Oakley Hall essay

[w8yle at fuse.net]

Hello, Otto.

If you have a chance to see the pay-TV broadcasts of Deadwood, I would urge you to do so. In spite of its obvious debt to Oakley Hall, there's a great deal that sets the series apart from any other work of fiction about the American West. Part of that, as noted here earlier, is the richness and emotional vulnerability of the characters. A very big part of it is the gorgeous, almost Shakespearian language of the dialogue, liberally seasoned (sometimes to the point of farce) with expletives. it would be interesting to see how that works in German. Is the German version to be subtitled, or dubbed?

Don Corathers


---- Otto <ottosell at googlemail.com> wrote: 
> 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
> >