I've been too shy to write until now since I am just
beginning my research
but I do share your love for the hardboiled genre. My
favorite writer is
Raymond Chandler but I am just now in the middle of THE
ASPHALT JUNGLE and
I just cannot get over the sweetness of its writing, all that
intense,
particularized description and the ever-changing characters
as humble,
insecure criminals. I guess it's kind of funny and
sentimental, which some
people really hate. I also like the regular joe character in
hardboiled
novels and your discussion makes me wonder to what extent
serialization
contributed to the location of the hard-boiled genre. I mean
that even if a
book was not serialized, it may have been influenced by the
tone of those
that were. I am even thinking back to Poe and his recurring
Dupin character
who sets the tone for the narrative.
I think you should check out Daeninckx's novels; they are
contemporary but
some are periodized and his detectives have a wistful
self-consciousness
reminiscent of Chandler's Marlowe. Also, the city (usually
Paris) in his
books becomes characterized like Chandler's Los Angeles and
Paretsky's
Chicago. In my favorite, LE DER DES DERS, his PI Rene Griffon
drives a
Packard and is friends with an expatriate American named Bob
who sells army
surplus blue jeans on the black market. "Bob" with a French
accent. Others
I have read are:
Meurtres pour memoire
Le bourreau et son double
Lumiere noire
I know the first is available in translation as MURDER IN
MEMORIAM. By the
way, I have never understood exactly what "le der des ders"
refers to. Do
any of you French speakers know?
Thanks, JUDY
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