--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Willow Arune"
<pangarun@...> wrote:
>
> Aw shucks!
>
> After all my efforts to spin the Canadian image,
along comes
Sandra with her black glasses.
>
> (A brief aside for the moment - Edmonton's murder
rate is no
surprise. At least not from one who lived there for a
considerable time. I think it is still accurate to say that
the murder rate increases during the winter months when
little if any outdoor activity is possible).
>
> Noir could indeed be anywhere, but the key is reader
perception.
It is easy to believe that horrible things happen in large
American cities. It is dark and mysterious in London; small
village life in England is rife with dark struggles as
Minette Walters shows so well. But Canada's reputation is
contrary to noir in so many ways. Calm, the "peaceful
kingdom", the "conscience of the United States", peacekeeper,
boring, cold - ice and snow year round, polite, kind and
caring. Contrast that with Bangkok and the Thai cowboy
culture. It is not that it does not happen here - and the
examples Sandra cities are valid indeed - but it seems so in
contest to the image the country has around the world. Let's
face it - exotic is not the word you first think of when
thinking of Canada, nor mysterious.
>
> A Canadian noir writer must overcome that when
trying to sell to a
foreign publisher or audience. Like the movies - the script
says Seattle (big and bad) but the location shots are all
done in Vancouver. I imagine even Blunt had problems that way
("Can't you move this to Lake Champlain?")
>
> Add to that the lack of knowledge of the country.
Now, with a
country such as Thailand, lack of knowledge gives room to
play. Both Moore and Burnett have great fun emphasising the
sex trade of Thailand, almost to the point of comedy. Take
Bangkok, mix in exotic sex, add some jungle and perhaps a
beach or two. Done deal. But Canada does not have exotic
things like jungles and it looks pretty much like the States,
only cleaner. And any villain would leave his footprints in
the snow, n'est-ce pas?
>
> Late note: Hamilton? I wrote an outline that was
based in
Kelowna! Half the first chapter had to explain where it was
and what it was...
>
> Noir? Giles Blunt is one of us. Granted, he spent
some time in
the USA, but still...
>
> Willow
>
I thought filming in Vancouver was to save money, but your
opinions bring up an interesting question. If Canadian
author's have to switch their locals south in order to sell
their work better to a larger market, do American authors
have to switch states for the same reason? Do California
noirs sell more copies than Colorado based noir books? Do
Michael Connelly Harry Bosch books do better in California or
New York.
Do y'all prefer noir stories set in places you're familiar
with or places you've never been? In other words how does the
location of the crime story reflect upon your enjoyment of
the writing style. I would say that writing style trumps
location. If I like an author I'll go to Wyoming with
them.....or Hamilton, but I'd like it more if they stayed in
New York.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 13 Apr 2007 EDT