Well, Al, pleonastic is one of those words I always have to
go and look up. And I always want to say neoplastic
instead.
But to answer your question, what I meant by unnecessarily
graphic was that it was just too much for me. As in the case
of art and pornography, I only know "too much violence" when
I see it--and unfortunately only afterwards. I certainly
wouldn't want to be on the committee defining it. And I
certainly don't expect Ken Bruen or anyone else to start
catering to me.
When I read The Killing of the Tinkers, it was the final
straw. If I'd read it six months earlier, perhaps I wouldn't
have had the same reaction. But in any case, I have a thing
about teeth being lost through violence.
For some strange reason, I'd read four books in the previous
six months in which characters had their teeth intentionally
knocked out or extracted, and I'd found it very
disturbing.
Bad luck or bad management on my part? I tend to blame luck;
if there had been any indication of tooth torture on the
cover, I'd have steered away. You might say that if I'm going
to read hardboiled literature, I'm looking for trouble. And
you'd be right, to a degree.
Perhaps I'm more susceptible than most to being horrified by
tooth torture. So these books have stayed with me, and
probably not for the reasons the authors might have
wished.
The first book was Bad Chili by Joe R. Lansdale. A gay man
has his teeth kicked out as part of a general beating, but
it's explicitly stated that the bashers expect an improved
oral sex performance from their victim.
In Family Values by C.D. Constantine, a woman married to a
sadist has her first couple of teeth knocked out by a punch,
and the rest removed by pliers. Then guess what she does for
her husband, gums still bleeding?
In Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter, two women have their
teeth removed with pliers. Lucky them--it's under
anaesthetic. Again, sex is a factor. The author tells us this
is not an uncommon practice among rapists.
Ken Bruen, in The Killing of the Tinkers, has three men lose
their teeth violently. One is kicked, the next is knocked in
the mouth with a gun and the third is tortured with pliers.
No sex this time. Thanks, Ken.
Then Charlie Stella, on a Bouchercon panel, described to
general laughter how one of his characters, a woman, has her
teeth knocked out by having her face slammed into the edge of
a table. She isn't a "good guy," so it's okay. I wish he'd
said which book the scene was in, because I'll definitely
want to avoid that one.
Is this a trend? Can it be stopped? At Bouchercon I mentioned
to Karin Slaughter that I'd read three books besides her own
in which teeth were removed, and she remarked that perhaps it
was becoming a clich鮠(She must have been at the clich頰anel.)
It's my hope that writers perceive it as a clich頴o be
avoided, because I've about reached my limit.
Does the scene advance the plot? Develop a character?
Contribute to the mood? I suppose arguments could be made
that the scenes I've described are necessary to the story one
way or another.
Is tooth removal worse than kneecap drilling (Kernick, The
Murder Exchange), crucifixion (Slaughter, Blindsighted),
electrical overstimulation (McDermid, The Mermaids Singing)
or chainsaw mutilation (Williams, Deadfolk)? I guess that may
be a personal judgment. All I know is that I don't want to
read any more tooth torture any time soon. So if you know any
books I should avoid, please tell me the titles (details not
necessary). (I also don't like eyeballs being damaged.)
Simon Kernick, at Bouchercon, discussed a scene in The Murder
Exchange in which someone gets his kneecaps drilled. He said
that he thought it was funny. His wife told him he had to
take it out, but by the time she'd persuaded him, his editor
was convinced that he had to leave it in. He said people
could skip the scene. So I read the book, knowing I would
skip the warehouse chapter. But I glanced at the last page,
just to see where things ended so I wouldn't be at a loss
later on. Mistake. There are worse places to apply an
electric drill, and the villain does it on the last
page.
What do you expect from hardboiled writing? I expect tough
characters and fast action. Colloquial speech is common, and
scathing wit is a big plus. I also expect some violence, but
not gratuitous sadism and gore. A sock in the old kisser is
one thing; intentional removal of someone's teeth as a means
of torture and/or for sexual gratification is another. (I
admit that gratuitousness is subjective.)
Some books are more violent than others, yet have redeeming
qualities. Some writers imply violence very well without
leaving horrific images seared in your brain for life.
I think the issue of how much violence (or what kind) is too
much is a very interesting one and I would like to hear from
some of you writers on the subject. Is there a line you won't
cross?
In an interview with Ali Karim, Simon Kernick answered that
question:
"I personally wouldn't write a scene that involved gratuitous
violence against a child or children, because I find that
sort of thing too shocking. I think a writer has a
responsibility to be careful what he or she writes, because
certain crimes should never be viewed, however indirectly, as
entertainment. But at the same time, I prefer the idea of
self-censorship to that of censorship by any other
body."
http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/skernick.html
Karin
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