--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Patrick King
<abrasax93@...> wrote:
<<Hammett was a fine story teller who brought
atmosphere to his stories and complexity to his characters.
Most of the hardboiled genre lost its plot complexity by the
1950s. By the time Ian Fleming and Mickey Spillane had added
their indelible marks, the mystery element had all but
vanished from hardboiled. But the originators of the form had
the gift of deception down to a science.>>
I think it's exagerated to say that the hardboiled genre had
lost its plot complexity and the mystery element by the
fifties. Lots of fine Gold Medals have mystery and
complexity. In fact, the fifties were a golden age of sorts
-- mystery, noir, hardboiled, spy, adventure -- so many fine
authors that I won't name because everyone here knows the
score... You can't really say that Spillane and Fleming
represent the era. Not if "represent" means what it is
supposed to mean.
Best,
mrt
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 01 May 2008 EDT