--- Nathan Cain <
IndieCrime@gmail.com> wrote:
Spillane's style is
> often what gets used as
> source material. Did his work seem fresh when
it
> originally came out?
************************************ I started reading
Spillane when I was about 12. I was already a die-hard
Hammett fan and was completely involved reading Ian Fleming's
James Bond series. The first Spillane novel I read was The
Deep, and I really loved it. It was a crazy comic book. The
Deep's first reaction to any problem was to pull out his .38
and shoot someone... frequently in the posterior, which at
the time I though was hysterical. I don't know how either
Spillane or I really thought anyone could get away page after
page with this sort of behavior before a SWAT team came in
and hauled him off, but the book was lively. I followed it up
with all of the Mike Hammer novels. As an adolescent I found
them fairly enjoyable. They're escapist stories that allow
the
"hero" to behave in the most satisfying manner, never mind
reality or what would really occur if anyone actually did
these things. Spillane is Robert E. Howard with a .38 instead
of a broadsword.
Today, I try to get back into this stuff and I can't read it
at all. It seem silly to the point of stupid. Psychologically
for example, The Erection Set seems to be so overtly
homo-erotic one wonders what Spillane was really thinking
about when he wrote it. The Killing Man, talk about not
writing the parts the reader will skip. Someone should have
told that to Spillane. Devestating beginning that goes
nowhere... and it's a short book! To my mind, Mickey Spillane
is not for adult consumption.
Patrick King
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