I'm sorry it seems a stretch to you. It seems like ordinary
plot line analysis to me. If a character is not a symbol for
human condition that many can relate to, why include him? All
novels that make any impact at all are metaphors. There are
millions of Dillons in the world and always have been. Dillon
was the product of his background as all of Thompson's
characters are. He is brutal because of the hopelessness of
his circumstance. Even his nick name 'Dolly' implies he is
not in control of his own actions. A Hell of a Woman is a
very good example of circumstances that FBI profilers now
call "stressors" and it was written, what, about 30 years
before Roy Hazlewood coined the term? Perhaps I'm looking too
deeply, but I'd bet that you're not looking deeply enough.
Whether Jim Thompson meant the depth to be in his novels or
not, it IS in there. And if you read his biography, Savage
Art, he was a much more deliberate artist than the publishers
of his books may indicate. James M. Cain was also very aware
of the depth of characters he was writing about.
Stylistically these writers may not have been up to
Fitzgerald's standards, but for character, plot and metaphor
they were miles ahead of him and by all accounts HE knew
it!
Patrick King
--- Dave Zeltserman <
dz@hardluckstories.com> wrote:
> Not at all the way I would characterize Hell of
a
> Woman. The book is
> a fascinating study of a psychologically
broken
> person.
> Frank "Dolly" Dillon is a character who is going
to
> find a way to
> make the worse of any situation he ends up in.
It's
> more of a
> struggle for self destruction--at least at
the
> psychic level, than
> anything else. A hardluck guy if there ever was
one.
> Sorry, your
> description for this one is more than a
stretch..
>
> --Dave Z.
>
> --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Patrick King
> <abrasax93@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > Re: A Hell of a Woman, this is the story of a
poor
> man
> > willing to do murder to get a keep a woman whom
he
> > neither knows nor understands. It's his
struggle
> for
> > wealth and status that drives him to
his
> > ill-considered behavior. It doesn't get
more
> political
> > than that!
> >
> > Patrick King
> > --- Dave Zeltserman <dz@...>
wrote:
> >
> > > Killer Inside Me did have some pro
union
> sentiment
> > > in it, and Swell-
> > > Looking Babe took a healthy swipe at
the
> communist
> > > witch hunts going
> > > on, but I think it's kind a stretch to tie
Hell
> of a
> > > Woman to any
> > > political agenda. Also, Patrick mentioned
the
> > > Grifters not the
> > > Getaway, but at this point I'd have to
reread
> The
> > > Grifters to state
> > > an opinion, although after previous
readings I
> was
> > > never left with
> > > impression that it had any political
agenda.
> > >
> > > --Dave Z.
> > >
> > > --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Michael
> Robison
> > > <miker_zspider@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Patrick King wrote:
> > > >
> > > > You miss argueably the most
important: Jim
> > > Thompson.
> > > > By all accounts Thompson definitely
had a
> > > political
> > > > agenda. Note especially A Hell of a
Woman, The
> > > > Grifters and The Killer Inside
Me.
> > > >
> > > > ***********
> > > > I see nothing significantly political
about
> The
> > > Killer
> > > > Inside Me. And his little allegory
of
> capitalism
> > > in
> > > > The Getaway is compromised by the
fact that
> there
> > > are
> > > > no other options for the
characters.
> > > >
> > > > miker
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
_____________________________________________________________________
> > > _______________
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business?
> > > > Learn how on Yahoo! Small
Business.
> > > > http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
_____________________________________________________________________
> _______________
> > Want to start your own business?
> > Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
> > http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index
> >
>
>
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 26 Nov 2006 EST