I just started FRIGHT and among my first reactions was that
it, at least so far, reads very much like a lot of the pulp
stories that came out in the 1920s and 1930s. In particular,
as I was reading the first few chapters of FRIGHT I found
myself thinking back a few years to when I read Raoul
Whitfield's GREEN ICE that originally came out in serialized
form in BLACK MASK. What made the connection for me was the
almost, but not quite, over the top prose that both authors
apparently had a tendency to use, at least in these two
stories. Even though they sometimes flirt, perhaps
inadvertently, with self-parody, they managed to largely get
away with pushing the envelope (in the above cases anyway).
What I would be curious to know is, for either Woolrich or
Whitfield, if this was intentional or merely a fortuitous
turn of events that resulted from different forms of
experimentation.
Best, Harry
Quoting Jeff Vorzimmer <
jvorzimmer@austin.rr.com>:
> As Richard pointed out, Woolrich's Fright and Savage
Bride came out the same
> year, 1950, and though the stories themselves are
very different, they both
> have the typical Woolrich theme. The Woolrich theme
is that of a man, who
> believes he is in control of his life, but
ultimately his fate is the hands
> of a woman or is determined by a series of events
initiated by a woman that
> ultimately leads to the male protagonist's
salvation, redemption,
> vindication, retribution or destruction. The male
characters by contrast
> seem weak, petulant, obsessive and possessive and
the women strong, stoic
> and reserved in a kind of role reversal. In his
novels, especially these
> two, innocent bystanders get caught in the shrapnel
of exploding lives and
> sometimes pay with there lives. There are also the
implausible coincidences
> and twists of fate typical of Woolich that push the
limits of credulity.
>
> I liked Savage Bride. I think once you get past the
fact that the story is
> pulp adventure fiction, but not crime fiction and
get into it for what it is
> rather than what it is not, you can enjoy the story.
Just put some Martin
> Denny or Les Baxter on the stereo, mix yourself an
exotic cocktail and enjoy
> it. That is if you can stand Woolrich's sniveling
male characters. I think
> Savage Bride is the Woolrich theme on steroids, the
theme pushed to it's
> limits. If female characters in his novels seem to
be driven by more base
> instincts than the males, this novel then takes that
idea to the ultimate
> manifestation--woman as savage.
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
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