On Mon, 2 Apr 2001
marianne.macdonald@lineone.net wrote:
> >So shoot me.
> If you insist, but first let me urge you to get
counselling.
No, this was just something of an inside joke. The first
message I ever received from Rara-Avis was from someone
(Kevin Smith?) who said he preferred "Payback" over "Point
Blank". The message ended with words:
"So shoot me." This stuck onto my mind.
> I guess it's a matter of taste. I have to admit that
I think the concept
> of a Rolls turned into a pickup is a hoot - the
snobbish, rich, European
> upper-class icon reshaped into the American
blue-collar icon, emblematic
> of McGee's 'fallen' condition and social attitudes;
the fact that it's a
> little unlikely didn't bother me. Fiction is
fiction.
Fiction should be plausible. The Rolls turned into a pick-up
is a small detail, but it doesn't add up to anything. At
least I never found anything in the idea.
> I suppose that the attitude to life and politics is
sympathetic enough
> that it doesn't bother me as a narrative
viewpoint.
I've always thought that when a writer makes his/her points
clear only through dialogue, he/she is just not competent.
This is a rash exaggeration, but this is how I feel about
these matters. The points should be made through some other
devices, plot, atmosphere, the relations between characters,
et cetera.
> >eccentric only for eccentricity's
sake
> Probably eccentricity is allowed to the extent that
it contributes to the
> whole.
But it doesn't. McGee's buddy (is it Mayer? don't shoot me
because I don't remember his name) doesn't contribute to the
whole. Oh well, it does, but only as just another boring
dialogue.
> I'll try another couple and see how I feel
then.
I have ceased trying for now, but since I have some two dozen
MacDonalds, I just might read one or two.
Juri
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