--- JIM DOHERTY <
jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Few here would suggest, for example, that
THE
> MALTESE
> FALCON or THE BIG SLEEP are examples of
something
> separate and distinct from a private eye novel,
that
> THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD is something
other
> than a spy novel [. . .]
Separate? Perhaps not. Distinct? Without question. The above
statement seems to rely on a credible-by-association argument
that is a tad falacious. It says that The Maltese Falcon is a
good book, it's a good genre book and it's a good genre book
because all the books in the genre are good and if someone
would only read all the books in the genre, one would realize
that. That argument doesn't sway me. It doesn't sway me when
it's used with classical music or jazz and it doesn't sway me
when it's used with say Orson Welles movies. The fact is, to
stay within the list's realm, The Maltese Falcon and The Big
Sleep are exceptional in structure, device, style, and any
number of other elements and few other books in the genre
have come close to appealing to an audience wider than those
stuck in the genre. The same notion applies when Graham
Greene is painted as a genre writer because he wrote novels
with spies or assassins. If we can call Graham Greene a genre
writer, we can "legitimize" every hack and copycat that has
turned out a PI novel or spy novel or crime novel.
I don't give a rat's patootie about the genre. It's the stuff
that satisfies me on some level that I want to read and
pursue. Some do care and they'll chase every forgotten writer
to read every word they ever wrote. My hat is off to them and
I understand the drive that sends them. God speed and good
luck in the dusty shelves and the online catalogs.
This worst thing that ever happened to the Beats is that
universities found something valuable in accepting them as
tenured in our culture.
Ah, hell. What's the point? If you can't see how The Maltese
Falcon is distinct from the genre, then I doubt anything I
can say here will change that . . .
William
Essays and Ramblings
<http://www.williamahearn.com>
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