tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post7238072886392397706..comments2023-12-14T10:28:43.397+00:00Comments on Declan Burke: Down These Mean Streets A Man Called Job Must GoUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-44410951428021157762012-01-21T19:10:24.487+00:002012-01-21T19:10:24.487+00:00E-prods are painless, Michael. Most welcome.
May...E-prods are painless, Michael. Most welcome. <br /><br />Maybe I should write a book about not writing books, but thinking out loud about them. <br /><br />Cheers, DecDeclan Burkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14322645323239292406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-24273213428437070362012-01-21T17:41:46.057+00:002012-01-21T17:41:46.057+00:00I enjoy reading you "thinking out loud" ...I enjoy reading you "thinking out loud" though there are times, after I post, I feel like I should apologize for prods and prompts that are e-versions of a cattle prod.<br /><br />The new book is sounding better every time you update us about it.michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17812924049258701715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-57466440652280296452012-01-21T11:32:35.546+00:002012-01-21T11:32:35.546+00:00Michael - I suppose 'appears to restore order&...Michael - I suppose 'appears to restore order' is the crucial phrase. <br /><br />I think what I'm trying to get at in the book is that my guy finds himself in a post-justice/injustice universe. There are actions and reactions, but all are essentially meaningless in terms of morality and philosophy. Which possibly means that all actions are equally meaningful. <br /><br />Sorry, just thinking out loud. Much obliged for the prods and prompts. Appreciate it. <br /><br />Cheers, DecDeclan Burkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14322645323239292406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-6406184355756090862012-01-21T01:30:51.940+00:002012-01-21T01:30:51.940+00:00Dec, I am anti-label so good luck to you.
But, ho...Dec, I am anti-label so good luck to you.<br /><br />But, how can there be "justice" with the existence of crime?<br /><br />How often does the detective fail before restoring order? How much injustice occurs in the struggle for order under the false belief in justice? <br /><br />Part of the appeal of the mystery genre is it appears to restore order, while our reality is in constant state of chaos.michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17812924049258701715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-243848188982522992012-01-20T20:39:16.032+00:002012-01-20T20:39:16.032+00:00Lil -
"As I get older, I see that it doesn&...Lil - <br /><br />"As I get older, I see that it doesn't always work, but I must live and act a certain way, or feel badly when I don't." <br /><br />In a nutshell, that may well be the perfect summary of the humanist position.<br /><br />Oh, and Ms Witch? I thank you kindly, ma'am, as always. <br /><br />Cheers, DecDeclan Burkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14322645323239292406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-36263671699201408452012-01-20T20:37:35.254+00:002012-01-20T20:37:35.254+00:00Dana - I agree that redemption is always incomplet...Dana - I agree that redemption is always incomplete. I suppose one of the essential attractions of fiction is that it persuades us otherwise.<br /><br />Cheers, DecDeclan Burkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14322645323239292406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-58514790333108939862012-01-20T20:36:14.047+00:002012-01-20T20:36:14.047+00:00Very succinctly put, Michael, and I hope you won&#...Very succinctly put, Michael, and I hope you won't take offence when I say that one of my bugbears with crime / mystery as a genre is how straitjacketed the conventions are. <br /><br />In terms of the post, I think what I was trying to get at is that while the universe does have order and harmony, morality makes for a very poor form of physics. <br /><br />As Rigby says at one point in the novel: <br /><br />"I drove along through a Gucci-tinged world, honing my justification should Tohill pull us over. The problem being, as I saw it, that the homo sapien is trapped roughly halfway between micros and cosmos, derived from quantum chaos yet peering at the stars, smart enough to appreciate the order and elegance in every part of the universe that is not human and yet so dumb we confuse harmony with justice; and, being human, crave that which is beyond our reach and wish to tame that which we do not understand, never realising, or at least not admitting to ourselves, that we are the elements out of kilter with all else, an army of intestinal parasites declaring war on their host, eternity, until it hands over the one quality it does not possess."<br /><br />That quality, of course, being justice. <br /><br />In part, I think, the story is an attempt to make more elbow-room in the straitjacket, and hopefully its elbows might even be sharp enough to rip through the fabric. <br /><br />Cheers, DecDeclan Burkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14322645323239292406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-43687851226944531342012-01-20T20:13:38.451+00:002012-01-20T20:13:38.451+00:00Mysteries come in three forms: focus on puzzle, fo...Mysteries come in three forms: focus on puzzle, focus on crime, focus on character. Most writers use a combination of those three.<br /><br />The theme of the mystery and the detective is to restore order to the universe, to society. It is not good vs evil since evil wins with the crime. It is the detective's purpose to restore the balance between the two, good and evil.<br /><br />With noir mysteries the anti-hero chooses the wrong side dooming the character as the genre requires that the status quo, the order of the universe, is reinstated at the end.michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17812924049258701715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-76052351327774496732012-01-20T18:55:24.755+00:002012-01-20T18:55:24.755+00:00You are posing some mighty deep questions here, s...You are posing some mighty deep questions here, some of which have been pondered for centuries [obviously :)]. It seems to me that the best crime fiction is where, for whatever reason, the hero has formed an internal belief system, a philosophy of his own by which to live. As I get older, I see that it doesn't always work, but I must live and act a certain way, or feel badly when I don't. What made Harry Rigby so memorable is his intense humanity and vulnerability, and his willingness to fight to protect those he loved. And what he believed in. I also think we discover what we care about and we believe in throughout life. That is what Job remarkable as an example of it means to be human. In the end, we must have something to believe in; it doesn't have to be big, just ours.<br />I look forward to the book.lil Glucksternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288522126331817172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-24783606246390822402012-01-20T14:34:35.522+00:002012-01-20T14:34:35.522+00:00I believe that what comes out of you when you writ...I believe that what comes out of you when you write is what you are, deep down, in whatever genre you choose. That's why books are so different, while sharing some aspects.<br /><br />You are you, and that's good enough.bookwitchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05237519763315026629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-25461029646830911972012-01-20T14:01:20.866+00:002012-01-20T14:01:20.866+00:00Let me begin by saying I couldn't agree with y...Let me begin by saying I couldn't agree with you more about Chandler, especially vis-a-vis his position relative to Hammett and Macdonald. I try to read at least one Chandler a year, and I've reached the point where I can see some of the blemishes, but, as you said, they are the blemishes of a first love, which makes them endearing more than offputting.<br /><br />As for philosophy, I may have to ponder this and blog it myself, as a comment may only grant enough time to open the vein; I'll still need to bleed. In short, I lean heavily on Chandler's concept of redemption, though in my idea of the best crime fiction such redemption is always incomplete. The dead cannot be brought back to life and the hero's mistakes cannot be wholly undone. He has done his best, and everyone is satisfied with his results and effort. Except him.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.com