Sorry about the late response -- I evidently originally
posted it to the wrong list. The Calico Cats Who Solve Crimes
List is sure gonna be perplexed.
Anyway, I guess I didn't make myself as clear as I should
have when I was speaking about influences. Of course there's
more to it than mere popularity, but there has to also be
more to it than just some writer saying "I was influenced by
so-and-so." Like justice, it doesn't just have to have been
said to have been done, but has to be seen to have been
done.
Which is why I tried to make the distinction between
influence and inspiration. Lippmann can claim to have been
influenced by Crumley, but it's hard to see, for example,
much Crumley in Tess Monahan. Certainly nobody would have
picked it up without her mentioning it. Or did I missed all
those reviews of the "Crumleyesque" CHARM CITY?
Same with Collins' well-known trumpeting of Spillane. Except
for the intentional and often-stated inversion of Spillane in
the previously mentioned MS. TREE, I don't see lots of the
Mick's influence in Collins' work. (But what do I know -- I
always thought Hammer was just better-written Race Williams
that happened to tap into the right cultural mood at the
right time. Collins has always been aiming for bigger game
than that, or at least with his Heller, Ness and Perdition
books).
Whereas it's pretty easy to spot the obvious links between
Chandler and Macdonald, or Parker and Crais, for example,
whether those influences are admitted or not.
And writers' stated influences can be a funny thing. Like the
self-published author a few years back who name-dropped a
certain cult pulp writer so often that every half-ass
reviewer of the newcomer's book felt obliged to name-drop the
same author as well. Sometimes you wonder if they actually
read the book, or just each other's reviews and the PR.
Sometimes a stated influence is just a negligible author
trying to sneak into the literary respect room through a
sidedoor. And, as in the case of real talents like Pelecanos
or Lippmann or Collins sometimes a personal influence isn't
quite the same thing as a literary influence.
Anyway, like Mark, I dread when Bruen (or Ellroy, for that
matter) become influential to the point where they inspire
pale imitators. There's a stylistic tightrope there some of
these literary clodphoppers can't ever hope to take more than
a few steps on.
--
Kevin Burton Smith
The Thrilling Detective Web Site Holiday Issue New stories and the 2004 Thrillies. http://www.thrillingdetective.com
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 04 Dec 2004 EST