Brian Evankovich wrote:
Has anybody read Raoul Whitfield's "Green Ice", a novel that
Hammett really, really liked? Methinks Mr. Dash was drunk
when he wrote his four star review, because I couldn't get
past chapter three. The writing was good, and a flip through
the book showed some smart lines, but without any solid
characterization
(or clear plotting) it fell flat. Anybody have an opposite
opinion? What can you say that will make me try again? I
really wanted to enjoy it
*********** There were a few things I didn't like about it,
but my complaints were different than yours and, overall, I
liked it.
Other than the protagonist, there typically wasn't a lot of
character development in early hardboiled. Plot was
everything, with mood running a close second.
I would point to RED HARVEST as an example. That was
one of the things that made MALTESE FALCON noteworthy.
What was going on inside the characters was
significant.
My complaint with the book was its jerky episodic nature, and
the protag continually recounting the story line and
reanalyzing the facts. I believe the original story was run
in installments.
>From what I hear, Whitfield and Hammett were
drinking
buddies, whiling away the hours debating the way a hardboiled
story should be told. I see a lot of similarity in their
writing styles.
I would not recommend you try it again. Too damn many other
novels out there waiting to be read.
miker
__________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail
Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
--------------------~-->
$9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/kqIolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rara-avis-l/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email
to:
rara-avis-l-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 26 Oct 2004 EDT