Mysteries and literature
In today’s NY Times, Charles McGrath has a column about the relationship between genre writing and “literature,” the former being considered very rarely to aspire to or to reach the quality of the latter. Double-standards? Snobbishness? P.D. James is mentioned as one writer whose mysteries might be thought “to transcend the genre,” as I think the obligatory comment goes. In a recent issue of The Tablet, Ms. James has a lovely tribute to Dorothy Sayers (subscription required), who wrote mysteries but also attempted a verse-translation of Dante and published some works of Christian apologetics, too. Ms. James quotes from an amusing satirical piece that Sayers wrote to illustrate the low state of Anglican catechesis. It might apply to RC’s today, too.
Any candidates for genre-transcending authors?
Should we care if it’s “literature” or not?
Hmmm. There’s Dostoievsky with The Brothers Karamazov. And Shakespeare, with Hamlet, the Danish Detective. I’m serious. What makes a mystery a mystery? The attempt to discover who is guilty of heinous crimes and then to put things straight. These desires are, I think, fundamental parts of human nature, so the greatest writers will somestimes be drawn to the mystery genre. There are, of course, a plethora of sub-genres.
Graham Greene’s spy novels, e.g., “The Human Factor.” Spy novels require “the man alone” to wrestle with morality in morally ambiguous circumstances.
Margaret Atwood’s wonderful crime novel, “Alias Grace,” a whodunit about redemption.
Ursula LeGuin’s sci-fi “The Left Hand of Darkness,” about the role gender plays in human relations, and “The Dispossesed,” which explores gender and race (if I’m thinking of the right book …)
BTW, I think P.D. James’ “Children of Men” is one of her worst books–preachy and predictable in spots–and the one where I suspect she tried to write “literature” rather than a crime story.
In any case, the difference between “literature” and “genre fiction” is largely determined by the test of time, no?
Dorothy L. Sayers “attempted” a translation of THE DIVINE COMEDY? Better to say that she succeeded. It is one of the best translations. And from it arose a couple of excellent books on Dante.
Her “some works of Christian apologetics” ranges her among the few serious theologians of the Church of England. Among her comments was that to C.S. Lewis: “The trouble with you religious people is that you have so little trust in God”.
One no longer expects the editorial staff of the NYTimes to know of the existence of GKC and his Father Brown stories. But then who in five years time will be consulting the pages of that news sheet?
Have you seen the film adaptation of Children of Men, Jean? It’s great.
My nomination for best recent genre-transcending author is Patrick O’Brian and his Aubrey-Maturin series, which transcends the genre of historical fiction to achieve something greater and more enduring.
Do Charles Wesley’s hymns transcend the genre, or do they set the standard? Either way, I would say they’re not literature. And I don’t care.
Finish, then, thy new creation;
pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee;
changed from glory into glory,
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.
I doubt that Mark Haddon will write another “mystery” like this, but his book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, whose narrator and amateur detective is a 15-year-old autistic boy, is one of my all-time favorites.
Should we care if it’s “literature” or not?
No! Haddon’s book is definitely “literature,” but if I am in the mood for a mystery, a thriller, or a good science-fiction novel, I don’t care what anybody else’s opinion of it is.
Oh, sorry, we’re talking about mysteries.
Any votes for Trollope?
Grant, I have not seen the film, but my friends who’ve read/seen both say they made a very good movie out of a mediocre book. From what I gather, a lot of changes were made, including the young-ification the lovely and talented Clive Owen character, and the pretti-fication of the Kate Winslett character. It hasn’t come up on my Netflix delivery sked, yet, so don’t tell me more than that.
David, I almost picked up that Haddon book yesterday in the bookstore, but I’m trying to curb my tendency to go hog wild on books and check them out at the library instead.
Gabriel, I really wish I could concur with the Father Brown stories. I bought the whole collection for my husband for Christmas one year, and neither of us could muster much interest for them. Maybe we’re missing something.
OK, back to my book shelf, I’d add to our list Wilkie Collins’ “Moonstone” and “Woman in White,” great Victorian mysteries. And the newer “The Egyptologist” by Arthur Phillips. Or maybe that’s not such great literature, but it should at least get a consolation prize for best use of the epistolary form.
