> At 12:32 PM 21/11/2002 -0800, you wrote:
>
> >Can anybody here quote a paragraph from
Ellroy
> >that, to them, shows him a great
writer?
>
> Not me, but then I'd have the same difficulty
reciting Ginsberg's HOWL from
> memory and I find the same kinetic energy in
Ellroy's opening take-down in
> White Jazz. More so, in fact. Wasn't it the Detroit
Free Press labelled
> Ellroy a "blood poet"? Spot on.
As long as we're speaking our minds based upon informed
opinion here, let me weigh in again. Likening Ellroy to
Ginsberg is like mentioning the work of Stan Lee (of Marvel
Comics fame) in the same breath with that of Mario Puzo (of
Godfather fame). We're talking about two different levels of
work here
(although one thing that Ellroy and Puzo have in common is
that they wrote one good work of fiction). I'm certain the
Ellroy would be pleased by the comparison, but that should be
expected.
Kerry, as for your earlier contention that Ellroy explores
the themes of the "chaotic" 20th century world, I disagree
whole-heartedly with that. IMO, the only landscape Ellroy is
exploring (mytho-poetic or otherwise) is the interior
landscape of his own dark, twisted psyche (which is part of
what makes his non-fiction work, "My Dark Places" such
riveting stuff). If he's working out his issues and getting
paid for it, great for him. But I find nothing epic about his
obsession with corruption, and *over*-emphasis on the
profane.
Brian
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