IVIV Chandler

[John Carvill]

>
> I don't see how anybody could argue that Marlowe is not mysoginist,
> homophobic, and racist, reflecting as he does the attitudes of a culture
> that is all that, but would be interested in a close reading that shows him
> not to be. Sorry but I don't like the police very much, or their milieu. I
> got beat up by them one time for no good reason. I've seen them beat up
> other nice people for no good reason.  Understood that they occupy a tough
> spot in society, that many have the best intentions (as most of us have),
> that sometimes they protect us from evil, etc. I still don't care for them
> much.  Marlowe seems a bit more self-reflecting that the meathead pigs who
> beat me, that's true, but as a PI, like Doc, he's only one step removed from
> being a cop himself.

Nah, Doug, Marlowe is an ex-cop, he doesn't get on well with the cops,
they don't like him and he doesn't think too much of them. One time, I
was put in the back of a police van and beaten around it while it was
driven out to some remote rough suburb of Dublin, where I was dumped
out at speed covered in bruises and having had all paper including
cash and the address of where I was going removed from my wallet. So I
know what you mean.

But Marlowe is a lot further from being a cop than you think. I'd like
to see a close reading that proves he's a racist, or a brute. Who does
he brutalise? As I said before, there are some dubious attitudes on
display, but you really need to be careful, as you say a close reading
is required. Wish I had time for even a casual re-reading of all those
great Chandler books right now.