Don't want to get into an endless discussion of definitions
again, but Mr. Taboada's recent posting got me to thinking.
Actually, two questions occurred to me:
1. Can you have hardboiled characters in a non-hb book?
2. Can you have a hb book without hb characters (as Mr.
Taboada defines them)?
I'm thinking about this because right now I'm reading Kent
Anderson's SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL, and while I like it fine
-- indeed, it's a great book, maybe the best Vietnam book
I've read -- I'm not sure it's a hb book. Oh, the characters
are definitely hb, but the approach, for lack of a better
word, is "literary". There are diffracted points of view, a
broken-up storyline, poetic images with a capital "P",
etc.
On the other hand, I've always considered Bukowski's work to
be hb, though his protagonists (for the most part) wouldn't
hurt a fly.
So I guess I disagree. Oh, well. :)
doug
===== Doug Bassett
dj_bassett@yahoo.com
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