And, in the horror genre, how about “Interview with a Vampire”? Beautifully written, and full of soul, certainly superior to Stoker’s “Dracula,” which we ought to kick out of the literary canon if only because he uses the word “laconic” about 2,000 times. It’s really a dreadfully written book. Someone should really count up the number of times the American character is called “laconic.” The silent film “Nosferatu” (anybody ever note the similarity between Drac and Mr. Burns on “The Simpsons”?) is superior to the book.
Commonweal CLEARLY needs an online book club.
Philistine that I am, i think Adam Dagleish isa a stiff (my wife concurs.0
My hero is Inspector Morse – adverse to violence -always tring to use his brainpower but fallible as the rest of us, lover of good music and a nice drink to help him along.
My favorite of the TV version was “Fat Chance” in which the old English canon is suspected of mudering the first female candidate to head the Oxford chaplaincy.
He remnds Morse that Jesus chose only men; Morse replies )sourly) “They only had male doctors in that time, but we seem to hav egotten over it.”
Lots of fun trying to spot Colin Dexter’s came in each, but the books themselves are far mor fun with delicious quotes before each chapter.
I agree that it makes no difference if someone else thinks it’s literature or not. As long as it’s a “good read,” and, of course, what that means will vary on circumstances–my criteria are not very exacting for airline travel.
Among tho series I would rank high are those by James Lee Burke, most set in New Iberia, LA (I’d love to know what Ann Oliver thinks of them), Michael Connelly (L.A.), and George Pelecanos, much less well-known, set in D.C., indispensable reading if you want to get a sense of what poverty and mal-education cost a big city. I also loved the early mysteries written by Dennis Lehane, but then he went serious on us.
How about the mysterious power to charm of the comic novels and stories of P.G. Wodehouse? I have embarrassed myself many times by dissolving into helpless laughter in all too public places while reading Wodehouse. (“The Code of the Woosters” is a special challenge.) But apart from the humor, the language of the books is just so perfectly, absurdly apt.
Another favorite that completely transcends genre is Boswell’s Life of Johnson. I spent a summer reading it when I was in graduate school and it was a revelation. The sheer life in its pages, the originality of it, the contradictions and asides, the way it refused to be contained in its traditional format just bowled me over, and still does.
Then there is the perfection of Beatrix Potter’s little books. Not a wasted word, and such a poised, cool narration of little tragedies, comedies, adventure tales, horror stories. They are good reads for children, but the more you’ve seen of life, the richer and darker they get.
Fr. Komonchak,
It’s good to see another Michael Connelly fan. Apparently a great many people who read Connelly also read Robert Crais. (Their characters have even made guest appearances in each others’ books.) But I have read all of Connelly and only a couple of books by Crais.
Also fun are the books by Carol O’Connell featuring Kathleen Mallory, a cop who spent her childhood as a runaway on the streets and bears many scars from it.
I like the Robert Crais books, too; just bought one the other day. (Am not giving them up for Lent.) I also like John Sanford’s books–Twin Cities–, and Steve Hamilton–upper peninsula Michigan.
Jean,
Father Brown is the only Chesterton I can read.
That’s not to say I like them very much.
In the detective thriller genre–there is one who, above all others, writes literature.
Walter Mosely.
I love Michael Connelly, but he’s not close to Walter Mosely.
http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/features/waltermosley/
Like Connelly, his books are set in Los Angeles, but a bygone Los Angeles—pre-Watts riots.
You will never find a better presentation of race in America. Fiction or non-fiction.
Dorothy Sayers transcends the mystery genre in “Gaudy Night”, and possibly “The Nine Tailors”. Marjorie Allingham came close in “The Tiger in the Smoke”.
Is musical comedy a genre? If so, then Stephen Sondheim has done it in “Sweeney Todd”, “A Little Night Music”, possibly “Into the Woods”. Although, since drama is so collaborative, probably best not to give him full credit?
Never sure what to make of The Lord of the Rings. I guess that subsequent to its publication a genre grew up around it? I confess to have read nothing in the category save LotR, but as a yarn it works for me.
Not sure how much Vonnegut is read anymore, but istm that in something like Slaughterhouse Five he transcends Sci Fi.
They say there are excellent writers of novels of the American West, but I’ve never sampled.
Jim, thanks for those Dorothy Sayer rec’s. I read one of her books and was underwhelmed; don’t remember the name. But she’s had so many mentions here, so I’ll try her again.
