: Do hard-boiled types have to drink or have some other
chemical
: dependance to be hard-boiled?
No, but it seems to be a pretty common reaction. I doubt
there are a
lot of homicide detectives out there who eat macrobiotic
diets and do
needlepoint on the weekends; for tough dicks like Hammer,
Marlowe and
the Op, after a day of fights, shootings, stonewalling the
DA, lying
to the cops and dealing with a gorgeous dame, carrot juice
and
aromatherapy just wouldn't cut it. They need a few fingers of
good
liquor.
It probably wouldn't have been until at least the late '60s
that
mystery writers would have been able to get away with having
a hero
who took drugs (not counting Conan Doyle and perhaps other
early
types). Besides, a heroin or cocaine addict wouldn't make a
very good
detective, and potheads would just hang out at home eating
potato
chips and cookies. (This isn't to say hardboiled novels can't
star
junkies, of course they can. But a shamus who keeps shooting
up and
nodding off wouldn't last long.)
Bars are a great place for things to happen, too. Scudder's
AA
friends are concerned about the amount of time he spends in
bars,
especially ones he frequented when he was drinking, but
imagine how
dull things would be if he had to meet potential clients (and
friends
like the hard-drinking Danny Boy and Mick) in a franchised
coffee
house.
: Is a reformed heavy drinker enough ... or does the booze
and/or
: drugs make or break the hard-boiledness of the
character?
I think it's more of an understandable reaction to the mean
streets
they walk, and a way for the writer to show how tough his
character
is.
Bill
--
William Denton | Toronto, Canada | http://www.vex.net/~buff/ | Caveat lector.
"Let's keep the party polite."
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