>From: "James Reasoner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Re: [rehfans] Well, it's the 21st century
>Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 17:58:51 -0600
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Scotty Henderson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2001 4:58 PM
>Subject: Re: [rehfans] Well, it's the 21st century
>
>
> > From: Michael Martinez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2001 8:31 AM
> > Subject: Re: [rehfans] Well, it's the 21st century
> >
> >
> > > Yes, there is brand recognition. But why did Conan get the brand and
>not
> > > some other character? Why Howard and not, say, Lovecraft (who
>actually
> > has
> > > had more stories turned into movies than Howard, IIRC)?
> >
> > It is about character recognition. Conan is vastly more identifiable to
>the
> > public than any HPL character. Although Pigeons From Hell was made into
>a
>TV
> > movie it did nothing for Howard. Ask the average person what Cthulhu,
>HPL,
> > mythos tales, REH, and Conan mean. Almost all will twig to Conan. The
>others
> > will elicit virtually no comment.
> >
> > > I know there are still some pulp writers out there, but they
> > > aren't getting the attention that Howard and his contempories get.
> >
> > Depends on which genre you think of. In crime stories Chandler and
>Hammett
> > are as big as ever. It is a complex question and I've started a line to
> > explore it on another list dealing in weird and genre writing.
> >
> > Scotty Henderson
>
>This is somewhat off-topic, but I would disagree about Hammett and
>Chandler.
>I'm around mystery fandom quite a bit, and there are now an incredible
>number of mystery fans who have never read *anything* written before about
>1985 and have absolutely no interest in anything older than that. (Sort of
>like the fantasy fans who think Robert Jordan created not only Conan but
>the
>entire fantasy genre.) The increasing Balkanization of all fiction, with
>not only disinterest but active dislike for everything else except one's
>own
>niche, drives me nuts. I grew up reading almost all kinds of fiction,
>still
>do, and I suspect that's true of many people here.
>
>Best,
>James
I have a lot to say about Crime fiction and the genre which includes
Chandler and Hammett, but don't care to do so here. I don't really think it
is relevant.
As far as post 1985 material, there are great tales by Leonard and Crumley,
but they harken back to earlier influences without usually equalling them,
especially when those early influences are Jim Thompson & similar caliber.
McHaney
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
