<<Think, for instance,
of Spade Hearns' years of yearning for Lorna (in "Torch
Number"); his
deep reaction to the song that has united them; his pursuit
of her as
motivation and excuse for, say, sticking a loaded gun in
someone's mouth
and pulling the trigger. I think the mode works well for
Ellroy and
that sentiment is important. >>
I think you can also argue that sentimentality drives a lot
of characters
in noir fiction, particularly where a femme fatale figures in
the plot, or
a character's obsession with "the way things were" or "the
way things could
have been." I think, for example, you see evidence of that in
Chandler and
Ross McDonald. Hammet? Well, I'm not so sure of that --
unless it's an
underlying, primarily unspoken sentimentality for a
prelapsarian world. --
Duane
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