Something ain't right, by Terry Freedman
This is no good. It’s really no good. I mentioned recently that I’ve been given just over a week to read and review two books for an education magazine. Since I believe it’s only fair to read books thoroughly if I’m to write about them truthfully, I can’t just skim read them and hope for the best. Plus, there’s the reading I “have” to do for a graphic novel course, plus article writing for clients, plus….
Thus the least sensible thing one can do in circumstances like this is to read stuff which has absolutely no bearing on any it.
And that’s exactly what I’m doing now.
The reason (well, my excuse), is that I recently attended a course on hardboiled fiction, specifically Farewell My Lovely, by Raymond Chandler, and The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett. I enrolled on the course because I’ve always liked hardboiled short stories and film noir, and I thought the course might galvanise me into finding the time to read the novels.
Another reason is that as a writer I like to scrutinise writing, especially fiction writing, to try and work out how the writer achieves a particular effect. Hammett and Chandler are great resources in this regard, because their similes and metaphors (and, in Chandler’s case, humour) are fresh even over 80 years after they were written.
“Most critical writing is drivel and half of it is dishonest. It is a short cut to oblivion, anyway. Thinking in terms of ideas destroys the power to think in terms of emotions and sensations.”
The course was only two sessions long, but the tutor, Siv Jansson, packed a lot in. She especially covered biographical details, and a plethora of background and contextual details. We also discussed the sort of language used, which by today’s standards might be considered racist and sexist.
“I have made three rules of writing for myself that are absolutes: Never take advice. Never show or discuss work in progress. Never answer a critic.”
Siv is an expert and, as John Hattie’s research has shown, teacher expertise is one of the main influences on student understanding and progress. (See also my SchoolsWeek review of The Turning Point for the Teaching Profession.)
Because of Siv’s knowledge and enthusiasm, I now find myself reading The Big Sleep, by Chandler, and with several book reviews and essays about his work lined up. I really don’t have time for this!
“The actual writing is what you live for. The rest is something you have to get through in order to arrive at the point.”
Siv is teaching other courses, such as one on the Victorian novel. However, I am hoping that sometime soon she will run a longer course on hardboiled fiction, taking in other authors in that genre, and with time for more close reading of the texts. In the meantime, another course at the City Lit beckons: Film Noir to Neo Noir.
Time to dust off the fedora….
(In case it’s of interest, I recently republished a hardboiled story I wrote for a bit of fun, and as an experiment!)
The Raymond Chandler quotes are cited on the LibQuotes website.
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