JIM DOHERTY:
>> I mean language. Behavior is exhibited by
action, and
> action is already covered by "tough." Language
means
> the words people use and the manner in which they
use
> them. And it doesn't have to be ungrammatical,
it
> just has to be straightforward and casual, the
way
> regular people talk.
>
> > I don't see
> > how you can define being hard boiled solely by
the
> > language.
>
> I don't define it solely by the language. I define
by
> actions and behavior ("tough") AND
language
> ("colloquial").
>
> However, I insist on language as being a
component
> (NOT the sole defining characteristic, but
an
> essential component) of hard-boiled crime
fiction
> because language was, and is, what sets
the
> hard-boiled mystery apart from the rest of the
genre.
>
Jim, I'm making some progress. Now you concede hard boiled is
not solely language. You hadn't done that earlier. I'll now
have to get you to concede that being born wealthy and/or
having a good education does not preclude a character from
being hard boiled. There is free will . People can have their
situation change either by their own volition or because
circumstances change. A few examples of characters in the
best 111 who ostensibly do not meet all your criteria are
Richard Bone, (Cutter and certainly Mo also would fall under
this category, but they didn't make the cut.) Bruce Wayne,
James Figueroas, Milo Milodragovitch and C W Sugrue
(Crumley, who I always considered a writer of hard boiled
fiction, can't restrain himself from having his two
protagonists sometimes write some very lyrical
passages)
An assassin like James Bond you say is not hard boiled. It
seems to me any lawyer or doctor would be disqualified by
you. There must be series featuring criminologists. I haven't
read them, but they must be too educated to be hard boiled.
How about the commisioner of police in a big city? He figures
to be wealthy, but he would have had to come up the ranks to
be hard boiled. Any one or two word description seems
inadequate to me and any arbitary means of disualifying
someone can't serve either. Mark
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