Vivian Speaking of horses, I like to play them myself. But I like to see them work out a little first, see if they’re front-runners or come from behind, find out what their whole card is, what makes them run.
Marlowe Find out mine?
Vivian I think so.
Marlowe Go ahead.
Vivian I’d say you don’t like to be rated. You like to get out in front, open up a lead, take a little breather in the backstretch, and then come home free.
Marlowe You don’t like to be rated yourself.
Vivian I haven’t met anyone yet that can do it. Any suggestions?
Marlowe Well, I can’t tell till I’ve seen you over a distance of ground. You’ve got a touch of class, but I don’t know how, how far you can go.
Vivian A lot depends on who’s in the saddle.
I just read this in The Week magazine, June 4 issue:
“Michael Connelly has developed a pre-novel routine. . . . Before he bgins writing, he buys himself a new computer — and rereads Raymond Chandler’s The Little Sister. ‘That, to me, is the high-water mark,’ Connelly says. He ought to know. The 47-year-old former [Los Angeles] Times crime reporter . . . has been called ‘the best mystery writer in the world’ by no less a rival than George Pelecanos.”
I’m not a huge fan of Connelly, but at least one of your readers is, and anyway I thought you’d be interested.
That’s a damn racy exchange, no pun intended.
And Connelly is good, but Pelecanos is better, IMHO.
Sure, The Big Sleep had some decent dialog, but what about Special Effects or car crashes? None!
DBW: I know. It’s a shame. I watch the film and I keep waiting for the alien invasion, or for a tidal wave to engulf Los Angeles or for mindless robots to march through town – and I am endlessly disappointed.
Michael: I love to hear about what people in a certain field do to get inspired. It’s a sort of “we are all standing on the shoulders of giants” mentality which I fully approve of. Maybe it’s the conservative in me. That nobody re-invents the wheel, and knowing that those who came before helped us to be who we are now – is a good and noble thing.
Mike Nichols, before going into production for whatever movie he’s working on, sits down and watches “Place in the Sun” again. To him, it is a perfect achievement, a perfect melding of story, style, character, plot … It reminds him of where the bar is set – and to always be striving for it.
“Maybe it’s the conservative in me.” Sheila, I swear, I am all atingle.
DBW:
Laughing. Out loud. At my desk.
HAHAHAHAHAHA