VARIETY
rna, a mere decadent survival. This
is probably true of nine tenths of
the output. That more talented
writers have begun to practice the
genre is quite possibly a healthy
sign. To modify a form which con–
tains useful elements but which has
not been exploited for more seri–
ous ends is just as worthwhile an
experiment as creating new forms.
The temper of the past artistic
generation was unpolitical and in–
trospective. Today we live in a
political age whose tensions show
no sign of lessening. Moreover the
texture of life is unusually thick
with violence. It would seem rea–
sonable that contemporary novel–
ists should be driven in the direc–
tion of drama, that their response
to the current necessity for making
judgments may take the form of a
new interest in the thriller. Indeed
the relation between the individual
and society which is perhaps the
most basic problem of our time
is
concretely symbolized in the con–
cept of crime and punishment, for
this relationship becomes dramatic
when either the individual or so–
ciety transgresses against the other.
Although the new type of crime
literature does not yet include any
great masterpieces there have been
some interesting performances. For
sheer skillfulness in getting effects
the better authors in the field are
unsurpassed. Raymond Chandler
gives us ironic, hard-boiled studies
of corruption, like
The High Win–
dow,
which imply a criticism of
the American scene somewhat sim–
ilar to
Sanctuary
(in itself a su–
perior crime story.).
A Coffin for
Demetrios
is
a thriller with politico-
137
social
implications.
Hangover
Square
is
a chronicle of a fatal
passion with overtones of social cri–
ticism. Graham Greene in
his
really
important novel,
The Labyrinthine
Ways,
uses the escape story pattern
to make a profound comment on
persecution.
The Seventh Cross
is
the same form used as a criticism
of German society.
After all, Dostoievsky has proven
conclusively that the crime story
genre can be made into a work of
art. Since it is currently showing a
new vitality, critics would do well
to recognize its virtues instead of
trying to drive it back to the igno–
miny from which it aspires to rise.
H.
R.
HAYS
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