--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Patrick King
<abrasax93@...> wrote:
>g."
>
******************************************************
> The thing about Chandler that makes him unusual as
a
> thriller writer is that Phillip Marlow, his
idealized
> self, was so detached from his real self. You
can
> clearly see Dashiel Hammett in Sam Spade,
Nick
> Charles, and The Continental Op. In describing
James
> Bonds physical characteristics, Ian Fleming
was
> describing himself. But Raymond Chandler was,
neither
> in stature, vocal inflection, nor athletic
prowess,
> anything like Phillip Marlow. Chandler was a
smart
> enough businessman to see what the public
would
> respond to, and a good enough author to pull it
off.
>
Definitely. It helped that he was brilliant at it... if you
read Chandler's stories in a big pulp collection, they
inevitably stand out, often head and shoulders above eveybody
else. I don't think he despised the genre, though. From the
way he practiced it, my guess is that he loved it.
Best,
mrt
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