I think there is something we have lost in our modern world, values, which are largely replaced by priorities, and people being very aware of what is right for them, rather than what is right per se. I certainly never thought about good and evil in novels explicitly until I read that an American author - I could be wrong, but I think it might have been James Lee Burke- had said that every novel is a quest to uncover the nature of good and evil. Then I thought about it, and thought that that was probably what made good literature.
Some one once said that in movie making.The sound might not be perfect,The lighting not the greatest,but of there is a moment of truth,then it can move (or connect with ) us.
The same probably applies in writing.Around all of the characters and scenery described etc.if there are moments of truth or if it touches on our fundamental beliefs (eg Good v Evil ) that resonates within us,then it will stay with us...
"...that every novel is a quest to uncover the nature of good and evil. Then I thought about it, and thought that that was probably what made good literature."
An interesting comment, Griselda, and one with a lot of truth to it. I must confess that I am now racking my brain to think of a novel that doesn't fit this category, but haven't come up with one yet. A reviewer in the NY Times said the other month that all novelists must be humorists, because life is funny, and so to write about it convincingly, one needs a sense of humour. I think AC had that.
Yes, I agree, Anubis, and I couldn't think of a novel that didn't fit the category when I tried. I will have to try to access that review from the NY Times. It seems a very telling and perceptive view point. I think when you appreciate humour you are taking a more distant and objective standpoint which allows you to see the gap between all the petty things humans take seriously and what for an instant you perceive as the higher things in life. It is a kind of being philosophical. AC maintains that humour and irony the whole length of her novels, and when Hastings and then, the vicar, Lionel in Murder at the Vicarage are concerned its sublime. Those tv episodes with David Suchet so brilliantly captured that irony. I don't know how they did it in such a sustained way. All the main actors must have really got on with one another to be in synch so perfectly. I wonder what you will think of the humour, if any, in Partners in Crime, when you see it.
“The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.” - Oscar Wilde. In, say, James Bond adventures, it's pretty obvious who is good and who is evil, and the plot is good over evil with good usually winning. But, keeping in mind that no villain ever considers himself or herself to be evil (except maybe Richard III), I am becoming more attuned to novels in which there is some doubt, or shift, as to which is good and which is evil, for instance, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, and A Clockwork Orange. I'm also interested in stories in which a person realizes that what he has done was evil, and tries to atone for it by being good, like Alec Guinness's character in Bridge on the River Kwai.
What a great quote to fit the theme - from Oscar Wilde. I think you judge well in seeking to explore that 'grey area' of indeterminate good or evil, and authors who tackle that ground must make for a sophisticated and thought -provoking read. I think there is something stubborn in me that seeks black and white, good and evil, and, although I ought to, I don't feel like challenging myself to think with greater subtlety. I think we, as humans, do have the capacity to sense good and evil, as Poirot often does, noticeably in Evil Under The Sun, and part of me wants to exercise that faculty to help me cope well in life. Perhaps I am learning from AC, yes, but also opting lazily for something reassuring.
Getting back to the topic of other crime writers, I have come across an interesting writer who is new to me. If nothing else, he is versatile. It's quite possible that not all of you will like him, but some of you might. The author is Ariel S. Winter (this is a man, and not the actress of the same name who appears on Modern Family). His first mystery novel, called The Twenty Year Death, is composed of three separate, but vaguely related mysteries. The first one, set in 1931 in France, is an homage to George Simenon's Inspector Maigret novels. There is the third-person narrator who knows a little more than the inspector, and the inspector, who eventually solves the case. This one is most like the classic "golden age" mystery. The second, set in 1941, is an homage to Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels, with the first-person narrator who is a tough, confident, wise-cracking private eye investigating Hollywood's seedy underworld. The third, set in 1951, is an homage to Jim Thompson's crime novels. The characters in these novels are not exactly what you would call filled with redeeming features; they are desperate people, hanging on to life by the fingertips. There is also a first-person narrator here, but he is certainly not a detective. There is definitely a lot of fluidity about who / what is good or evil. Regardless, Ariel Winter mimics the style of each of the three different writers, who he obviously respects, so perfectly that it is a remarkable achievement.
After reading all ACs (more than once over the last 40 years!) I started on Ngaio Marsh, Patricia Wentworth, Sara Woods, Marion Babson, Dorothy Sayers, Ann Grainger, Elizabeth George, Simon Brett, Martha Grimes and Elizabeth Ferrars. I am currently reading MC Beaton Agatha Raisin series and really enjoying them. However, I did break off to read N or M? for the umpteenth time!
Someone (perhaps Margery Allingham) once said that Dorothy Sayers fatal mistake was that she fell in love with her detective. There is a great deal of truth in that, towards the last novels he becomes so perfect that he is a bit of a bore - though his PTSD saves him a bit of humanity.
