bals@nutmeg.DEC (Once, accident. Twice, coincidence. Three times is enemy action.) (02/11/86)
REVIEWS OF:
THE KILLER INSIDE ME -- Jim Thompson
Quill Mysterious Classic, 1985(?)
$3.50 Paperback ISBN: 0688-03922-7
QUARRY -- Max Allan Collins
A Foul Play Press Book (The Countryman Press), 1985
$4.95 Paperback 088150-057-7
THE NEW BLACK MASK QUARTERLY #1
Harvest/HBJ, 1985
$7.95 Paperback ISBN: 0-15-665479-2
"Violence is as American as apple pie" -- H. Rap Brown
I have a peculiar love for the hard-boiled school of writing, a taste (like
that for watching bullfighting and boxing, both of which I also enjoy --
please send any outraged comments directly to me, rather than noting
them here -- which I don't expect everyone to share, but which I don't feel I
need to justify either. "Nothing human should be alien to me," as the poet
said.
The hard-boiled genre was probably brought to its pinnacle by Dashiell
Hammett (notably in "Red Harvest" ), and to its nadir by Mickey Spillane's
Mike Hammer series. In fact, Spillane so successfully perverted the
hard-boiled genre that it has yet to recover, and probably never will. I think
the point of all good hard-boiled fiction is to show that it's impossible for
anyone to embrace violence without becoming totally absorbed by it. And I think
that's why Spillane's books are such tragedies, as his characters take a
sadistic joy in violence without being touched by it.
But, between that height of Hammett and depth of Spillane a number of writers
operated and still operate.
There's been a great deal of renewed interest in the works of Jim Thompson
(1906-77) lately, and happily, many of his books are now being reissued. While
James M. Cain, (who Thompson is often compared to), preferred to take
"average" people and toss them into criminal situations, Thompson's characters
tend to begin as criminals or psychotics. They're unlikable, dangerous,
violent, and not the sorts you'd want to meet in even a well-lit alley.
Thompson's genius is his ability to take even the most chilling, warped
protagonist and ultimately forge some identification between him/her and the
reader. At the end, we may still actively fear the character, but we
understand his actions. And perhaps, we've come to recognize a little better
the violent element that dwells in all of us.
"The Killer Inside Me," first published in 1952, is generally acknowledged as
Thompson's masterpiece. The protagonist, Lou Ford, is a deputy sheriff in a
small Texas town. As the back cover blurb states, it's a job that gives him
plenty of opportunity to indulge ... "the sickness." Ford is a psychopath. He
recognizes and even tries to fight his illness. And he fails. The book careens
from murder to murder. As the body-count grows, Ford desperately searches
for some escape, some way to establish a normal life. And he fails.
"The Killer Inside of Me" is brutal, graphic, and not for those with weak
stomachs. For those interested in seeing a master writer of the hard-boiled
school at his best, you need look no further than this book.
*****
"Quarry" by Max Allan Collins was first published in 1976 under the title,
"The Broker." Collins is better known as the writer of the Dick Tracy comic
strip and the "Ms. Tree" comic book than as a fiction author. But "Quarry"
shows he's as comfortable working in fiction as in comics. The character,
known only as "Quarry," is a professional killer, an ex-Vietnam veteran.
Quarry contracts his services out, $2,000 a hit, no questions asked. The plot
of the book revolves around an attack upon Quarry as he's completing his
latest assasination. His partner is killed, his fee stolen. Quarry decides to
find out who fingered him, and to take revenge.
More interesting than the plot (as is usual with hard-boiled novels) is the
characterization. Quarry asks the reader for neither pity nor understanding.
His soul is dead. Yet, he has established his own brand of ethics, and has an
understanding of the spiritual death his work has led him into. He knows he's
entrapped, but sees no alternative. Like Lou Ford in "The Killer Inside Me,"
he's struggling to establish some sort of normal life, but is ultimately
defeated.
A good book, not that well known, and worth your time.
******
The incubator for the hard-boiled school in the `20s and `30s was the original
*Black Mask* pulp magazine, under the editorship of Joseph ("Cap") Shaw. "The
New Black Mask Quarterly" is a paperback, quarterly "magazine" intended as a
homage to the original. The editors, obviously realizing that there isn't much
of a hard-boiled school around anymore, note in their introduction that the
new "Black Mask" will publish all types of mystery/crime stories, with the
exception of the English "drawing-room" genre.
