In the light of the discussion, I grabbed a couple of
Spillane books and browsed them (I remembered them well). My
conclusions confirm my previous image of the writer, which I
will summarize thus:
Spillane is as innocent of Literature as he is of the erotic
use of language, particularly when compared with masters of
eroticism such as Chandler, Willeford and Jim Thompson.
He seems painfully unaware of specific gender domains; if he
has any understanding of women, it has escaped me
completely.
Spillane's hero, Mike Hammer, is a quintessentially American
product: he thrives on activity and is short on thinking
other than goal-specific planning. He is made for efficiency
and, because of that, the character works very well within
his narrowly defined domain. It would take a lot to make
Hammer fully human; he seems to have shut off a lot of doors.
He represents, quite realistically, the predicament of many
American males. This is also his attraction for his
overwhelmingly male readership.
If Mike Hammer's world view, or at least the expression of
that view, is obsolete, the action which he protagonizes
projects as strongly as ever for this male reader. In his
action writing, Spillane captures something genuinely
modern-masculine (the rage, the efficient ineptitude, the
cluelesness, the overt bravery, the unsavory triumph).
In conclusion, an unsubtle writer capable of great action
scenes, with a hero whose popularity attests to the vitality
of repression, violence and narcissism.
The anecdote: a female acquaintance of mine thought that a
Spillane book was a parody. She only thought this after
reading a few pages, after which she returned the book to
me.
Apologies for yet another long post on Spillane, who must be
pretty good after all (since so many of us react to
him).
Best regards,
MrT
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