DETECTIVE FICTION: ENGLISH AND AMERICAN CLASSICS
Six Thursdays, October 6, 11, 20, 27, November
3 and 10
12:30 - 2 p.m.
Compass Bank, Second Floor, 2001 Kirby at San Felipe
J.
Dennis Huston, a widely acclaimed lecturer and professor
of English at Rice University, where he teaches Shakespeare, modern
drama, and film, will discuss English and American detective fiction,
focusing on examples of each and examining important differences between
them.
OCTOBER 6: After an introduction to detective fiction,
which was invented by Edgar Allen Poe, we will study two AGATHA
CHRISTIE mystery novels, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
(1926) and The ABC Murders (1936).
OCTOBER 13: When AGATHA CHRISTIE wrote
a mystery - The Pale Horse (1961) - that departed from her
usual formula, she encountered interesting difficulties, which Huston
will describe.
OCTOBER 20: DOROTHY SAYERS's The
Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928) and Unnatural Death
(1927) feature Lord Peter Wimsey, her aristocratic amateur detective.
In these two novels we will discover what happens when a traditional
form is modified.
OCTOBER 27: DASHIELL HAMMETT, creator
of Sam Spade and Nick and Nora Charles, wrote The Glass Key
in 1931. We will consider this San Francisco-based story of murder,
politics and corruption, which was Hammett's favorite among his own
work.
NOVEMBER 3: RAYMOND CHANDLER's Farewell,
My Lovely (1940) set in Los Angeles, is a story of theft, ransom,
murder, and suicide. Huston will examine this novel, which features
Chandler's famous detective, Philip Marlowe.
NOVEMBER 10: ROSS MACDONALD's The
Galton Case (1959) and The Wycherly Woman (1961) feature
Lew Archer, Macdonald's master private eye. Huston will conclude the
series with these novels of death and loss.
We are grateful for the support of Murder
by the Book
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