I'm not particularly interested in a tit for tat exchange with Dave (sorry, Dave),
but I did want to point
out that although he says he didn't think Nate Flexer's book was intended as
humour, Dave's back cover blurb was actually the only one of five or so that did actually
suggest it was humourous, likening it to Bruce Jay whatsisname.
I'm not sure id that means anything, but
now that people are actually discussing the whole humour/noir/parody
convergence -- and it turns out Dave even sorta maybe agrees with me -- I'm pretty happy.
And Charlie wrote:
"I took part in a panel in Paris a few weeks ago on this subject (the
humour in noir side anyway, along with Colin Bateman and Colin
Thibert). The consensus was that a bit of humour sugars the pill.
Without humour, you might end up with a bleak novel that isn't
enjoyable. Include humour and you can strike a balance. When the worst
kind of shit happens in life, the funny side is what we often see. The
absurd side.
Like someone said here, the humour often just slips out."
That's
one thing. But some of what's being written isn't a matter of humour
slipping out. The whole thing is written, it seems, as intentional parody, with noir
being shoved in. Or at least parody is the excuse given when someone points out
the unrealistic or exaggerated nature of much of the proceedings.
Charlie again:
"I would probably be a bit wary of an author who claimed to set out to write a funny noir book."
Which
is why, I think, so few of them mention humour initially, and it's
rarely mentioned as a big selling point in blurbs (Al's HARD MAN being
an exception, evidently). They like to be thought of as writing tough,
hard-boiled stories, not Pythoneque parody. Among the faithful, they'd
rather be compared to Jim Thompson than John Cleese.But the parody
defense is always close by, just in case.
Phrases
like "extreme noir" or "psycho noir" or "cutting edge" noir are more
likely to be splashed across the cover than words like "slapstick" or
"cartoonish" or "a wild romp." Even though the latter may be just as
(or even more) truthful.
Oh, and for those of you who seem so concerned I may have hurt poor little first-time writer Nate's feelings, evidently both Flexer and his
publisher aren't quite the delicate and easily bruised types some may
have feared -- they actually seem pretty okay with my comments or at least the publisher has asked me to review another of New Pulp Press'
books.
My, won't that be fun?
It's actually refreshing to meet new talents with that attitude. It bodes well for their future.
Kevin
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