I'm currently re-reading the Himes books and they're a
wonderful ride.
I read in a biography about Himes that he never lived
in New York or Harlem and in fact spent all of two weeks
there. The descriptions of the city and people come from his
fevered imagination.
There are some big differences between Himes and
Spillane.
1. In Himes, Gravedigger and Coffin Ed are usually just
complementary characters in the mystery and disappear for
several chapters at a time.
2. Himes has at least one darkly comical action sequence in
each of the books, whereas I can't remember any Spillane
action scenes being played for laughs.
3. Himes' uses bleak humor and comedy in his stories.
Spillane, once again, not so much with the funny.
4. Spillane's hatred is aimed at Commies and the mafia. Himes
saves his venom for hypocritical religious types. There is
always a con-man using false religion to bilk the poor
citizens of Harlem.
5. Social commentary plays a larger part in the Himes' books.
Sure they're stripped down prose written in the Hard-boiled
style, but Himes still gets in some harsh digs at racist
cops, black on black crime and general lawlessness in the
ghetto.
These are just some observations off the top of my head, but
I enjoy both Himes and Spillane.
I think "Real Cool Killers" is the best book in the series,
but I highly recommend all the books to anyone who hasn't
read them yet. I'm about to start reading Himes' "Plan B"
which I'm expecting is a drastic change from Himes'
mysteries.
Best wishes
--Chan
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