Articles & Essays
Background
Noir Crime Fiction
The articles in this section deal with hard-boiled crime fiction—often called ‘noir crime fiction’. Generally speaking, the term ‘noir crime fiction’ (NCF) refers to fiction that deals with the dark side of life. More specifically, NCF deals with seedy characters, often (but not always) from society’s lower-middle and lower classes; and the writing style mirrors the ways in which the members if these classes actually speak, not the way people are usually taught to write. The epithet ‘noir’—the French word for black, dark, or somber—signifies that at least some of the principal characters are unscrupulous sociopaths whose minds live in dark, shadowy places. And even the heroes and heroines in this genre tend to brood and harbor cynical attitudes toward their fellow humans—and toward life in general.
By contrast, classical European—especially English—crime fiction deals almost exclusively with the upper classes. The victims are typically landed gentry, nobility, or at least retired high-ranking military officers: Lady This, Lord That, or Colonel Whoever. And the criminals tend to be of a similar ilk. Even the hard-edged Sherlock Holmes describes his archenemy, the villain James Moriarty, as “a man of good birth and excellent education” (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Problem).
The NCF genre is a uniquely American contribution to the literary arts. But its style and substance have been adopted by several excellent writers in other countries. Examples include Per Wahlöö (1926-1975), Maj Sjöwall (1935-), and Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) in Sweden; and Graham Greene (1904-1991), James Hadley Chase (1906-1985), and Ruth Rendell (1930-2015) in England.
The Big Three
But the pioneers of NCF were all Americans. They were Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961), Raymond Chandler (1888-1959), and Ross Macdonald (1915-1983). Other notable figures in the genre include James M. Cain (1892-1977), Jim Thompson (1906-1967), Mickey Spillane (1918-2006), Robert B. Parker (1932-2010), James Ellroy (1948-), and Scott Phillips (1961-).
Robert B. Parker is often hailed as the “Dean of American Crime Fiction,” especially by the curators of the website www.robertbparker.net. But in the opinion of many devotees of the genre, the first three on the list—Hammett, Chandler, and Macdonald—remain the greatest of all time. (Note: There are some semantics involved in calling Chandler an “American.” He was born in Chicago 1888, but spent his adolescence and young adulthood (1900-1912) in Ireland and England, where he received a classical education. In 1912, at age twenty-four, he returned to the US and in 1913 moved to Los Angeles, where most of his stories are set.)
Hammett, a former operative for the fabled Pinkerton Detective Agency, made a clean break from the crime writers who were popular before him. Chandler perceived the importance of what Hammett had done, and took it several steps further. (See his essay “The Simple Art of Murder,” which is reproduced in the collection of articles and essays on this website.) And Macdonald modeled his style and his characters on what Chandler had created.
Followers of these writers often debate the question Who is the greatest of the three? Many of the articles and essays reproduced here deal with this question.
The articles in this section deal with hard-boiled crime fiction—often called ‘noir crime fiction’. Generally speaking, the term ‘noir crime fiction’ (NCF) refers to fiction that deals with the dark side of life. More specifically, NCF deals with seedy characters, often (but not always) from society’s lower-middle and lower classes; and the writing style mirrors the ways in which the members if these classes actually speak, not the way people are usually taught to write. The epithet ‘noir’—the French word for black, dark, or somber—signifies that at least some of the principal characters are unscrupulous sociopaths whose minds live in dark, shadowy places. And even the heroes and heroines in this genre tend to brood and harbor cynical attitudes toward their fellow humans—and toward life in general.
By contrast, classical European—especially English—crime fiction deals almost exclusively with the upper classes. The victims are typically landed gentry, nobility, or at least retired high-ranking military officers: Lady This, Lord That, or Colonel Whoever. And the criminals tend to be of a similar ilk. Even the hard-edged Sherlock Holmes describes his archenemy, the villain James Moriarty, as “a man of good birth and excellent education” (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Problem).
The NCF genre is a uniquely American contribution to the literary arts. But its style and substance have been adopted by several excellent writers in other countries. Examples include Per Wahlöö (1926-1975), Maj Sjöwall (1935-), and Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) in Sweden; and Graham Greene (1904-1991), James Hadley Chase (1906-1985), and Ruth Rendell (1930-2015) in England.
The Big Three
But the pioneers of NCF were all Americans. They were Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961), Raymond Chandler (1888-1959), and Ross Macdonald (1915-1983). Other notable figures in the genre include James M. Cain (1892-1977), Jim Thompson (1906-1967), Mickey Spillane (1918-2006), Robert B. Parker (1932-2010), James Ellroy (1948-), and Scott Phillips (1961-).
Robert B. Parker is often hailed as the “Dean of American Crime Fiction,” especially by the curators of the website www.robertbparker.net. But in the opinion of many devotees of the genre, the first three on the list—Hammett, Chandler, and Macdonald—remain the greatest of all time. (Note: There are some semantics involved in calling Chandler an “American.” He was born in Chicago 1888, but spent his adolescence and young adulthood (1900-1912) in Ireland and England, where he received a classical education. In 1912, at age twenty-four, he returned to the US and in 1913 moved to Los Angeles, where most of his stories are set.)
Hammett, a former operative for the fabled Pinkerton Detective Agency, made a clean break from the crime writers who were popular before him. Chandler perceived the importance of what Hammett had done, and took it several steps further. (See his essay “The Simple Art of Murder,” which is reproduced in the collection of articles and essays on this website.) And Macdonald modeled his style and his characters on what Chandler had created.
Followers of these writers often debate the question Who is the greatest of the three? Many of the articles and essays reproduced here deal with this question.