mark B writes:
<<
http://www.weeklywire.com/WW/12-29-97/austin_books_feature1.html
I don't think you can argue with an author saying
something was not in
character for someone he has created. ... If he feels
the reasons he
gave for Parker going to help Joe Sheer couldn't hold
up, even if he
doesn't remember the details, he has to be
correct.
Mark >>
No. I'm not going to give this one to you. Here's a small
speculation: Westlake began by writing the book with Parker
going to actually help Joe. It didn't sit right for him, so
he looped back in the explanation that Parker is covering for
himself. It works okay for me and as a reader I don't know
about the generation of the plotting. But Westlake will be a
different reader because he knows the history of the
composition--the old problems remain visible. It's sort of
like you can see a body repair on a car more easily if you
know that there had been a dent in the first place. Anyway,
this is getting to be more metacritical than about
hard-boiled, so I'll stop.
Doug
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