> Given all that, though, The Drowning Pool was
pre-Galton Case, and was
> really (IMHO) Macdonald trying to find his own voice,
while still trying to
> out-Chandler Chandler.
I just finished this, since it took me a while to track down
a copy
after seeing the title on the reading list. I didn't find him
trying
to `out-Chandler Chandler,' though he does have a fair
number
Chandleresque qualities, of course. I found it incredibly
irritating
that cover and inside few pages were filled with blurbs
announcing
how much better he was than Chandler; while I think his
story,
plotting and theme in this book are about as good as
anything
Chandler's done, MacDonald does not have the same eye for
detail
or turn of phrase that Chandler does. For example, Chandler
uses
colour extensively in his descriptions, and MacDonald hardly
goes
near it.
cjs
Curt Sampson cjs@portal.ca Info at http://www.portal.ca/
Internet Portal Services, Inc. Through infinite mist,
software reverberates
Vancouver, BC (604) 257-9400 In code possess'd of invisible
folly.
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