Patrick King, whose opinions I respect but often disagree
with said:
>>People who kill each other over buried treasure
are
not well, just like gamblers who murder each other. It
doesn't really matter if a jewel encrusted statuette lies
hidden in some Greek grotto. This is a work of fiction that
explores a certain type of mental illness.<<
I disagree that it is a mental illness, more of a
maladjustment based on the obsession to get rich quick.
Gutman and pals, are seriously maladjusted. Mentally ill? To
the extent that all of us have obsessions, quirks, beliefs,
and drives that are, whether we admit it or not, neuroses
when not psychoses. I think most crime fiction explores
"certain kind of human beings." Some explores insanity, but
not THE MALTESE FALCON. It explores human beings with
flaws.
To compare Gutman and his crowd, or even Bridget, to Charles
Manson is a stretch.
Jack Bludis
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