Right. I haven't seen the movie in a while, but I can hear
Bogart saying the dialogue as I read it in the novel. I'm not
sure how faithfully the film script adheres to what Goodis
wrote. But Bogart is always there.
Ed
---
DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net wrote:
> Ed wrote:
>
> "Okay, there's one in the first five pages. But the
force of
> the
> narrative carries you along."
>
> That's probably why I moved on. I liked the style
and was
> interested
> enough in the characters to overlook the terrible
coincidences
> -- the
> one that made me laugh to keep from throwing the
book down was
> the
> random cab driver recognizing him and not only not
turning him
> in, but
> having exactly the connection he needed at that
point. That
> was even
> worse than the one you mention at the
beginning.
>
> "I'm curious, Mark. Which Goodis titles do you like
the most?"
>
> My favorite is Street of No Return. There's
something about
> the
> circularity of it that really appealed to me. Only
slightly
> behind that
> I'd rate Cassidy's Girl or Down There.
>
> In fact, the only other one besides Dark Passage
that I've
> read that I
> would count as a lesser work of his is Wounded and
the Slain.
> I'm not
> sorry I read it, but found it more interesting for
how it
> relates to
> other of his books than for itself. It has many of
the usual
> Goodis
> elements, but it's like he's still working them out.
There
> are the
> fragile blonde woman he loved, but couldn't make it
work with
> and the
> dark lower class woman he fights against being with,
but he
> dispenses
> with her pretty early on. Which is part of the
second
> element,
> upstanding middle class guy drinking his career and
sexual
> frustration
> away, but it's odd seeing the process; in many of
his other
> books, the
> guy starts at the bottom, the cause seen in
flashback.
>
> And there was that '50s Freudianism that someone
recently
> mentioned
> about another book. I must admit, though, that I was
somewhat
> surprised
> by the open discussion of the female orgasm in a
'50s book,
> but the very
> slow rise of the repressed memory got tired. And it
led into
> some
> serious plot manipulation in the last quarter to
bring about a
> pretty
> unbelievable "happy ever after" for the couple, as
artificial
> as those
> in films of the era. I have trouble even thinking of
"happy
> ever after"
> in reference to a Goodis book.
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