--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, William Ahearn
<williamahearn@...> wrote:
>
>
> --- Richard Moore <moorich@...>
wrote:
>
>
> > I find this an odd choice of Woolrich novels
and not
> > to my mind
> > representative of Woolrich at his
best.
>
> [snip]
>
> > My favorite is RENDEZVOUS IN BLACK with PHANTOM
LADY
> > and DEADLINE AT
> > DAWN as two others that illustrate
Woolrich's
> > special brand of
> > suspense.
> >
> That's funny. If there is a writer out there who
can
> be picked apart for oddity, Woolrich is it. It's all
a
> matter of taste. For example, "Rendezvous" is fun
but
> I liked it better as "Bride Wore Black" since
it's
> pretty much the same book. And "Phantom Lady" may be
a
> lot of people's favorites but I didn't think the
book
> -- or the movie for that matter -- really worked.
But
> that's what makes horseracing. >
> William
>
> Essays and Ramblings
> <http://www.williamahearn.com>
>
Well, I do respect the differences of opinion which make this
list so rewarding. I think few writers have captured the
loneliness and desperation of urban America better than
Woolrich. That is one of the off-putting things for me about
WALTZ as it is a period piece. But most of all, I thought the
main character was such a sap.
As Mike Nevins wrote in the introduction to the Ballantine
reprint of WALTZ: "As we live inside Louis' skin, aching and
agonizing with his lonliness and love, we want to scream at
the dumb masochist to renounce his faith, break with the
woman and save his own life and sanity. Step back from the
book, look at it in the cold light of reason, and the story
conjures up ludicrous memories of Theda Bara vamp movies, and
subtitltes of the 'Kiss me, you fool!' ilk."
I couldn't agree more. As Nevins was writing an introduction
to WALTZ, I wasn't surprised at his next line: "But
Woolrich's maniacal power as a writer makes it next to
impossible to think like a critic, and we are trapped in his
net like Louis in the woman- web."
For me, I just wanted to shake old Louis until he rattled. I
recognize that the hero in noir is usually led into hell by a
temptress. But there is a line where the character becomes
such a sappy nitwit that I don't want to spend any
significant time with him. That's a real problem here as
WALTZ must be Woolrich's longest novel. I like this theme in
the novels of James Cain, Charles Williams and Gil Brewer
where I accept the lure and the fall as believable and where
the story is told in 50,000 words. A guy reading those novels
recognizes that as Ben Hecht once wrote "the f**king you get
isn't worth the f**king you get", but presented with the same
temptation as the hero might make the same choice. Now that I
think of it, that Hecht quote pretty much sums up the
Cain/Williams/Brewer subgenre.
I don't have Nevins' biography of Woolrich handy (having
moved recently even more books are in boxes than usual) but I
am curious as to his evaluation of WALTZ in something other
than a introduction.
Woolrich's SAVAGE BRIDE, his Gold Medal novel, is another one
to avoid. But again, I recognize that others may
disagree.
One other thought about Woolrich is that he has suffered by
being so imitated both in print and in film. It is difficult
reading him today to realize how innovative many of his
novels were.
Richard Moore
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