Miker wrote:
> "Blackmailers Don't Shoot" (1933) is bad.
And
> Chandler struggled for five months writing it.
The
> dialogue is poor and the writing leans heavily
toward
> cliche. Guns talk and characters squeeze lead
and
> laugh mirthlessly (a phrase used repeatedly in
Paul
> Cain's FAST ONE, which Chandler praised).
The
> hardboiled that Chandler was imitating often
had
> finely interwoven plots. Chandler was never good
at
> this.
I couldn't agree more. I recently slogged through it, and it
honestly *is* woeful. I actually pictured Chandler sitting in
a darkened theatre, watching Jimmy Cagney leer and growl and
glare and then leer some more in
"Public Enemy" and dreaming up "Mallory." If you read the
dialogue, you can almost hear Cagney's familiar "You dirty
rat" cadences in Mallory's speech. At least I could.
> The story doesn't approach the quality of his
best
> work, but it still contains themes and elements
that
> continue through his oeuvre. Descriptions of
Los
> Angeles reinforce the story's atmosphere. A rich
and
> beautiful woman invokes death and destruction,
and
> there's a crooked cop who the story is not
totally
> unsympathetic to. There's a big-time
gentleman
> criminal who's debonair and dangerous. There's
the
> homosexual theme that would have delighted
Leslie
> Fiedler if he'd ever gotten around to
reading
> Chandler. Although the story is written in
third
> person, it's strongly centered on the
protagonist.
> And the story starts out with Mallory wearing
a
> powder-blue suit. Was Marlowe wearing
hand-me-downs
> in the beginning of THE BIG SLEEP?
Don't forget the grey hat.
> A year later he wrote "Smart-Aleck Kill". It
wasn't
> much better. Written a couple months later, he
began
> to show promise in "Finger Man." It's still
fairly
> poor, but there were passages that showed
Chandler
> coming around. The first person narrative allowed
the
> cynical protagonist to get in some good shots:
"I
> didn't say anything. I was way past the age when
it's
> fun to swear at people you can't hurt." Or: "He
was
> the kind of man who liked to have a desk in front
of
> him, and shove his fat stomach against it, and
fiddle
> with things on it, and look very wise." And he
was
> warming up to the simile: "As a bluff, mine
was
> thinner than the gold on a week end wedding
ring."
> The biggest problem with the story is that
Chandler
> had a lot riding on a mediocre plot.
>
> His writing continued to mature. "Spanish
Blood"
> (1935) is a well-done tribute to Hammett's
MALTESE
> FALCON. "Goldfish" (1936) is excellent.
Chandler
> took a break from his obsession with the rich folk
and
> worked the other side of the tracks. Easing off
the
> logistics of a complex plot, Chandler concentrates
on
> the mood and atmosphere, hammering out a dirty
sordid
> background. Later he would attach an esoteric
beauty
> to this ugliness.
>
> Chandler was on a roll when he wrote "Red
Wind"
> (1938). The story is narrated in first person by
a
> tough yet romantic protagonist who moves in a
dark
> world. It starts out with his oft-quoted
passage
> about the hot dry Santa Ana, and how it
touches
> everyone with madness. It's all there in
this
> beautiful bluesy piece, the cynicism, the similes,
and
> the scenery.
>
> I didn't care for "Trouble is My Business." I
thought
> it sorta backslid towards his earlier cliched
stuff.
> But if you liked it, Mario, then I suspect I
missed
> something and should probably reread it.
I think it's interesting that you liked "Red Wind," but not
"Trouble is My Business." I felt as if they were both at or
near the top of Chandler's available selection of short
stuff. Of course, he cannibalized (his word for it) most of
the really good stuff from his shorts for inclusion in many
of his novels, so perhaps I didn't pay as much attention to
the "cliched" aspects you mention in "Trouble," because by
then it all seemed really familiar to me.
Back to Lurkdom-
Brian Thornton
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