Rick Robinson is no doubt correct that people raving about
the newer
hard-boiled writers may not have read the older more classic
writers. Many of
them have come to the mystery field later. The entire mystery
field has
bloomed in the last ten years. I can remember Bouchercons
with attendance of
300. People new to the field tend to stick with authors whom
they have read
and enjoyed. One has to have a really deep desire to educate
oneself about
the field to go back and read through Hammett and Chandler
and Cain and all
the others. Thus the blank stares when you mention writers
whom you consider
the core of the field from which every other writers
proceeds.
I just recently watched The Maltese Falcon and when I started
to read the
novel, I was struck by how close the movie dialogue followed
the dialogue in
the novel. Am I correct or under a misconception? I was also
intrigued early
on by the blow-by-blow description of how to roll a
cigarette. I wonder if he
would have gotten away with that today.
I'm enjoying this discussion much more than others I've
found.
Cheers,
Frank Denton
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