Senator Jack
Vendor
- Messages
- 2,845
As I had written, I've only started reading some of O'Hara's shorts so I can't comment on all his work, but while there is a soapy element, I believe the man took it to an intellectual level. Much like Jim Thompson and the pulp novel.
I like how some of his stories haven't any conclusion - they just drift into nothingness or hang on an unsaid word, much like our own lives. His ear for dialogue is, like Lardner's, rhythmically tuned without having to resort to stream of conciousness gibberish. That is, while Kerouac, for example, put together words that sound good (thus 'the beat'), one has to dissect them for meaning (if there is any). But writers like O'Hara and Lardner were able to underlay workaday English with a rhythm that moved story and character forward. There are very few writers that can do that. Even Greene, whom I consider one of the greatest, didn't have that ear for dialogue.
Regards,
Senator Jack
I like how some of his stories haven't any conclusion - they just drift into nothingness or hang on an unsaid word, much like our own lives. His ear for dialogue is, like Lardner's, rhythmically tuned without having to resort to stream of conciousness gibberish. That is, while Kerouac, for example, put together words that sound good (thus 'the beat'), one has to dissect them for meaning (if there is any). But writers like O'Hara and Lardner were able to underlay workaday English with a rhythm that moved story and character forward. There are very few writers that can do that. Even Greene, whom I consider one of the greatest, didn't have that ear for dialogue.
Regards,
Senator Jack
