I've read the book two years ago. I join you for your
conclusions about it, but I can't remember if I saw the
movie(s).
I will add that your comment of "sub Steinbeck" is totally
justified, and personally I did not really enjoy this book.
It seems a little bit artificial for an important part of it,
and the bad luck replacing fate in this would be tragedy,
seems to me as pushing it a little bit too much on the
melodrama side. Even close tto the "roman ࠴h賥" ( type of
novel assembled like a mechanical device wherein things have
to happen, and is designed to allow them to happen, in order
to prove something - the author's thesis- and not only
illustrating it). Rest the realistic writing of many passages
and the feeling of a gone era (for to day readers). I
personally think that there are much more interesting
American novels with social realism, than this one by
Bezzerides.
Speaking of Steinbeck, I've always advocated that his "In
Dubious Battle" (1936) is, besides being a great novel, a
real noir novel, with HB elements. Our stuff.
E.Borgers HARD-BOILED MYSTERIES http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8364
William Denton wrote: (edited)
>A.I. Bezzerides is mentioned every now and then on
the list. Looking back
>in the archives, I see that in January 2000 it was
mentioned that George
>Pelecanos, in SHAME THE DEVIL, had a bad guy reading
novels by Bezzerides
>and Edward Anderson. One Rik Joel Carter followed up
to say he'd met
>Bezzerides the night before at a screening of two
Bogart movies, THEY
>DRIVE BY NIGHT and SIROCCO. Bezzerides also wrote the
film adaptation of
>KISS ME, DEADLY.
>
>THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940) was adapated from LONG
HAUL (1938), which I
>just read. It's very short, and I have an old Dell
mapback edition that
>shows you where Nick, the truck-driving protagonist,
hauls his stuff.
>
>
>In the book, though, he never does. He never gets any
luck at all. It's
>a tough story, of the 1930s realist school,
sub-Steinbeck.
>
>It's a fairly depressing book. The trucking stuff is
all well done, and I
>certainly got a sense of the hard work it took and
how bone tiring it was.
>It will appeal most to readers of trucking novels and
fans of the movie
>adaptation, but it's also a good example of that
school of 1930s tough,
>realist writing.
>
>Bill
>
>
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