I see the key problem discussing "film noir" in course on the
hardboiled genre is that film noir as conceived by Nino Frank
is not a genre, but a cinematic style that cuts across many
genres. That said, crime films in the 1940s didn't shun
themes like sexual obsession, loneliness, despair, and those
qualities associated with noir fiction. They gave stories in
the tradition of James M. Cain and W. R. Burnett a larger
platform and suggested an interest in noir that became very
self-evident when publishers like Gold Medal, Lion Books, and
other paperback original publishers exploded on the scene.
Still, I overall, I find myself agreeing with your overall
conclusion. I would tend to think that film would tend to
cloud the understanding of what hardboiled writing is. On the
other hand, one would probably get a livelier discussion by
bring films into the mix.
Yes, good point about Willeford. I would like to add I am not
aware of any writer from this time period who focused on
psychotic behavior like Jim Thompson. Gil Brewer, Peter Rabe,
and others visited this issue, but I am not aware of anyone
who seem to dive into like Thompson or do it as well.
George the Librarian
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Doug Bassett
<dj_bassett@...> wrote:
>
> I think Willeford's protagonists are
definitely
> sociopathic, if not exactly "psychotic". I also
think
> that Willeford saw sociopathology as a kind
of
> normative state, at least for sucessful living.
This
> moral ambivalence gives his work much of
it's
> richness, I think.
>
> As for the tree, I finally took a look and I
think
> it's okay as far as it goes. Personally I think
if
> you're trying to understand hardboiled *writing*
it'd
> be more interesting to drop off the film noir
stuff
> completely and focus instead on works that, while
not
> hardboiled themselves, have influenced a lot of
what
> followed: the grim bureacratic spies of Le
Carre,
> Robert Stone's hippie-bummer books, etc. I think
you
> could get a better understanding of where we're
at
> now.
>
> Her syllabus has an interesting connection
between
> Ellroy and LAURA. I've not read the book, but
the
> movie is a favorite of mine, and it's a good
insight
> to link the two together.
>
> doug
>
> --- Dave Zeltserman <davezelt@...>
wrote:
>
> >
> > >
> > > Also, are Goodis and Williford's heroes
really
> > > psychotic?
> > >
> > >
> > > Do You Yahoo!?
> > > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best
spam
> > protection around
> > > http://mail.yahoo.com
> > >
> >
> > I look at Willeford's protagonists, at least in
The
> > Cockfighter, Woman
> > Chaser, and even Hoke Mosely going berserk
in
> > Grimhaven as characters
> > unwilling to compromise their values or lives
or
> > artistic vision,
> > regardless of the consequences. Might make
them
> > anti-social, but not
> > psychotic.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> Doug Bassett
> dj_bassett@...
>
>
__________________________________________________
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