I think the jury sent Vonnegut to the realms of “real literature” long ago, but some people still want to kick him out as a lightweight. I recently read “Time Quake.” If I had to write a final memoir, I could only hope it would be half as good as that one.
n one chapter, Vonnegut talks briefly about his lifelong depression and suicidal tendencies. He said the one thing that prevented him from going through with his plans was reading somewhere that children of suicides are more likely to take their own lives, so every time he resisted the temptation to kill himself, he viewed it as saving his kids’ lives. Only a Vonnegut or a Twain could possibly find the fierce humor in that.
I took “Lonesome Dove” with me on a flight to Japan; really liked it.
Which reminds me of the early westerms pf Elmore Leonard, more widely and justly famous for his mysteries–definitely in the top-ten!
Since there are many New Yorkers on this thread, I thought I’d bring up Linda Fairstein. Linda and Leslie Cocker Snyder (now a distinguished judge) headed what i submit was the best sex crimes unity in the country when I was still working.
Linda’s crime stories have really good, true-to-life stuff about sex crimes coupled with all kinds of interesting material on New York history, Also, her cops sound very true to life – the good ones that is – and her description of the political machinations in Criminal Justice also ring true.
For those interested in such…
Ann Olivier asked me to post this for her; she can’t log in:
Ellery Queen hooked me on detective stories when I was twelve, so I’ve read more than a few.
I”m surprised nobody on the blog has mentioned Ruth Rendell, the master of creepiness, who is a great favorite of many, though not of mine. English eccentric stuff, but her Inspectro Wexler series is OK. Another creepy and much-admired writer is Anne Perry. She writes extremely well, but she too creeped me out. Later I found out that she herself had helped a fellow adolescent friend to murder her friend’s mother. Did time for it. Write what you know, they say.
If you like police procedurals, Elizabeth George is fine. If I’m not mistaken, she used to work in a forensic lab. Excellent writer, but too much blood and guts for me.
If you like funny stuff, there is always M.C. Beaton’s Scottish cozies about Hamish Macbeth, and her Agatha Raisin series. Her characterizations are better than most “serious” novelists, and she does them in few strokes. Short, funny and poignant. Then there’s Joan Hess, a really sharp lady from Fayettesville, whose Maggody series is sometimes hilarious. (I wonder if she knows Bill and Hillary. Hmm.) Maybe the best of the funnies, however, are the Inspector Lestrade ones by George W. S. Trow — very tongue in cheek. Lestrade thinks Holmes is an ass, which, of course, he is.
Some of us think that the greatest of all sheer detective stories are those of Josephine Tey, but she wrote only five of thm a long time ago. And who can forget Ngaio Marsh? If you like the theatre, she’s for you. Then there’s the other theatre series, Simon Brett’s contemporary Charles Paris series. (Not the Carole and Jude series!) All round first rate but unpretentious.
If Europe is your beat, try Donna Leon. About Venice. All round good detective stories. Oops, I forgot the Laura Joh Rowland series about ancient Japan. She’s got it *all*. A bit too gory for me, but the gore flys by fast and there’s always a reason for it. (Is the solution to the problem of suffering to be found there — suffering is tolerable if there’s a reason for it? What if you don’t understand reasons? But I digress.)
I used to read James Lee Burke. He writes beautifully about the bayou country, and his characters are interesting. But we don’t really have that *many* outlandish characters per square mile as he leads you to think. Still, they’re well done. I quit reading him because the stories became more and more brutal when I didn’t think the brutality needed to be described in such detail. The Greeks had it write — keep the horror offstge. I’ve read that Burke was in Viet Nam and “had a bad war”, as the saying goes. Maybe he’s trying to heal his psychological scars.
And then there are the “historical mysteries,” and leading them all, Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series–I went through them all in about a year, and was grieved to hear that she had died and there would be no more. But a close second are the Dame Frevisse novels of Margaret Frazer. Both series appear to be well grounded historically and they are mercifully free of the usual “Dark Ages” nonsense and treat the religious lives–sins and graces both–seriously and respectfully. If you haven’t started on the two series, you have treats in store for you,
No one has mentioned the British mystery novelist Minette Walters. I haven’t read many of her books, but the ones I have read were very good (and disturbing).
Among my favorites when I was a teenager were the science-fiction mysteries of Isaac Asimov, featuring the NYPD detective Elijah Bailey and his robot partner, R. Daneel Olivaw. They are The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and The Robots of Dawn.