RARA-AVIS: George Pelecanos?

Etienne Borgers (etienne@singnet.com.sg)
Wed, 24 Jun 1998 16:43:59 +0800 (SGT) After hearing much hype about Pelecanos' hard-boiled novels, I finally could
read 'Shoedog'- as I had difficulties to find his other works.

I must admit I was really disappointed by this novel which sounds more like
the draft for a film script than a crafted novel. The "montage" of the book
is so "movie" orientated that it gives a feeling of artificial construction.
As for the characters they are very roughly depicted and, strangely, the
secondary characters seem more believable than any of the protagonists.

Worse, the central character is loaded with an existential problem leading
to nihilism, that Pelecanos cannot sustain to the end of his book.

I suppose a film could have been a better illustration as the images and
talented actors (and talented director!) could have filled the blanks of
Pelecanos' writing.

Just before sending this posting, I found an interview of Pelecanos saying
that in this book he wanted to write in a way old pulps were. And he cites
Jim Thomson and David Goodis as models for it. Ambitious, but totally out of
proportion when looking at what Pelecanos delivers in Shoedog!
He was there also saying that he wrote a script based on Shoedog and tries
to find somebody interested... Well, if this confirms my feeling about the
intention behind the novel, I strongly believe that it was *first* a movie
orientated enterprise that Pelecanos converted in a kind of novel. NOT the
way round.

Was it an aftermath of the success of "Pulp Fiction" by Tarentino, as
Shoedog was published in 1994, the same year Tarentino's film hit the screens?

I hope that 'Shoedog' is just a false step in Pelecanos' career and that his
Stefanos novels are of better value... and I would like to know the feeling
of RARA followers about them.

E.Borger

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6384

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