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Discussion for Hard Boiled Crime
Introduction
The author who will be the center of discussion for this paper will be James Ellroy. His fascination with the hardboiled style of writing will be talked about in light of his work “The Black Dahlia.” A novel that got him critical claim. His muse for this novel was a real life murder of a 22 year old waitress named Elizabeth Short, crime that was never solved. This murder renewed the wounds of his own mother’s murder, which also remained unsolved. The hardboiled style of writing in detective fiction is tough, graphic, unsentimental, and violent.
Discussion
How does Ellroy use the hardboiled style in his work of fiction? When the Black Dahlia is put under consideration, every single chapter of the book portrays the hardboiled style of writing. The book starts with the murder of a character, so even the development of the plot starts with a killing. The main protagonist and also the narrator of the story is a Los Angeles Police Officer who goes by the name “Bucky.” As per the narration of everything that is provided by the lead Bucky, which is a combination of a straight-forward style and awkward metaphors; “Silverlake-Echo was several miles due est of Mount lee, a hilly area with lots of twisting streets, greenery and seclusion, the kind of terrain a necrophiliac might find soothing.” It is evident by this quote from the book that the writing is quite graphic, slangy and the narration style is very unique to the genre. What sets this book apart from other novels which use the hardboiled style is the fact that it is based on a real life high profile murder. Another quote from the book; “Four black-and-whites responded to my shots. I explained to the officers that it was a lights and siren roll to Wilshire Station – I was booking the woman for Murder One,” explain the nature of Ellroy’s work.
Conclusion
After going through the book one gets immersed in it, since the writing style is so descriptive and explains every single detail vividly. It stays with one beyond the pages. It is like living the life of Bucky and how he was obsessed with the murder of Elizabeth Short. The sexual tension and detail to the novel also helps the reader feel how gruesome the murder was and further twists the mind with every chapter. The killer even though to this day unknown, shakes the reader to the core with fear. A reader actually lives the psychological trauma that Ellroy is trying to portray through the hardboiled style.
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