Mark said:
"I just finished The Killing of the Tinkers. I often laughed
out loud, but there is no doubt it was both hardboiled and
noir." and
"you're right about there being humor, often very dark humor
(the darker the better for my taste) in much of hardboiled
and noir. You know, maybe it goes back to the idea that the
difference between tragedy and comedy is often just the point
of view from which the story is written."
***
This begs the question: If noir represents the tragic view of
the universe, the idea of "comic noir" is a contradiction in
terms. Unless, I would guess, you have a comic scene, like
the gravedigger scene in Hamlet, within the overriding tragic
arc. Humor within a tragic viewpoint is black humor,
reflecting a morbid bitterness. I'm thinking of the tone in
many noir works, like The Maltese Falcon or Farewell, My
Lovely.
But here's the puzzle, for me: With The Postman Always Rings
Twice, the viewpoint is inevitably tragic, with a tragic
ending, yet there is a bitter, almost humourous, irony at the
end. Cape Fear, on the other hand, has a happy ending. Boy
gets girl back. Order is restored. But it left me with
shudders, especially after seeing the story this week about
the real life "Executioner" in Illinois, I believe it
was.
Bruce
Bruce Makous Author, Riding the Brand
www.brucemakous.com
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