A mesure que les frontières entre les genres se brouillent, il ne reste plus beaucoup de différences entre la littérature dite "savante" et sa soeur dite "populaire": toutes deux ont les mêmes aspirations, traitent des mêmes sujets et il n'est pas rare de voir des auteurs naviguer de l'une à l'autre au gré de leur … Lire la suite Beaucoup trop ou trop peu?
The Journey So Far
Since we're right in the middle of the year I thought it might be interesting to share with you my best reads so far. This being too early to issue a definitive ranking I've decided to go instead with alphabetical order; I'm confident however that most of the items listed below will find their way … Lire la suite The Journey So Far
No Laughing Matter
There are basically two kinds of crime fiction nowadays; the "Commercial" one that sells and the "Prestige" one that earns critical applause and wins awards. They used to be one and the same but as so often happens with art forms they drifted apart and now rarely overlap. They still have something in common, however: … Lire la suite No Laughing Matter
The Golden Age of What?
The question asked in the title of this article may seem either bizarre or provocative but it is nevertheless one that needs being asked. People (including me) have been talking about the Golden Age for so long that the concept seems no longer need an explanation. The only debate is about how long the period … Lire la suite The Golden Age of What?
Debuts
2020 has been so eventful a year so far that it's easy to forget it also marks the centennial of the period in crime fiction history known as The Golden Age. Most historians of the genre agree that the era began in 1920 with the almost simultaneous appearance of Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at … Lire la suite Debuts
Genre Crossing
As the Golden Age came to its end and the rules were being less and less strictly enforced, crime writers found themselves enjoying an unprecedented level of freedom - and not quite sure what to do with it. While some (most?) stuck or mostly stuck to the old ways, updating them just enough to satisfy … Lire la suite Genre Crossing
Romancing the (Moon)Stone Again
"The first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels in a genre invented by Collins and not by Poe " These are the famous words T.S. Eliot used to express his admiration for Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone, an endorsement that has graced almost every edition of the book ever since. While the … Lire la suite Romancing the (Moon)Stone Again
A Few More Carrian Thoughts
1. Henri & Jules We know that JDC read pulps in his youth and beyond and that he was a Lovecraft fan - which is not that surprising in retrospect as both writers share some similarities and tend to attract the same kind of reader (Joshi) What about Seabury Quinn, though? It's hard for … Lire la suite A Few More Carrian Thoughts
The Anti-Christie
I've said it before, I say it again: I don't choose books, books choose me - and this is why I have so many classics that everybody else has read still waiting untouched on my shelves. It's true even of books by all-time favourites including this blog's own lar, The Almighty John Dickson Carr, whose … Lire la suite The Anti-Christie
A Matter of Focus
I have often bemoaned here how most contemporary detective novels actually were novels about or with detectives, which is not quite the same thing. However, having had lots of time lately to think about the issue again, I'm slowly driven to the conclusion that this evolution, far from being an aberration, is the logical outcome … Lire la suite A Matter of Focus
