While I enjoyed the Dick Contino story, and "Gravy Train"
makes me laugh
out loud, I agree that Ellroy doesn't seem to take to the
short form so
well. Novel-length work seems better suited to his efforts.
For instance,
there are very effective scenes in L.A. CONFIDENTIAL and THE
BIG NOWHERE
that seem to take place in a white-hot fever dream in which
the action
absolutely barrels along lickety split -- the scenes work so
well thanks to
Ellroy's pacing and his stylistic dervishing.
<<What was it Chandler said about style? That it was
the only thing a
writer
should worry about? Ellroy must have been
listening...>>
Sounds right. Sometimes Chandler seemed to pay far more
attention to style
than to plot.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, "Style is Truth." To explicate:
The way you say
something frequently has more impact than what you're saying,
or to look at
it another way, More people will be impressed or will believe
what you're
saying if you say it in just the right way.
Hammett's work bears this out, and so does that of Chandler
(usually).
Ellroy seems to be striving toward that effect as well.
I haven't read AMERICAN TABLOID yet, but it's on my stack.
Meanwhile, has
anyone heard or read anything about Ellroy's next project? --
Duane
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