Jim wrote:
"I'm convinced that to write for those awash in an M-TV, and
action movie culture, the crime fiction writer needs to tell
a strong, spare, compressed story in which the author is
nowhere to be found."
Why must print fiction be dictated by the demands of other
media?
Personally, I side up with Greg on this, it's a postmodern
attribute in Pelecanos's writing. For instance, I just read
Down by the River. In a total aside, which has nothing
whatsoever to do with the plot, Nick picks up a Ringo Lam
video for his collection. Now, that to me captures the
MTV/action movie culture. It tells me something about the
character, both in his choice in video and the fact that he
bought it when he did. He is a member of that MTV/action
movie culture and no matter what is going on in his life, he
will buy and watch videos and music, crime-solving is but a
part of his overall life and I am interested in his overall
life, not just his life as a detective. Plus, I will admit I
got a kick out of the reference itself, both because I felt
cool for recognizing the reference and because I could relate
to it, being a Ringo Lam fan myself.
Which brings us to another Ringo Lam fan, Quentin Tarantino,
who used parts of Lam's City on Fire as source material for
his very different Reservoir Dogs:
"I think that too frequently and for no good reason (one that
is necessary to the story) Pelecanos often fails to do that.
Quentin Tarantino does the same stuff with his movies. That's
why he grows so tiresome."
First, are you saying character development is a
non-essential element, that it should merely be stripped down
action?
Second, this is exactly what I like about QT, his constant
referencing, his postmodern approach of everything being
grist for his mill. What is growing tiresome is the celebrity
personality he is having so much fun creating while
forgetting to actually make movies.
"Not only do I disagree with your assessment that Pelecanos
is
"extending " Leonard's work, I think Pelecanos is at his best
when he is working hard to mimic Leonard's economy."
There was indeed a time when Leonard was economical. That was
some time ago. And I have become less enamored with him as he
has expanded his page-count. There is enough there to remind
me of what I used to like, but there are duds in between the
effective tales. And frankly, Leonard drops a lot of brand
names, too -- Chili Palmer is no less defined by his consumer
choices than Nick Stefanos, even if his brand names tend more
towards the sartorial.
"Whatever is needed to reveal the characters, develop a sense
of place and time, evoke a mood, and tell a story belongs in
the book."
Which is exactly why I feel all that brand name-dropping
belongs in the Pelecanos books. As much as the names
themselves, the urge to drop them defines the characters and
the times in which they live, about which Pelecanos writes.
Of course, it doesn't hurt that just about every one rings
some kind of cultural bell with me.
"Everything else is either poor craftsmanship or a writer who
can't shut up or who is showing off. Pelecanos is too good to
be guilty of poor craftsmanship."
To me, the debate seems to be more about style than craft.
Sure, these books are not crafted in the style you prefer,
but I, at least, believe they are well-crafted.
Mark
-- # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to majordomo@icomm.ca. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/ .
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 07 Feb 2000 EST