I sure have enjoyed this now, somewhat frayed thread. (Not
sure a thread can be flattened, however--:) As someone said,
I feel like I came to the party too late. In my case, I early
checked in with the book blurb and am just now walking back
through the door. Sorry to miss the fun.
The book that began this discussion was subtitled: ...Women
Rewriting the Hard-Boiled Tradition. While most of the
discussion has centered on
"voice," the reviewer says the book says that the women
authors challenge
"linguistic, intellectual, and narrative paradigms that
traditionally have shaped the genre." I'm assuming paradigms
means more than voice or even subject. I wonder if the
authors take into account the reshaping of the genre that has
occurred quite naturally since the 1950s, a reshaping that
both males and females have contributed to. Believe I'll try
to get a copy of this book to review, and send a version to
RA.
Bill Crider's unfortunate experience at a book signing should
remind us that when theory or criticism becomes a "politics,"
then creative writers are endangered. There's a funny non-HB
academic mystery called _The Book_ by Robert Grudun (I think)
in which a creative writer is threatened or killed. Those
most suspected are the literary theorists, who rather hate
the thought that new stuff is being written that might
disrupt their discussions. [In a sense the crime is just an
occasion for making fun of different kinds of academic
discourse, just to give fair warning.]
This discussion has been a good one because we generally
insist on backing up generalities with specific titles--and I
have now added several names & titles to look for.
BTW, I agree with whomever it was who would have us
acknowledge that P.D. James has written some pretty dark
stuff, whether it deserves to be called noir or not.
_Innocent Blood_ kept coming back to me for months after I
read it.
Bill Hagen
<
billha@ionet.net>
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