--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "George Tuttle"
<noirfiction@...> wrote:
>
> I think you are right. I can't say the Kid Collins
really crosses
that
> line, but my recollection is shaky too, and I no
longer have a
copy.
>
I look at Kid Collins more a tragic figure than a noir
anti-hero, willingly sacrificing his own life so that Fay
could have a chance. While he was perceived "stupid" (or more
accurately, slow), it was that he just didn't give a
damn.
> In some stories, it is very clear. There is a
"psychotic moment," a
> point in the story where psychosis exhibits itself
in some piece of
> dialog or thought. At that point, he/she is longer
one of us (not a
> fair statement - just an attempt, on my part, to
characterize the
> reader's point of view.)
>
> Yes, the hero is the victim. I always hope it won't
end that way,
but
> it always does.
I don't know if characters like Frank "Dolly" Dillon or Carl
Bigelow are victims as much as that they're getting what they
deserve. But because there's a glimmer of hope before the
curtain falls, we do find ourselves rooting for them.
About how accurate their psychosises are, I'm not sure it
really matters as long as they're perceived to be real, and
it's believable - and Jim Thompson sure as hell did a good
job convincing us that their psychosises were real. I did
read someplace that Thompson based Killer Inside Me on a true
crime case (how much he based it on I have no idea). In my
own case, I do try to research my characters' personality
disorders to keep their thought processes and actions
realistic.
Dave Zeltserman
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