David White wrote:
I think Archer is intentionally two-dimensional. MacDonald
wanted the reader to view the surrounding characters through
Archer, Archer as passageway into the novel. He wanted the
reader to be able to make other judgements about the
characters, while Archer acted as the conscience of the
novel. Therefore, Archer can't really have a past or any real
characterizations (especially in the later novels, save
perhaps The Blue Hammer), that would impede on the impact of
the surrounding characters in the novel.
************* WAHOOO! Yeah! Right on target, Dave. I thought
this was especially true in THE ZEBRA-STRIPED HEARSE. The big
difference between Chandler and Macdonald is the shift in
focus from the detective narrator to the people, and
Macdonald accomplished this by fading the light on Lew
Archer, not by more vividly portraying his characters.
The subject of writer skill in characterization has been
brought up. In the two novels I read of Macdonald's, I saw
nothing that exceeded the grace and style with which Chandler
sketched General Sternwood at the beginning of THE BIG SLEEP.
The talent that Chandler shows in that scene ranks right up
there with the best of Hemingway. Chandler might have had
some faults, both as a writer and a person, but when he was
hot, he was steaming.
miker
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