Thanks to my friend, Jock, for forwarding these words by Ford Madox Ford on Detective Fiction :
If you will take up a good – and that means a popular – detective story you will see that its construction is admirable; its style fluid; it will of necessity employ the modern aesthetic device called the ‘time-shift’ which the established critics of the more pompous journals still find esoteric …
Yet the great novels of the world, whether of the romantic, the classical or the realistic modern schools have all – and this is no paradox – been mystery stories. ‘Vanity Fair’ is a mystery story, worked from the inside instead of from the out. So is ‘Madame Bovary’; so is Conrad’s ‘The Secret Agent’; so, for the matter of that, is ‘Tom Jones’ with its working up to the triumphant exposure of young Mr Blifil; so is ‘The Vicar of Wakefield’…
It is true that the writer of the greater fiction works as a rule from the inside – with the criminal – instead of exteriorly with the detector of crime. That is because, keeping company with the criminal, you have better opportunity for following the psychological involutions of that character……… Just imagine ‘Madame Bovary’ worked from the outside, a psychologically acute investigator of crime being called to Emma Bovary’s bedside the moment after her death and having to unroll, from all the data given by the author, the history of poor Emma’s gradual deterioration from her gentle but indomitable romanticism, through sordid intrigues and peculations to her inevitable suicide. What a roman policier that would be! ‘
I’m always interested in writers on the art and effort and imagination of writing but right now, am more curious about your shoulder recovery. Hope it’s gone well without too many painkillers.
pat – thanks for your concern – the shoulder seems to be mending pretty well as long as i keep doing the exercises and, perhaps more importantly, remember not to overuse the arm – my right, unfortunately – too soon – repetitive movements of arm and shoulder are particularly prohibited which means, perforce, developing a degree of adroitness in my left hand at the computer keyboard.
overall forecast suggests more or less full use back in 12 weeks, though whether i’ll ever raise a badminton racquet again for that winning cross-court smash is doubtful.
more regrettably, in all likelihood it will be close to the end of february before i can get back down to the book i’d started working on in earnest.
Well, that gives you more introspective and plot mapping time but means we’ll have to be more patient than ,at least MY, character usually dissplays! Very glad the recovery is moving along, tho.
Ultrasound? Acupuncture? What a bugger it is – I had to stop writing, as in keying words on a computer, for three months because of carpal tunnel syndrome and I hated the restriction. Kind friends suggested VR software but I kept hoping I’d get better and not have to climb a new techie mountain. I hope you get better soon, and back to the new book! And Happy NY!
Don’t think I wished you a Very Happy and successful New Year-”successful” is redundant as you are already enjoying much success.