I had been sketching out a few ideas for what to write about crime in literature, but hearing Open Book on Radio 4 today and some of the observations in particular from the two guests, writer John Banville and critic Marcel Berlins, I thought they were too good not to share with you all.
Speaking for myself, I find the current form and popularity of crime fiction very interesting indeed. Sure, there are good books and bad books, but it's interesting the way that there are many of them, and all so similar. Banville explained that when he writes crime fiction, it flows so much more easily than when he writes more conventional, more literary fiction. It's more or less plain English - always a popular one with the reader.
The observation, I think made by Marcel Berlins, was that the crime novel in its form is a popular tool to explore particular issues in society. This seems fairly logical - we want to investigate an issue in society, so why not make your main character an investigator? But the more profound point was this; in this country we live increasingly secure lives, free of much violence. And yet we turn on our TV and see images of violence all the time. This leads us to be fearful but also curious of it and the context the violence is in. So we want to read something that draws us into that alien, violent world and helps us to make sense of it.
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4 comments:
"So we want to read something that draws us into that alien, violent world and helps us to make sense of it."
I enjoy crime novels (US rather than UK though) but they are entertainment - I doubt that most crimes are as convoluted and intricate in real life as they tend to be in the novels of Kathy Reichs, Jonathan Kellerman or Karin Slaughter!
In fact, looking at a lot of the police blogs, investigations are pretty short indeed, and consist of locating and arresting the dearly departed's husband/partner/neighbour/drinking companion...
You are right Juliam - most investigations are pretty boring! Rare is the occasion I have a real puzzler - something the I have to think about. Most of the difficulties I come up against are evidential - i.e. trying to find the primary evidence to prove something I already know. It's not the same as a real mystery.
But I agree, crime fiction is very entertaining - I like reading a real mystery. And though I do enjoy reading Ian Rankin, it's not the sort of thing I like to read every time. Have you ever read any Elmore Leonard?
I've only ever read one - '52 Pick Up' - but mainly because I had seen the film and wanted to compare.
Not a bad read, but not my preferred writing style. His works have been filmed a lot, though. I wonder if he's the 'most filmed author' in US crime fiction..?
Quite a few people find Elmore Leonard just a bit too 'pulpy'. I do enjoy reading the odd one of his, but you don't get the same sense of satisfaction reading someone like, say, James Ellroy. That said, I love the way the baddies is Leonard's books are not always the brightest sparks. They always end up doing something really dumb.
And I think you are right about him being the most filmed author - something like 21 films have been made from his books, and one TV series.
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