On Fri, 24 May 2002 10:59:22 -0500 Robison Michael R
CNIN
<
Robison_M@crane.navy.mil> writes:
>
> i read recently somebody's comment that fiction
should
> actually be "truer" than nonfiction, and there was a
big
> spiel about why this should be. the rationale passed
me
> by, but the premise didn't. when i read fiction,
i'm
> looking for it to be "believable", and for it to
have some
> sort of depth to stir some emotion in me or make me
think.
> it looked to me like spillane was failing on both
counts.
It's interesting you should single Spillane out on this. I
think this is endemic to crime fiction in general (including
many books mentioned here. Hammett and Chandler stories are
hardly filled with fleshed out characters with deep, textured
emotions).
At its heart, most crime fiction is very logical, and thus
the feelings of the characters are sublimated by their
motives (greed, lust, fear of being exposed). These are not
things I would count as well developed emotions, but more
like the most superficial of them. In most crime fiction, the
characters/suspects are merely vehicles to move the story
along, take you off the trail of the real
criminal..etc.
For myself, I feel that I have different rules for different
types of books. I read a lot of spy fiction, and the things I
look for in a Bond book aren't necessarily the same things I
expect or require when I read a Jane Austen book. Similarly,
in crime fiction, I expect the protagonist to be believable,
falliable, and the crime itself to be solvable by the
information and intuition that is within the 'detective' of
it.
As for Spillane's books, the words are direct, plain and
perfectly keeping in the worldview and educational level of
Hammer. He doesn't use big words or pull out a philosophy
book and start reading it. And his character/words/emotions
are in line with someone who needs to cut through a lot of
noise in order to do his job. The right tool for the right
job, you could say.
randy
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