tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post6872145301077161325..comments2024-01-06T10:36:04.084-05:00Comments on A Commonplace Blog: Two thrillersD. G. Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-70605706948419951342013-08-06T17:48:12.684-04:002013-08-06T17:48:12.684-04:00I think you underestimate the incompetence of lite...I think you underestimate the incompetence of literary writers, when they try to describe violence. Donald Hamilton knew guns and hunting and he was okay at describing homicidal acts. McCarry just doesn't and isn't. <br /><br />America's post-60s governing class has a founding myth of shirking military service because, you know, they are so much better than that. This has worse effects than inept murder mystery writing, but the ineptitude still exists.brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-26977834534293879632013-06-30T23:33:52.654-04:002013-06-30T23:33:52.654-04:00You say that McCarry is the thriller writer you re...You say that McCarry is the thriller writer you read regularly (and thank you for leading me to him, tho iI did not find Shanghai as strong as the Christophers), but what about Charles Willeford. You've reviewed one of his, but have you read his final 4 set in the Miami PD?<br />Did you read McCarry's Ark-- it got little publicity.Richard Kuntznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-14618138423534366202013-06-21T05:00:38.139-04:002013-06-21T05:00:38.139-04:00I haven't read any of Hamilton's books, bu...I haven't read any of Hamilton's books, but I wonder how much of his limitations as a writer were due to his nationality? I see from Wiki he emigrated from Finland as a young man, so that formative period - what makes an American 'American' was missing. And if you're writing about a culture from the outside, I reckon there's a tendency to fall back on generic stereotypes, if only because you lack the necessary information to create more nuanced characters.<br /><br />That said, Chandler spent his formative years in England and was educated there. Philip Marlowe very much fulfils your criteria in terms of emphasis (the how rather than the what) - as it is the character's moral aspect that makes him so interesting and so compelling.Aonghus Fallonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09434527113873901741noreply@blogger.com