James writes,
"After having wrangled on the noir v. HB distinction ever
since I got on the list, I have finally come to the
conclusion that it is just about the most useless
catagorization in the world. No one ever agrees as to which
is which and, since it appears just about all of us like both
flavors, it doesn't seem to have much practical
effect."
I'm sorry you're weary of theory, but it does have some
practical effect.
I expect most of us have firm views on the
subject and create criteria to back up our judgements (or
irrational tastes) of what is good and bad in the books we
read.
Bill, Our Leader, once posted a nice summary of definitions
of cozies, hardboiled, and noir fiction, the latter two
derived from a number of RA contributors. I rather liked his
definitions, especially since I was among those who
contributed to them.
But I'm not going to reopen any definitional dialogue
either.
On to "this & that."
So, HB (or noir) without a crime that organizes the plot? A
hard one: plots which feature addiction, such as the original
for The Man With The Golden Arm or Charles Jackson's The Lost
Weekend?
Bill Hagen
<
billha@ionet.net>
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