tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post7016195156775280377..comments2024-03-19T02:33:46.696-07:00Comments on The Passing Tramp: A Meeting of Minds on Mystery: Ross Macdonald and Eudora Welty Discuss Classic Crime FictionThe Passing Tramphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-43101330163202581392015-09-08T15:19:01.050-07:002015-09-08T15:19:01.050-07:00"RM:You know, one nice thing about us detecti..."RM:You know, one nice thing about us detective-story writers is that there are so many different kinds of us, and we don't envy each other, though we compete." So true. I think most of us genuinely like each other and have forged strong friendships.Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09341821908019824778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-89171102246088301052015-09-07T21:01:17.581-07:002015-09-07T21:01:17.581-07:00Thanks, Moira, I always find this sort of material...Thanks, Moira, I always find this sort of material fascinating myself and I like to share it with people when I can. Nolan and Marrs put together quite a trove.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-11757287520803878172015-09-07T20:59:51.488-07:002015-09-07T20:59:51.488-07:00Glad you enjoyed, I love this sort of thing as wel...Glad you enjoyed, I love this sort of thing as well!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-69470802350289969452015-09-07T14:31:14.850-07:002015-09-07T14:31:14.850-07:00Absolutely fascinating- their enthusiasm for the b...Absolutely fascinating- their enthusiasm for the books, and the affection for the writers they actually know as people, simply shines through. a lovely post.grimwighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06150168436753680867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-9473856283449970742015-09-06T07:41:18.740-07:002015-09-06T07:41:18.740-07:00That was fascinating Curt, just sooo interesting. ...That was fascinating Curt, just sooo interesting. Thanks for sharing it - I can't imagine coming across it anywhere else...Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-68775681885502155952015-09-06T01:11:22.917-07:002015-09-06T01:11:22.917-07:00When I started rereading Christie a couple of year...When I started rereading Christie a couple of years ago I was immediately struck by her sparkling prose. She was a very witty and perceptive writer.<br /><br />What has probably counted against her in the eyes of critics is that she had no overt political axe to grind and she wasn’t cynical. You don’t get to use words like transgressive when you discuss her. But she was a shrewd observer of human nature. <br /><br />In fact what make Poirot a great detective is that he likes people and he understands what makes them tick. Christie uses Poirot to make her observations on human motivations and human foibles.dfordoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-32382593382285341512015-09-05T12:00:30.836-07:002015-09-05T12:00:30.836-07:00It's a very interesting correspondence. My on...It's a very interesting correspondence. My one quibble with the book is that Margaret Millar seems to come out more as a "villain" in this book than she does in Nolan's biography of RM, where I thought she seemed much more sympathetic. This book appears to "see" things more as Welty saw them. I do like Welty, but she certainly was not an impartial observer of the Millars' marriage!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-32735333655546428362015-09-05T11:57:38.227-07:002015-09-05T11:57:38.227-07:00So true about RM and Christie! I wanted to highli...So true about RM and Christie! I wanted to highlight that because it goes so against the grain of conventional wisdom. I think given RM's criticism of Chandler and praise of Christie, we may need to start reappraising him as a detective fiction writer. Welty herself and others have wanted to elevate him as someone who "transcended the genre" into the ranks of Literature, but I'm more interested in the question of whether he transcended hard-boiled into the ranks of classic crime fiction. I have some more thoughts on that for later.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-91796154694989875642015-09-05T10:57:53.894-07:002015-09-05T10:57:53.894-07:00Just got this from the library. Love both of them ...Just got this from the library. Love both of them as writers, sure I will love them as correspondents. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-68772589165100157672015-09-05T10:56:46.316-07:002015-09-05T10:56:46.316-07:00Great article. This book sounds like a must-read a...Great article. This book sounds like a must-read and an obvious candidate for an Edgar nomination next year (provided the committee has heard of Ross MacDonald and Eudora Welty -- and no new Holmes book appears)<br />Interesting that RM, one of the finest stylists in the history of the genre, thought Christie wrote well - not something you hear often! May his disdain for Charlotte Armstrong be ascribed to the fact that she was maybe his wife's number one rival (I leave Highsmith aside as she was too much sui generis to be said to compete with anyone)? Xavierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05702919450638993709noreply@blogger.com