----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin Burton Smith"
<
kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com> To: <
rara-avis@icomm.ca> Sent: Monday, May 27, 2002 1:18 PM
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Peedie's Polemic
> Hmmmm... interesting definitions. But bringing the
emotional
> attachment of the protagonist, or lack thereof, into
the mix
> complicates things.
It was intended to clarify. Last time, as simply as possible:
A "crime" novel is written from the viewpoint of either the
criminal or the victim. An "anti-crime" novel, on the other
hand, is written from the viewpoint of someone doing a job
(ie a policeman or a PI).
> So, do I like crime or anti-crime novels? Because I
can see where the
> line gets really blurred right away, at least as far
as my particular
> preference, P.I. novels, goes.
PI novels are anit-crime, unless the PI is a victim or a
criminal.
> Somehow, many of my favourite P.I. novels seem to
feature detectives
> who DO become emotionally involved in the outcome,
regardless of
> their initial involvement in the case.
These would definitely appeal to me. I'd like to know what
they are, if you have the time. A was about to write that my
favourite PI novel is Lawrence Block's "A Ticket To The
Boneyard" (a superb reworking of John D MacDonald's
"The Executioners"), when I realised that it wasn't a PI
novel at all.
>And most of them certainly,
> (or at least those who have followed the Chandler
model -- which is
> almost all of them) seem to have an emotional
attachment to their
> careers. It's almost standard equipment in the
genre.
But having an emotional attachment to their career is only
relevant if their career is under threat.
> Of course, not all P.I. novels feature a detective
with an emotional
> stake, but it occurs frequently enough to seriously
blur the line
> between the crime/anti-crime camps. If Spenser or
V.I. Warshawski or
> Derek Strange feels an emotional attachment to a
case, does that make
> it a crime novel?
Not unless they are victims or become criminals.
>If Dortmunder and crew spend most of a book
trying
> to figure out who stole their loot does that make it
an anti-crime
> novel? What if they really, really want their money
back, though?
They'd have to join the police force or start up a detective
agency.
Al Guthrie
-- # 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/ .
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 27 May 2002 EDT