Kevin Smith (kvnsmith@colba.net)
Wed, 14 Jul 1999 09:21:24 -0400
Jerry wrote:
>Clete Purcell is a great character, and mayhem is
okay when
>appropriate to the story. Nevertheless, I'm
prejudiced against cowboy
>sidekicks who shoot up everything and thus relieve
the sleuth of having to
>actually solve a case.
But I find Dave and Clete's relationship is far more
complicated than that. Whereas Hawk and Pike and Bubba and
Ranger and whoever else are more or less shadowy enigmas who
seem to be manipulated or at least pointed in general
directions by the detectives, and who generally tidy up loose
ends, Clete is out there, warts and all, bouncing around
loose, barely controllable by Dave or anyone else, often
making things worse. The only other comparable sidekick I can
think of is probably Easy Rawlin's Mouse, another
psychological mess.
I agree with Mario. Hidden under all the loving, moody,
evocative description of the misty morning bayous and
ice-cold Dr. Peppers sweating in the sun lies tight little
Gold Medals trying to get out. But I wonder if Burke is
really any more pretentious than, say, Chandler or Macdonald,
or is just allowed to get away with overwriting, in a way
they weren't able to? The difference might be that publishers
seem to want bigger and bigger books now. Thirty or forty
years ago, most of Burke's overblown descriptions would have
been edited out, or pared down.
Just a thought.
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/
Now available! Our Summer Issue, focussing on Radio Private
Eyes, plus new fiction by Peter Parmantie and Kathy
Korty.
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