>
> I'm halfway through it and my take is opposite of
yours. I'm
having a
> lot of trouble believing hers is a female voice. I
was a fan of the
> comic, but the novel form seems to me to highlight
the
cardboardness of
> this female who is more male than males (for
instance, the target
> practice scene). And I have found bits like the
fashion notes
> heavyhanded, a poor substitute for deeper
characterization.
>
Mark, I guess I just bought in that she's a female version of
Mike Hammer.
> This is not to say I'm not enjoying it (although
I'll be very
> disappointed if the who whodunnit is who I've
thought it is since
about
> 20 pages in, even before I knew what was
done>
You're going to be very disappointed--but again, only because
Collins doesn'r cheat he makes it obvious pretty early who
the villain is.
> What makes a voice female or male, and must one be
of that gender to
> pull it off, especially in the first person? Based
on my entirely
> unscientific sampling, women are more convincing
writing male 1st
than
> vice versa.
I would never have guessed Wise Blood or any of Flannery
O'Connor's other works that I read were written by a woman.
Rex Stout does a convincing job with a female 3rd POV, but
you're right, not too many men seem to be able to write
convincingly from a woman's POV.
--Dave Z. (who's staying up late posting this stuff to work
out my Super Bowl angst)
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