Dave Zeltserman wrote: I guess you could argue Lou Ford and
Nick Corey are complex--although describing them as deeply
psychotic would be more accurate.
*********** I think we're arguing semantics, here. Isn't a
"deeply psychotic" personality a complex personality? I don't
think a psychotic can ever be a simplistic personality even
if one is operating at a less than intelligent level of
processing information. Once you hit the psychotic thinking
pattern you get that "oo-ee-oo" sense which lets you know
this is not going to be a matter that can easily be resolved.
I know a car sales man who is completely psychotic. He's not
anti-social yet, but he is amoral. He believes and acts from
the reality that he's charming, well-read, and well-educated.
He is none of these things by any stretch of anyone else's
imagination, but he is convinced of these beliefs. To know
him, he's an idiot, but he's a very complex personality and I
can imagine his behavior escalating if anthing happens to
create any real doubts in his self-delusion. This is what we
watch happen to Lou Ford, and Ford, as he's portrayed in The
Killer Inside Me, is a much more intelligent man than my
acquaintence.
Patrick King
--- Dave Zeltserman <
dz@hardluckstories.com> wrote:
> --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Patrick King
> <abrasax93@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > miker wrote:
> >
> > Complexity of character is not what makes
the
> reader
> > identify with the protagonists in The
Postman
> Always
> > Rings Twice, Killer Inside of Me and a lot
of
> other
> > noirs.
> >
> > ************
> > Oh, yeah? It's certainly what allows me
to
> identify
> > with them. Shallow characters lose me
third
> chapter,
> > tops. What do you think does, then?
> >
> > Patrick King
> >
>
> I guess you could argue Lou Ford and Nick Corey
are
> complex--although
> describing them as deeply psychotic would be
more
> accurate. And the
> thrill of Killer Inside Me and Pop. 1280 is
that
> it's vicariously
> invigorating to get inside the head of crazy
man
> (especially when
> you're suckered into it). The protagonists
from
> Double Indemnity,
> Postman, and several of Thompsons better
books,
> "After Dark, My
> Sweet", and I think you could make the case for
some
> of his
> borderline sociopaths: Carl Bigelow and
"Dolly"
> Dillon, are mostly
> average joes, somewhat shallow, but what makes
these
> books so
> captivating is we can identify with these
characters
> (to some
> extent), and dread the bad choices that they
keep
> making.
>
> --Dave Z.
>
>
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