Re: RARA-AVIS: Didier Daeninckx

Etienne Borgers (etienne@singnet.com.sg)
Tue, 18 Nov 1997 21:43:17 +0800 (SGT) >I noticed Daeninckx's name pop up recently in your discussion and am hoping
>some of you have read his novels.
SNIPPED
> 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 .
SNIPPED
>By the way, I have never understood exactly what "le der des ders" refers to.
>do any of you French speakers know?
>
>Thanks, JUDY
>
>

Daeninckx as many other contemporary French authors of "polars" with a HB
and/or noirish orientation, have often a direct political and social content
for the problems they put as a background to their novels.
I did not receive the RARA AVISmessages for the discussions about
European/American HB literatures, so please forgive me if I come back now
with some details that were already discussed previously by the group.

As for "Le Der des Der" (published in french in 1984) the tittle is from a
colloquial French expression meaning:"Really the last one" - and was very in
use to qualify the WW I (1914-1918) as LA Der des der, (La derniere des
dernieres) as it was reputed to be the last worldwar at the time! LE Der
des Ders comes from it, but observe the change of gender: LE is for
something or someone of masculine gender in French.
Daeninckx's novel is set in the aftermath of this terrible war...
By the way, the novel was very recently adapted into a comic book (graphic
novel, if you prefer...) by one talented French artist for comics: Tardi.
Tardi did also some very good adaptation of some novels by Leo Malet into
comic books, with PI Nestor Burma and the different districts of Paris as
central characters.

You could find some examples of strips taken from these books(including some
of 'Le Der des Ders') in my Web pages:
" Hard-Boiled Mysteries" - see chapter for Comics: European comics-
Nestor Burma, at:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6384/

I'm still looking for somebody ready to help to establish the content of
the other section for HB comics in these pages: The American HB comics.
Anyone interested?
If so, pls contact me by e-mail at: etienne@singnet.com.sg

E.Borgers

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