Richard, thanks for these Chandler quotes. I can see why
Chandler would notice Woolrich's impressive technique. And
also, given how Chandler controlled his material (in the
stories, which are his main work, in my opinion), how he
would find fault with Woolrich's devil may care approach.
With each story and novel, Woolrich was taking a risk, the
risk of credibility and the risk that his mastery at creating
fear would not work. In my experience, it mostly did
work.
And Chandler is right that Woolrich is about "ideas" rather
than plots. He is one the great inventors in crime fiction
(with Fredric Brown, Charles Willeford, Jim Thompson and a
few others). The gimmicks he invented tap into a vast well of
fear that we all carry inside. That is his genius.
Plausibility doesn't matter. We carry the fear from early
childhood, an age at which plausibility has nothing to do
with it. You can tell the kid that the monster couldn't
possibly be in the closet, since the closet is empty, but it
doesn't matter.
Best,
mrt
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