Issue #1 has an extremely short interview with Robert B. Parker ("Spenser"),
which isn't notable except to the Parker completist, a very short commentary
by Parker on the relationship of Hawk/Spenser/Susan in the series, and
"stories" by Jim Thompson, Raymond Chandler, George Higgins, Arthur Lyons,
George Sims, Nelson Algren, Loren D. Estleman, and William F. Nolan. I quoted
"stories" because the Chandler is actually a story treatment for a movie
script that never got off the ground. Again, only notable to the Chandler
completist. The Thompson is especially interesting, as it it's an excerpt from
an unpublished novelette, the first in a planned series of four.
The other stories range from poor to excellent, generally a little higher than
the level of story you'd expect from Alfred Hitchcock's or Ellery Queen's
mystery magazines. But I wonder how long this book/magazine will survive with
a $7.95 cover price selling to basically the same audience as the other two.
Although the editors are to be praised for including writers who seldom work
in the short-story format now, and for the rare material, I doubt that they'll
make it.
Issue #2 of "The New Black Mask Quarterly" is now also available. Get your
copies while you still can.
Fred Bals (DEC - Merrimack, NH)gsmith@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Gene Ward Smith) (02/14/86)
In article <1060@decwrl.DEC.COM> bals@nutmeg.DEC (Once, accident. Twice, coincidence. Three times is enemy action.) writes: >The hard-boiled genre was probably brought to its pinnacle by Dashiell >Hammett (notably in "Red Harvest" ), and to its nadir by Mickey Spillane's >But, between that height of Hammett and depth of Spillane a number of writers >operated and still operate. > >There's been a great deal of renewed interest in the works of Jim Thompson >(1906-77) lately, and happily, many of his books are now being reissued. While >James M. Cain, (who Thompson is often compared to), preferred to take >"average" people and toss them into criminal situations, Thompson's characters >tend to begin as criminals or psychotics. They're unlikable, dangerous, >violent, and not the sorts you'd want to meet in even a well-lit alley. >Thompson's genius is his ability to take even the most chilling, warped >protagonist and ultimately forge some identification between him/her and the >reader. At the end, we may still actively fear the character, but we >understand his actions. And perhaps, we've come to recognize a little better >the violent element that dwells in all of us. > >"The Killer Inside Me," first published in 1952, is generally acknowledged as >Thompson's masterpiece. The protagonist, Lou Ford, is a deputy sheriff in a >small Texas town. As the back cover blurb states, it's a job that gives him >plenty of opportunity to indulge ... "the sickness." Ford is a psychopath. He >recognizes and even tries to fight his illness. And he fails. The book careens >from murder to murder. As the body-count grows, Ford desperately searches >for some escape, some way to establish a normal life. And he fails. > >"The Killer Inside of Me" is brutal, graphic, and not for those with weak >stomachs. For those interested in seeing a master writer of the hard-boiled >school at his best, you need look no further than this book. This was quite an interesting review, but I would like to make a few comments about Jim Thompson. First, he is not really much like James Cain or Dashiell Hammett. Second, I at least find him the *only* hard-boiled writer who can consistently command my interst -- I get bored with most of the others I have read, in fact. Third, while "The Killer Inside Me" is his best-known book, I don't think it is his best. Some of the same psychotic sheriff-killer stuff is done with more sinister, black-humor style in Pop. 1280. Nick Corey is just as crazy as and more interesting than Lou Ford in my book -- I think "The Killer Inside Me" takes the psychology stuff too seriously. In any case, read Jim Thompson and *don't* assume when you've read "Killer" you've read his "acknowledged masterpiece". a/carzy ucbvax!brahms!gsmith Gene Ward Smith/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720 ucbvax!weyl!gsmith "When Ubizmo talks, people listen."
citrin@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (Wayne Citrin) (02/14/86)
In article <11850@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> gsmith@brahms.UUCP (Gene Ward Smith) writes: >Some of the same >psychotic sheriff-killer stuff is done with more sinister, black-humor >style in Pop. 1280. If you don't already know this, you might be interested to know that "Pop. 1280" was adapted for the screen as the French film "Coup de Torchon." The action has been moved to French West Africa and Phillipe Noiret plays the police chief. Wayne Citrin (ucbvax!citrin)