Someone (perhaps Margery Allingham) once said that Dorothy Sayers fatal mistake was that she fell in love with her detective. There is a great deal of truth in that, towards the last novels he becomes so perfect that he is a bit of a bore - though his PTSD saves him a bit of humanity.
I think it's wonderful that Dorothy L. Sayers fell in love with her detective Lord Peter Wimsey. To find a writer who actually enjoys writing a series with a reoccurring character without getting tired, annoyed or aggravated with that character is refreshing. Agatha Christie got a little annoyed with her detective Poirot as well as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with Sherlock Holmes which made him get rid of Holmes in "The Final Problem"....and his fans wanted more stories so it was both fan request and money that bought the series back with "The Empty House". Now back to Dorothy L. Sayers, she enjoyed Lord Peter Wimsey and I'm sure she would have enjoyed writing more stories with him in them, but she wanted to depart from the mystery genre and write some different material and that she did.
For anybody who wants more about Peter Whimsey: Jill Paton Walsh wrote three more books about Peter and Harriet Whimsey. They are quite good, pretty much in the style of Dorothy Sayers and worth reading. In addition, there are "The Wimsey Papers" by Dorothy Sayers, published in 1939-1940, containing supposed letters from various members of the Whimsey family (Jill Paton based some of her sequels on them). They were published in a magazine, and then collected.
For anybody who wants more about Peter Whimsey: Jill Paton Walsh wrote three more books about Peter and Harriet Whimsey. They are quite good, pretty much in the style of Dorothy Sayers and worth reading. In addition, there are "The Wimsey Papers" by Dorothy Sayers, published in 1939-1940, containing supposed letters from various members of the Whimsey family (Jill Paton based some of her sequels on them). They were published in a magazine, and then collected.
Thanks, @taliavishay-arbel for sharing! I didn't know. I'm not a huge fan, but I like Peter Whimsey.
Has anyone read the Inspector Barnaby series by Caroline Graham? I heard that they are very good and I took a peek into her writing and from the little sample that I read she writes very well and her use of words are exceptional. She wrote: The Killings At Badgers Drift, Written In Blood, Death Of A Hollow Man, Death In Disguise, Faith Unto Death, A Place of Safety, and the Ghost In The Machine. It seems like the last Barnaby mystery she wrote was back in 2004. If the books are good, it would be great if she wrote some more.
Like so many, I started with Conan Doyle's Holmes. And Mary Stewart, whose books contained a mystery element. But then I read Raymond Chandler, G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown, and just recently started reading Agatha Christie. I'm working my way through her catalogue.
What can you say about Doyle that hasn't already been said? The Jeremy Brett TV series was one of the best and most faithful book adaptations of any genre. I love reading Stewart's plucky heroines and exotic locations. Father Brown just seems to sit there, think for a minute, and voila, case closed.
Chandler is an excellent stylist, and I have read my favorites (The Big Sleep, The High Window, The Little Sister) multiple times. Christie is mesmerizing: characters, setting, and plot.
Ajisai, one of Mary Stewart's books, The Moonspinners, was filmed decades ago, starring Hayley Mills. You might want to watch it. I'm a great fan of hers.
Ajisai, one of Mary Stewart's books, The Moonspinners, was filmed decades ago, starring Hayley Mills. You might want to watch it. I'm a great fan of hers.
Chandler is an excellent stylist, and I have read my favorites (The Big Sleep, The High Window, The Little Sister) multiple times.
I've been reading a book about Raymond Chandler and inside there were some excerpts from the Philip Marlowe books. The dialogue that Chandler uses are so witty, it flows, and it's crisp -- it gets to the point. It reminds me of the dialogue in Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series. That's the kind of dialogue I would like to demonstrate in my own writing. I haven't read any of Raymond Chandler's books but I am considering it. I never read hardboiled crime novels before.
Try The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely, or The High Window. Sad to say, Chandler's writing and storytelling magic dropped off with his last couple of books.
Comments
“The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.” - Oscar Wilde. In, say, James Bond adventures, it's pretty obvious who is good and who is evil, and the plot is good over evil with good usually winning. But, keeping in mind that no villain ever considers himself or herself to be evil (except maybe Richard III), I am becoming more attuned to novels in which there is some doubt, or shift, as to which is good and which is evil, for instance, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, and A Clockwork Orange. I'm also interested in stories in which a person realizes that what he has done was evil, and tries to atone for it by being good, like Alec Guinness's character in Bridge on the River Kwai.
The same as in the series multipled Greatly but there again I have only read 2
What can you say about Doyle that hasn't already been said? The Jeremy Brett TV series was one of the best and most faithful book adaptations of any genre. I love reading Stewart's plucky heroines and exotic locations. Father Brown just seems to sit there, think for a minute, and voila, case closed.
Chandler is an excellent stylist, and I have read my favorites (The Big Sleep, The High Window, The Little Sister) multiple times. Christie is mesmerizing: characters, setting, and plot.
Thanks for the tip! I will look for it.