--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, William Ahearn
<williamahearn@...> wrote:
<<What is being touted as the new noir is more a
fashion than a style. That's not to say that some of these
books aren't good or not worth reading. But having
definitions of post-1955 noirishness is sometimes funny and
every time has helped me with my own evaluations of the
form.
But the waving of books and quotations is a little too Mao
for me.>>
Well, noir isn´t dead. Jason Starr writes noir books, pure
noir, no adjustment of parameters necessary: instantly
recognizable and beautifully done. Donald Westlake´s _The Ax_
is a prime example of contemporary noir. And if Ellroy´s LA
quartet of novels isn´t noir, I don´t know what is (they are
also ultrahardboiled, but definitely noir).
You can´t say it was all over by 1955, that´s not true in
literature or in film. A film like Coppola´s _The
Conversation_ is pure noir, yet is not an hommage to
anything, it is a late seventies noir story. There have been
many other unqualified noir films since.
Best,
MrT
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