Oakley Hall essay

[Otto]

Hello Don,

good to see that you're back!

I'd never ordered "Warlock" because I thought that the whole genre is
dead but in the light of this discussion here I ordered it yesterday.

There's no Western series left on German free-TV, no "Bonanza", "High
Chapparal" or "Gunsmoke", but "Bonanza" and "High Chapparal" can be
seen on pay-TV.

"Deadwood" starts here on pay-TV next Friday.

I've seen a part of "Red River" last week but couldn't stand to watch
it until the end. Those wooden characters are unbearable.

Otto

2006/8/14, Don Corathers <w8yle at fuse.net>:
> I'm not aware that David Milch has ever acknowledged Warlock as an
> influence, but in fact there are striking similarities of plot,
> circumstance, and character between Deadwood and the novel. Both are set in
> small settlements of dubious political legitimacy, Deadwood in the Dakota
> Territory, Warlock in Arizona before statehood, and the uncertainty of the
> towns' status is an important force driving both stories. In both cases
> silver mining is the main economic engine. In both towns the mines are
> controlled at least in part by rapacious outside interests. There is labor
> unrest at the Warlock mines; there is labor unrest at the Deadwood mines.
> Warlock has two rival saloons, one of which is owned by an ambiguously dark
> eminence who drives the political life of the town; so does Deadwood.
>
> I suppose some of the character similarities--both towns of course have
> reluctant lawmen, legendary gunslingers, courageous, flawed doctors, whores
> with hearts of gold--can be dismissed as unavoidably common elements of the
> Western myth, but they're all present, too. The most remarkable difference
> is that in Warlock, which Oakley Hall wrote about in 1958, fellatio seems to
> be unknown. Not so in Deadwood.
>
> None of this diminishes my admiration for the HBO series, which I think is
> the best-written episodic television ever. (I should also say that the plot
> dynamics of the two works are ultimately pretty different.) But the answer
> to your question is yes, it's pretty clear that Deadwood is strongly
> influenced by Warlock.
>
> Hello to all. I feel like I never left.
>
> Don Corathers
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On Behalf
> Of kelber at mindspring.com
> Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2006 5:51 PM
> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Subject: Re: Oakley Hall essay
>
> The first paragraph of Powers' article is a great explanation of why the
> Western genre is so inaccesible to women (including myself).  It's not about
> the lack of female characters (or the stock nature of the ones who do
> appear: the whore with the heart of gold, the sweet but strong homesteader
> wife, the Annie Oakley type); it's about the lack of emotion.  The height of
> emotional expression for the Western Hero is a tightening of the jawbone.
> Compare this to the garrulous male characters in the TV series, Deadwood,
> who are seething with emotion, and who are capable of describing their hurt
> or confusion at a perceived slight or setback.  Deadwood is the first
> Western I've been able to enjoy (though admittedly I've avoided the genre).
> I've never read Warlock.  For those who have, is there a sense that it's
> influenced or inspired Deadwood?
>
> Laura
>