Re: RARA-AVIS: Big hardboiled epics

From: DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net
Date: 28 Sep 2004


Bill, I can think of a few epics of hardboiled lit besides Ellroy. First, there's the DC Quartet by George Pelecanos, which follows characters over several decades. I've only read the first of David Peace's Red Riding Quartet, but it would seem to qualify -- isn't that what gets him so many comparisons to Ellroy? And wouldn't the Lew Griffin books by Jim Sallis qualify? I'm not sure when he really started conceiving them as an epic, but they certainly work that way.

Then there are a few I'd say are borderline epics, like Jim O'Connell's books. They don't really have characters in common, but I'd say they are an epic portrayal of a city, Quinsigamond. What about Derek Raymond's Factory Trilogy -- those first three in the series certainly seemed to be plotted together. Although the murders in each are solved, they seem to be parts of an overarcing story about the nameless DS investigating them. The two later additions, on the other hand, are just series books (not a put down, but they are more self-contained in my mind). I've only read Will Christopher Baer's first, Kiss Me Judas, but wasn't it supposedly conceived as the first in a trilogy? Has the third ever come out?

Mark

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