ENGL 324 Lecture Notes - Fredric Jameson, Picaresque Novel
3 Dec 2012
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
See handout re:the simple art of murder. > he"s writing it as if hammett"s dead. He shows that he knows who the famous detective novelists are, so that he can denounce them. He makes his case for the significance of hammett"s work, though he also endeavours to put distance between himself and the former. Chandler was impressed with hammett"s ability to transform physical observation into something that reveals character. He wants things both ways: honorable and traditional as well as unrestrictive. Chandler works as an accountant in the oil industry in los angeles. Witnesses traumatic combat, and he witnesses the slaughter of the entirety of a platoon he was stationed in in wwi. he was the only survivor. Comes back as a decorated war veteran. 40"s > drinking, depression, suicidal ideations, marries a woman who"s 18 years older than him. Fired at 44, gives up drinking and starts writing again.
