So Jim, where do I get one of those sweaters? And how did you
know I have twelve arms?
Actually, damn good analogy.
Now this may surprise you a bit, given the thrust of my
recent argument, but I'm not one of those who believes
Pelecanos is the savior of hardboiled (I'd be far more likely
to name Jack O'Connell or one the the Fresh Blood Brits to
that title). For instance, he was not on my blown-away list.
I think he's pretty good, not great, at least not based on
the earlier books I have read. Note -- this is being said
without having read any of the DC quartet (damn Ellroy for
making everyone think in 'tets), which I do plan to
read.
However, you and I seem to have diametrically opposed ideas
on his strengths and weaknesses. I'm not overly thrilled by
the plots at the core of the Nick Stefanos books, they seem a
bit filled out to me, too. You see the solution in
strip-mining the extraneous detail of Nick's life and getting
to that core. I think that would be a very short book, more
likely a short story. Someone has already mentioned his
problem with endings. I agree with this, even in his more
tightly plotted Shoedog, which I did think was great up until
then.
Okay, so what do I like? I like following Nick around and
watching his struggle between the inertia he openly courts
and the responsibility he clearly feels, no matter how much
he tries to drown it in booze. I'm a sucker for weary
detectives who want to give up but can't.
You see the repetition of his cultural details as filler, I
see it as a crucial part of his character. Let me be a little
clearer, his character is revealed as much in the repetition
as in the details themselves. I don't think of this shared
trait of Pelecanos and Tarantino as cultural commentary, more
like cultural placement. It's part of that listmaking mania
Maura pointed out and is a part of guy collector mentality,
just as it is crucial in Nick Hornby's High Fidelity. That
book isn't hardboiled, far from it, but Nick would get along
very well with its characters. Nick is adrift, his continual
mantra of brand and band names is his way of shoring himself.
I'm a record collector and can identify with the
pathology.
And I must admit that part of the appeal probably lies in
where these books are set. Nick's home is less than a mile
from my own. I've hung out in the same clubs, listened to the
same music while driving along the same roads. So there is a
bit of sentimental attachment; I relate very directly to
these specific details.
Still, although far more incessant, is Nick's cataloging
different from Nameless' collection of pulp mags or Elvis
Cole's listing of his Disney figurines?
Oh yeah, I'm on my third Hap and Leonard book by Joe Lansdale
(this may also be a surprise given my recent stance in the
professional vs. amateur debate, but I'd be very happy if
Lansdale were the future of hardboiled, he's now on my
blown-away list). These books are clearly as much about the
relationship between these two friends as about the rather
bare plots at their core. Do you lump these with Pelecanos
vein of dancing around when they should be moving forward or
see them as character development? I'd certainly say the
latter. And I think he's better at it than Pelecanos, at
least in the books of theirs I've read so far. (I didn't like
Act of Love nearly as much as the Hap and Leonards.)
Still, I like Pelecanos enough that I am looking forward to
the DC Quartet.
Mark
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