Bludis Jack wrote: What a great decade the 30s were for
hardboiled and noir.
****** I agree, Jack. The decade started off with MALTESE
FALCON, and ended with THE BIG SLEEP, with a bunch of great
stuff inbetween. Looking at the Modern Library's list of the
best novels, TOBACCO ROAD, THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE,
THE DAY OF THE LOCUST, APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA, THE U.S.A.
TRILOGY, LIGHT IN AUGUST, THE GRAPES OF WRATH, THE STUDS
LONIGAN TRILOGY, and MALTESE FALCON made the grade, and they
are all from the 30s. That is an incredible number of
hardboiled novels on a mainstream list like this. My guess is
that there are not this many hardboiled books on the list for
all the other decades combined.
It appears to me that perhaps in the 30s hardboiled came as
close to mainstream as it ever has, and that this was a
positive effect on the genre. As opposed to the limited and
almost cult following of the 20s, a wider interest in the 30s
stimulated the genre, rather than diluting it.
miker
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