Hello and thanks for the note. Who are you doing to report for?
By the “book” I’m assuming you mean Sandman Slim, so that’s what I’ll talk about. I don’t know how much of this I discussed in the video interview. The book is a combination of American crime fiction, fantasy, and a lot of old mythology and heretical religious writing I’ve read in the last few years.
A lot of the stuff about angels originally came from old Christian heretical texts, such as the book of Enoch, an ancient gospel that was thrown out when the church elders were assembling the first Bibles. Hell itself is a combination of Roman history, Weimar Germany, and Dante’s Inferno. Lucifer, who is a major character in the second Sandman slim book, is straight from Milton’s Paradise lost, with the kind of snotty rock star attitude on top.
Even though a lot of people call Sandman Slim noir, it really isn’t. Everyone who writes dark and cynical books about LA gets called noir. Probably because most people associate that kind of writing with Raymond Chandler. I admire Chandler’s books, but he’s not a direct influence on my writing. I’m more influenced by American crime writers than I am mystery writers. Most noir is based around the mystery, while crime writers generally write about unsavory people in the act of committing crimes.
Fifties and sixties crime writers such as Jim Thompson, the author of The Getaway and The Killer Inside Me, is a much more direct influence. A similar writer who had a big effect on the book is Richard Stark. In fact, the reason my main character is called Stark is to acknowledge the other’s Stark’s influence. The star of Stark’s book series is a criminal named Parker. That’s why I have a Parker in my book, too. The stripped down prose style of Sandman Slim is also a tribute to those earlier writers. Their style was terse and unadorned. Very straightforward, with little consideration for pretty or complex turns of phrase. I’m generally a very descriptive writer, but in Sandman Slim I dropped that to keep the story and the prose propulsive and staccato, moving along, not trying to paint pretty pictures.
I hope this helps. Good luck with your report.
Best,
RK
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i replied with this.
ReplyDeleteYeah this helps tremendously. thank you.
I'm doing this report as a Final for my 10 grade honors English teacher, Theodun Humphrey, who actually turned me to the book. This really helps, since i wasn't sure what things were big influences on your writing style, and the actual story. I really enjoyed Sandman Slim, and i anxiously awaiting your second book.
Thanks,
Tyler Stewart
PS. Great photography as well. i like the dark light ones, and i love the Gothic, dark twist you gave them.
he replied with this,
I guarantee you that if my 10th grade teacher had given me a book like Sandman Slim he or she would have been fired, beaten up on the way to the parking lot and probably kidnapped and forced to go through an exorcism. Texas is pretty tolerant that way.
Good luck with the report in school and general. Remember to believe only half what they tell you school and that what they're telling you is the boring half. You have to find out the good stuff on your own.
RK
lol