On 4/12/07 2:09 PM, "Charlie Williams" <
cs_will@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> That sure is a good case for having crime books set
in Canada, but
> I'm not sure it follows that *noir* has a place
there. At the risk of
> flaring up the old definition war again, I think
noir is an idea
> rather than a subject. It's like a pair of coloured
spectacles you
> put on and through which you experience the world in
a certain way.
> You don't need a high percentage of murders to have
noir going on. It
> helps, but you don't need that. You could set a noir
novel in Canada
> no problem, as long as you have a doomed protagonist
there and a set
> of circumstances that lend themselves to that kind
of story. You
> could set a noir novel in Lapland. Or
Lichtenstein.
>
> As for the Scots, they have an outlook that lends
itself to noir. Not
> saying they all do, but it's certainly in evidence
there.
> -----
>
> Charlie, I responded to the notion that the stats
don¹t warrant Canadian noir
> (see the original post), but if we¹re going to go
over to outlook, I strongly
> disagree as well. The real issue starts with the
faulty perception that
> there¹s no crime in Canada. A tourist or exchange
student gets murdered and
> the response from the shocked family is that they
can¹t believe such things
> happen here.
>
> As far as having a protagonist and circumstances
that lend themselves to noir,
> the issue isn¹t writing it, it¹s selling it. The
idea we¹re too polite and
> civilized to have such an outlook is narrow-minded,
at best.
>
The one manuscript I tried to sell that I squarely billed as
Canadian Noir was rejected repeatedly for one primary reason:
location. However, there was one Canadian publisher who asked
for the full after reading the query. To convince you I
didn¹t delude him, it included:
³A seventeen-year-old boy has died from an apparent gunshot
wound to the head... The coroner soon reveals that the boy
didn¹t die from the gunshot, but rather from an overdose of
cocaine. Unexpectedly, an investigation into a break-in leads
to a third body with a direct connection to their case: He is
one of the victims of the gang beatings they were
investigating.²
³The team is soon faced with more bodies of young
girls....²
³Jack¹s strained relationship with his family is completely
destroyed...²
I don¹t see any part of that that hints at cheery and light,
and without boring everyone to tears talking about it you¹ve
just got that and my word to go on, but the very comical
rejection was, ³I read until I got to the first murder. I
don¹t want to publish a book like that.²
Well, it was good for a laugh. I mean, I thought I did a
pretty good job suggesting multiple unpleasant murders in the
book in the query (although they are not described in an
unnecessarily graphic manner) but I guess that publisher
didn¹t realize murder actually meant killing someone.
In many ways, I still consider it the best thing I¹ve
written, precisely because it was noir. It was exactly what I
wanted to do with my writing. Nobody ever said I couldn¹t
write, they just said I needed a better location. For my
part, I¹m tired of reading of the same locations over and
over again, and a good story is a good story if the author
does their job the setting comes alive for the reader and
they don¹t need to rely on TV shows to fill in the setting
gaps because everyone already has a visual image of NYC from
Law & Order.
Just my 2 cents. Anyone who thinks all Canadians are chipper
optimists lacking the disposition for noir need only meet me
to have that delusion shattered.
Sandra
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