Davis on Chandler

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Davis' description of Chandler seems more relevant to the old versions (1930s-40s) of the Nancy Drew (and, I'm guessing, Hardy Boys) books, which were filled with references to Negresses, dark-skinned foreign types with low foreheads and piercing dark eyes, Irish cops, Jewish pawnbrokers, inscrutable Chinamen, and evil, vaguely slutty women wearing cheap perfume.  No references to marijuana or homosexuality were allowed in kiddy books, but the rest was fair game.  ANd of course racial caricatures were rife in the movies.  Pretty pervasive in pop culture of the day, so it wouldn't be surprising for some of it to surface as a backdrop in Chandler or any other writer in the '30s and '40s.

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: John Carvill <johncarvill at gmail.com>

>
>> I'm sorry, but I am going to dispute Davis' interpretation....it is tendentious and, I think, often a misreading.
>
>Yes, I would have to agree. I don't know anything about Davis's
>general views on Chandler, but what was quoted today struck me as
>wilfully wrong.
>
>> What is 'fascist' paranoia?
>
>Similar to Hysterical Realism?
>
>I don't think we can peg Chandler as a racist, even if we don't allow
>for the fact that he was writing in different times. That said, it can
>be jarring to read teh start of 'Farewell My Lovely' these days, all
>those 'negro' references and stuff like this, when Marlowe enters a
>'negro' bar:
>
>"There was a sudden silence as heavy as a water-logged boat. Eyes
>looked at us, chestnut colored eyes, set in faces that ranged from
>grey to deep black. Heads turned slowly and teh eyes in them glistened
>and stared in the dead alien silence of another race."
>
>As you say, how is Marlowe a 'burgher'? And what is he 'avenging'?
>
>Nope, I don't reckon we can collar Marlowe/Chandler for racism or
>fascism or even misogyny. Perhaps a dash of homophobia, though.
>
>A-and, I don't think Chandler was very keen on marijuana. The presence
>of dope usually suggests degenerate villainy in Chandler, as I recall.
>
>Cheers
>J