I don't dismiss Hornung at all. I love Hornung. But his books
are our of print. Does anyone else read him except you and
me? I literally found ancient editions of his books used in a
barn bookseller. Most people today don't know anything about
him. This guy did create a new genre, yes, of the gentleman
theif, but also of the criminal protagonist. The suspense in
Hornung's books wasn't about how do we catch the crook, it
was how does the crook get away. I think it was a very
interesting twist. His writing is excellent, his characters
are vivid, but his work is nearly forgotten while Holmes and
Watson are classics. I also love Edgar Wallace. His books,
too, are nearly impossible to find in the US. Only used
editions. Last time I was in London they were still
available. How about now? He was a writer that managed to be
both gripping and eerie.
Patrick King
--- nqexile <
nqexile@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
> On the question of whether he wrote literature -
I
> ain't gonna go
> there, but don't dismiss Hornung so quickly.
Surely
> he was the father
> of the gentleman thief genre. I'm thinking
the
> Saint, Bernie the
> Burglar (to bring us back to the subject of
Block)
> Peter Cheyney's
> Alfonzo MacTavish,and Im sure there are those of
us
> who can name quite
> a few more. (There is a very famous French
example
> that completely
> escapes my memory for the moment) Raffles,
like
> Holmes, hasn't bitten
> the dust yet. There has been more than one
author
> who has contributed
> new Raffles stories. There has been at least
one
> British TV series and
> there are pastiches of 'Raffles meets Holmes'
and
> that kind of
> thing.Obviously something about the Raffles
concept
> is still quite
> appealing.
> The books are very readable. The only problem
with
> them is that there
> is a little too much Cricket.
>
> Eric
>
> --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Patrick King
> <abrasax93@...> wrote:
> >
> > And for certain Poe, Wilkie Collins and Doyle
are
> > classic literature and they're the
absolute
> father's
> > and grandfathers of the genre. The question is,
is
> > E.W. Hornung classic literature? He was
Doyle's
> > brother-in-law. His characters, Raffles
the
> Amateur
> > Cracksman, and Stingeree the
Austrailian
> bushranger,
> > were very popular, made into a highly
successful
> > movies. But does anyone read him
now?
> >
> > Some make it, some don't.
> >
> > Patrick King
> > --- Jack Bludis <buildsnburns@...>
wrote:
> >
> > > JIM DOHERTY said, among other
things:
> > >
> > > >>On the other hand, as William has
pointed out,
> if
> > > some
> > > people are too small-minded to see the
worth of
> a
> > > Hammett, or a Chandler, or a Conan Doyle,
or,
> for
> > > that
> > > matter, a Spillane, so what?
> > >
> > > >>Why should we care? As far as I'm
concerned,
> the
> > > whole question of whether or not crime
fiction
> is
> > > literature is settled. We
won.<<
> > >
> > > I'm not sure who "we" is, but I'm also not
sure
> that
> > > whether Crime Fiction can be literature
has been
> our
> > > question. The question is, I think, WHICH
pieces
> of
> > > crime
> > > fiction are literature, and which authors
do
> others
> > > as well
> > > as we on Rara consider
literature?
> > >
> > > Remember that part of the m-w definition
of
> > > literature:
> > > "Writings having excellence of form
or
> expression
> > > and
> > > expressing ideas of permanent or
universal
> > > interest."
> > >
> > > Hammett and Chandler have already made
the
> grade, at
> > > least
> > > I think they have. I'd bet dollars to
dimes,
> that
> > > most on
> > > Rara consider them lierature.
> > >
> > > Jack Bludis
> > >
> > >
>
__________________________________________________
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> > > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best
spam
> > > protection around
> > > http://mail.yahoo.com
> > >
> >
> >
> >
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> protection around
> > http://mail.yahoo.com
> >
>
>
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 08 Nov 2007 EST