Re: RARA-AVIS: *Red Harvest*

From: Allan Guthrie ( allan@allanguthrie.co.uk)
Date: 24 Jun 2007


Hammett's original draft was more violent.

From a letter to his editor-to-be, dated March 20th 1928:
"The middle of the book, as it now stands, undoubtedly is more than somewhat cluttered up with violence, and I am thoroughly willing to make whatever changes you consider necessary... In the enclosed revised pages, I have cut out the dynamiting of police headquarters (page 134); have cut out the attack on Reno's house (page 176); ... and have changed the dynamiting of Yard's house (page 149) to a simple shooting off-stage. These changes will, I think, relieve the congestion quite a bit."

Al

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: harry.lerner@mail.mcgill.ca
  To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
  Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 3:20 PM
  Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: *Red Harvest*

  For me, "Red Harvest" was indeed an almost never-ending parade of
  violence that served as a way of just getting by in "Poisonville".
  But, I also think that buried within all the violence is the perenial
  struggle to, if not overcome our own inherent darkness, at least to
  continue the struggle to come to terms with it. Maybe there are
  sublter ways of depicting this process, but few are quite so memorable.

  Best,
  Harry

> I know I have it one of these shelves around here in a
> five-by.
>
> This time, I'm going to try to see what all the fuss is
> about. To me it was just non-stop action and mayhem leading
> to not much of anything.
>
> Jack Bludis
>
>
>
>
>
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