On May 16, 2007, at 12:26 PM,
DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net wrote:
>
> Mayhem in the Marais by Leo Malet
>
> I really like Malet's Nestor Burma series. This is
the fourth or
> fifth
> I've read. They're a lot of fun with their slightly
exaggerated PI
> mannerisms. Burma's wisecracking and flirting with
his secretary
> are in
> the classic mold, but the books' Frenchness gives
them a novelty.
> Somehow, the rampant sexism -- partly due to their
being written in
> the
> '50s -- that would come off as nasty and bitter,
even judgemental (if
> they enjoy sex, they must be bad), in a US book of
the time, comes off
> as good natured and playful from this Frenchman; he
lcearly loves all
> women. I must say, though, that, as an American, I
found some of the
> British slang in this UK printing jarring, kept
pulling me out of the
> French setting -- I probably would not have blinked
if US slang had
> been
> used, whereas it would probably jar a Brit's idea of
Frenchness.
The translated books you're reading (by Pan?) struck me as
being klunky, as well; an unfortunate sort of "pip-pip, jolly
good" creeping in to a supposedly Gallic setting.
If you can still find them, some of the graphic novel
adaptations by French cartoonist Jacques Tardi were
translated into English, and the slang is handled much
better, as I recall -- more a direct translation, and less an
'equivalency.'
This is an on-going project of Tardi's; evidently a real
labour of love -- and it shows. Anyone interested in crime
comics should definitely check these out. The slightly
cartooney artwork soon sinks in, and you're just caught up in
a finely rendered world rarely seen in detective fiction. In
suitably black, white and gray.
In fact, the whole French comics industry is chockfull of
great crime stuff -- something I've definitely come to miss
since slipping south of the border (the Montreal bookstores
were full of them). There are some real classics out there,
handsome volumes full of vivid, muscular artwork, both
adaptations from literary sources (LE DER DE DERS, for
example) and originals (ALACK SINNER).
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site http://www.thrillingdetective.com
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