme@w... wrote:
> I'm with Mario on tough not describing many of the
noir
protagonists. I
> doubt any of us doubts David Goodis's noir
credentials, but few of
his
> characters could be thought of as tough by thought
or action. Many
are
> just losers circling the bowl waiting for someone to
flush. Think
> Street of No Return, in particular.
>
> Mark
Hi again,
I don't think "tough" is necessary for noir either and I
think Goodis is the perfect example why. Another good example
is Highsmith. Her standalone "heroes" in such noir novels as
"This Sweet Sickness" and "Deep Water" are far from tough.
Vicki Hendrick's great noir characters are tough in some
ways, but very weak in others...Of course, there are many
example of tough guy noir heroes in books by authors such as
Cain, Williams, Willeford, Thompson, etc....In my books, my
main chararcter in Fake I.D. is very tough, but Mickey Prada
in Tough Luck isn't tough at all--hey, maybe there's some
irony there! And I think both of these books qualify, to some
extent, as noir...
Come to think of it, maybe there is "hardboiled noir" where
characters are tough and the stories are noir. And maybe
there's also plain old noir...
I think you can make a stronger case that tough is a
characteristic more often found in hardboiled detective
fiction.
Jason
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