----- Original Message ----- From: <
WordRunner@aol.com>
> I've been trying to be a dutiful word producer and
stick to my
lurking,
> but the Ellroy discussion has pulled me in once
again. The seesawing
that's
> been going on in this thread appears to center on
what makes a "great"
> writer, and whether Ellroy has the goods. The
challenge to produce a
"great
> writer" paragraph from one of his books suggests
that he does not.
> Yes, he is crude and arrogant and his writing
frequently is self
> indulgent. He's a showoff, and he has a childish
need to shock. At times
he
> seems to enjoy rolling in dreck and slurping blood
from an oversized
spoon.
> Like everyone else, he has stood on the shoulders of
giants, but he
has
> certainly carved out new territory in atmosphere,
pacing, syntax, and
style.
> He's an original with a marked disdain for nuance,
and although his prose
is
> rarely beautiful, it is unrelentingly powerful. He
moves at breakneck
speed
> through storylines as complex as the piping diagram
for a nuclear
submarine,
> and he gives us an assortment of fascinatingly
flawed characters whom we
> eagerly follow for hundreds of pages.
> He may not be as great as he thinks he is, but I
can't imagine why
anyone
> who enjoys the genre would pass him by.
Eloquently put. And with pinpoint accuracy. Spread the word:
Jim Blue has nailed Ellroy.
Al
-- # 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 : 23 Nov 2002 EST