<How admirable or idealistic was that [Spade's
actions]?>>
Not very. He functions with one goal in mind, and that is to
solve some problems. He's just like Parker, except he's not a
professional criminal. I wouldn' trust Spade or the Op. for a
minute.
The Chandler-Hammett dichotomy is real and runs deep. I would
say that Hammett has had more spiritual descendants among
modern writers. The influence is not direct, but it's there,
in the nonchalance, the cold-bloodedness and the precision of
the pro doing what he needs to do. Not even Ross Macdonald is
immune to the Hammett influence. The Blue Hammer is the kind
of book that the old Hammett might have written (while drunk
on godknowswhatstuff). If you'll allow, it's The Thin Man of
the seventies.
Chandler's style has been imitated, but a hero like Marlowe
cannot be duplicated. He's not suitable as a prototype. Yes,
I know that Howard Browne aped him, and rather well at that,
but we cynically read it as a copy. I wonder if this was so
when the Paul Pine novels first came out.
With Easy Rawlins we have a new prototype, one that so far
has not been imitated (to my knowledge). He's not a P.I., so
the conventions don't apply to him, yet he has the freedom
and the need to do some sleuthing. He doesn't do it for money
but for reasons of survival. It's a good idea, a good slant
on the P.I. story. At the same time, it hardly shares any
ground with the "amateur sleuth" story. It's hardboiled
stuff.
Regards,
MrT
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