RARA-AVIS: Re: This Sporting Life....

From: Charlie Williams ( cs_will@hotmail.com)
Date: 19 Feb 2008


--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Steve Novak <Cinefrog@...> wrote:
> Anyone knows about crime novels with rugby in them???...I know of
one being
> written at this time by a French author and friend...but aside from
that???

Interesting question that had me wracking my brains to no avail. In the UK at least, I suspect that rugby is way to middle class to allow much dabbling in the murky waters of crime. There are probably a few PD James or Colin Dexter-style investigations that touch on rugby or its players, but that is because the mystery is traditionally more middle class (like rugby). Your more hard-boiled and noir stories usually take in place in less conservative locales, and concern the kind of people who... well, don't care about rugby. Actually I'm just talking about England here, not the UK. Rugby has a different demographic in Wales, and rugby league (as in This Sporting Life, as I recall) is staunchly working class.

Thinking about it, I can't think of many sports-themed noir or hardboiled stories at all (boxing and betting aside). Hey, maybe it's because teamwork and camaraderie keeps you on the straight and narrow?

Charlie

---------- charliewilliams.net

>
>
> On 2/18/08 5:25 PM, "hardcasecrime" <editor@...> wrote:
> Mark wrote:
> >
> >> > Man, have I been struck by the sheer
> >> > nastiness of the responses to my
> >> > innocently offered idea. That'll
> >> > learn me...
> >
> > Not intending to pick a fight here, Mark, but you didn't
> > just "innocently offer" your idea -- you offered it and offered it
> > and offered it again, insistently and naggingly, until this
annoying
> > meta-discussion about how best to hold our discussions represented
> > the majority of the messages coming across my screen today. In
the
> > face of zero support from any quarter and more than a few people
> > saying, "Sorry, nope, not interested" you kept insistently and
> > repetitively explaining why you were right and all the people you
> > were failing to persuade were wrong.
> >
> > I don't think anyone would have responded particularly negatively
(in
> > terms of tone -- they would still not have liked your idea) if you
> > had just said ONCE, "Listen, I know this might be a lot of work,
but
> > I, at least, would like it better if we made the following change
and
> > here is a list of the reasons the rest of you might like it
better,
> > too. If no one's interested, fine; if you are interested, let me
> > know and I'll see what I can do to help make this happen."
> >
> > But that's not what you did.
> >
> > For the record, no one could accuse me of being a Luddite and I do
> > appreciate the reasons some other platforms might be better, but
you
> > know what? There's something to be said for inertia, something
to be
> > said for the status quo, and even if I hadn't read the many
messages
> > from people who don't want any change and the zero messages from
> > people agreeing with you, I'd have come down on the side of
> > encouraging the moderators to leave things the way they are.
> >
> > Now, speaking only on my own behalf (but I suspect I'm not the
only
> > one who feels this way), can we please let this topic die?
> >
> > On the other hand: If you have anything to say about the actual
topic
> > of this list -- crime fiction -- I very much hope you will go
ahead
> > and post it.
> >
> > --Charles
> >
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>



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