Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Mickey Spillane Dies

Rate this topic


Myron Azov

Recommended Posts

"And I don’t think anyone, even in the solemnity of death, would argue that Mickey was a great writer, but he was a good guy and he was a successful writer and the combination ain’t bad."

Hm, I haven't read anything by Robert Parker, but I thought this was a strange thing to say. It's true that Spillane fostered a sort of low-brow image about himself, relative to some writers. He said he never edited his writing. But what is a "great writer," if not him? Why was he so successful? Is the implication that people respond to his novels because of some vice that they have? He might not have been great like Ayn Rand was great, but it seems there were at least some great elements in his work.

There were quite a few celebrity deaths last week. Mickey Spillane, Syd Barrett, and the dog that played "Eddie" from Fraser.. Not to lump all those together as anything of comparable quality, but each entertaining in his own way! Sad. : (

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I liked most about Mickey Spillane's storys, especially his early ones, is that he gave me---the reader---a complete sense of justice. Evil was not handled with kid gloves, but very harshly, as it deserved, and Spillane always made me feel the sure rightness of the good winning and the evil losing. No other popular writer can match him for that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Scott Holleran wrote a short article about Spillane (link).

He did not appease evil; he killed it. Spillane knew better than most how to use a Smith-Corona typewriter to put the sizzle into the meat of his detective stories. After Mike Hammer unloads his .45 into his best friend's killer, the murderer asks: "How c-could you?" He replies: "It was easy." No self-doubt, no apology, no pleading for approval—that was that.
Edited by softwareNerd
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...