There's a very nice review-essay on gambling in the 5/29 New
Republic that might be of interest to some readers and
writers: access through the search feature at the website
<www.tnr.com>; Jackson Lears, "Gambling for
Grace."
Professor Lears is himself writing a book on chance and luck
in American culture, and so is especially attuned to these
features in the four books he reviews. Two of them seem of
special interest: _Double Down_ by Frederick and Steven
Barthelme, both established writers (espec. Frederick), a
thoughtful account of their obsession, and _In Nevada_ by
David Thomson, possibly the film critic.
I was struck by some lines in the review, which connect
gambling to what seems to be a basic noir or HB attitude,
particularly in challenging the
"Protestant work ethic," the faith that thrift and hard work
will bring rewards. Gamblers are related to any character who
looks for the "big break--which means 'break,' not just as
opportunity or stroke of fortune, nor even as 'breakout,' as
in the sense of making an escape, but 'to break,' as in
severing the previously known laws of continuity, logic,
physics, and evidence." Further Lears sums up the critical
view of society in this "religion of chance": "An emphasis on
the precariousness of wealth, the impermanence of life, and
the arbitrariness of money as a measure of worth."
Recently, we've been talking about existentialism as a
congenial philosophy for the HB or noir area. I agree, up to
a point-- the point, when we start considering certain key
features of existentialism, such as the absurdity of life
(Myth of Sisyphus), suicide as the only serious question to
ask
(Camus), or the notion that existence precedes essence
(Sartre). At that point, it doesn't seem to jibe with much of
the fiction we read, which assumes (usually) a system,
however malevolent, procedures (however violated), and codes
of behavior (even when they are negative). In that sense, the
lines about gambling, the activation of chance within an
arbitrary system--stopping short of a universal Absurd--,
seem to "fit" better.
Certainly the elements of arbitrary or unjust power and
chance mark a major difference between the "classical" or
"English" mystery and hard-boiled fiction.
Bill Hagen
<
billha@ionet.net>
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