Mark wrote:
>I am curious about the statement that
>Chandler was an English writer. Sure, he spent some
formative years
>over there, and it had to effect his vision of
America and his writing
>about it, but "English writer"? I think that's a
stretch. Is that
>really how he is thought of on the other side of the
pond?
Hmmmm... I have no idea, though I guess a case could be made.
After all, sometimes in a burst of flagwaving silliness, I
think of Margaret Millar and Ross Macdonald as Canadian
writers.
It is an interesting idea, though. As you mention, you can't
deny that where someone grows up can have a tremendous effect
on the rest of their lives, writers or non-writers. And it's
a case that even Chandler occasionally made, particularly at
the start of his career
-- he thought of himself often as British (even heading up to
Vancouver to enlist in the Canadian army, which at the time
was the next best thing to joining the British Army), just as
Ross Macdonald frequently mentioned "the pull" of
Canada.
So, break out the hyphens and call 'em British-American or
Canadian-American or whatever if you really have to label
these guys by nationality. Sure, it's clumsy, but it's
probably more accurate, and even fair. It's not always an
either/or thing.
After all, you don't check in your identity when you cross a
border. Does John Irving, for example, stop being an American
writer, because he now lives in Toronto? Was Hemingway
actually a Spanish writer? Was Charlie Chaplin an American?
What does make a writer American? Or Canadian or Norweigian
or whatever? Where they were born? Where they grew up? Where
their stories are set? Where they live now? Where the heart
is?
All those things shape a writer, of course, but in the end a
writer is just a writer. The writing that really counts is in
their books and stories, not on their passports.
-- Kevin -- # To unsubscribe from the regular list, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to # majordomo@icomm.ca. This will not work for the digest version. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/ .
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