Quote:
Originally Posted by GA Russell
I see books listed as "noir."
Is that the same thing as "hard-boiled detective" or something different?
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Something different. Stolen from
Wikipedia:
Quote:
Author and academic Megan Abbot described the two thus:
Hardboiled is distinct from noir, though they’re often used interchangeably. The common argument is that hardboiled novels are an extension of the wild west and pioneer narratives of the 19th century. The wilderness becomes the city, and the hero is usually a somewhat fallen character, a detective or a cop. At the end, everything is a mess, people have died, but the hero has done the right thing or close to it, and order has, to a certain extent, been restored.
Noir is different. In noir, everyone is fallen, and right and wrong are not clearly defined and maybe not even attainable.
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Big harboiled authors: Dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane and Raymond Chandler
Big noir authors: Jim Thompson, James M. Cain, Horace McCoy and David Goodis
But of course there is lots of overlap once you start trying to pigeonhole subgenres.