At 10:23 PM 4/18/00 -0500, Bill Hagen wrote:
>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.
>
Yes, but if I meet someone who likes
Chandler I usually feel on safe ground suggesting that he or
she might also enjoy Cain or Sebastian Japriot without
splitting hairs as to whether they are more "noir" or more
"HB". It sort of reminds me of the Monty Python skit where
they distinguish vocabulary into "woody" words v. "tinny"
words.
Anyway, enough of that for the
moment. Another possible candidate for
"our kind of book" without a very overt crime...though it is
set in the criminal classes....might be Kennedy's _Billy
Phelan's Greatest Game_, although I have an unreasoning
prejudice against Pulitzer Prize winning authors. I had very
mixed feelings about it. I kind of liked it, but it seemed to
suffer from having that very earnest, literary vibe. As
though it wanted to be a hardboiled novel but was just too
embarrassed to come out and do it.
James
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