--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Michael Robison
<miker_zspider@...> wrote:
>
> Channing wrote:
>
> Hammett nearly died on different occasions from
his
> binge drinking.
>
> ************
> I don't see The Thin Man as a predominantly
funny
> book. It shows a character submerged in
alcoholism
> and apathy. There is a deep sense of
loss.
>
To me, The Thin Man has a distinct nasty edge and I cannot
read it as comedy. It reminds me of those suburban parties
where everybody pretends to be having a lot of fun but people
are troubled and the alcohol doesn't erase that. The late
John Cheever depicted that anxious world in a nonhardboiled
but effective fashion. With Hammett we are in an earlier era
but the germ was there, I think. Later, Ross Macdonald would
deal with the detritus, even to the point of caricature and
without any humor at all.
Best,
mrt
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