At 05:26 PM 13/10/2004 -0700, you wrote:
>Some cozy and noir writers are drifting slowly
to
>a middle ground where there is a bit of this
and
>a bit of that, which is why I attend the
Malice
>conference.
>
>A cozy can touch on social issues, a
hardboiled
>novel can present a puzzle.
Altman's Gosford Park sums up nicely the difference between
cosy and noir, I think, and points to the antagonism between
fans. The first investigator, Inspector Thompson, played by
Stephen Fry, is cosy. His investigation is a comedy of social
manners. The second investigator, Constable Dexter, played by
Ron Webster is noir. His investigation is a study of social
power.
Altman's picture defined the end of an era: the decline of
the British class system. Christie, Sayers et al had their
time and we can admire them, as Jason Starr does, for their
writing and plotting skills, and perhaps even for depictions
of the socially constricted lives at the time. But attempts
to update cosies into modern America are laughably nostalgic
at best, and undemocratic at worst.
The antagonism between cosy and noir fans is class
warfare.
Kerry, who is armed and dangerous, at least in his own
imagination.
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 14 Oct 2004 EDT