Re: RARA-AVIS: Hammett (was Cynical Hammett)

James Rogers (jetan@ionet.net)
Sun, 19 Apr 1998 22:19:02 -0500 (CDT) At 10:34 AM 4/19/98 -0700, you wrote:
>On Sat, 18 Apr 1998, James Rogers <jetan@ionet.net> wrote:
>
>As to the 'meaning' of the various passages discussed in this thread, in
>the area of textual criticism one finds that the criticism is often a
>better demonstration of the ingenuity/preferences/prejudices of the
>critic than anything else. I'm not saying those passages are *not*
>integral to the plot/organic unity/whatever, but that such subjective
>arguments are rarely conclusive.

This is undeniably true, but a too rigid adherance to this point
tends ro stop discussion cold. I think the Hammett stuff is sufficiently
simple that one can venture a few opinions regarding theme, etc..
>
>> In my youth I had the experience of staying at one of the
>> "hotels" that West ran (The Kenmore).....a very hardboiled experience, I
>> assure you, and one that no amount of literary resonance could ease.
>
>This must have been quite an experience. Was the hotel touted as a
>literary theme park, or was it just some dive you happened upon?

I stayed there a couple of nights with a friend who was down on his
luck and lived there for a couple of years. No one there recalls anything of
the connection to Hammett, Faulkner, et al. It was (and pehaps is) an "SRO"
...peopled by the young, the seriously addicted and by quite a few folks who
in a more civilized time would be recieving some type of mental treatment in
a (secure) hospital setting. The most pleasant aspect of the joint was a
nearby bar which conducted it's "happy hour" from 8 A.M. to 10 A.M..If my
memory serves me well, the Kenmore was the first of the hotels that West
ran. When he moved to the other hotel, his writer pals just packed their
bags and moved with him.

James
James Michael Rogers
jetan@ionet.net

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