tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post1026717164127409818..comments2024-03-28T15:01:21.285-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: DoubtLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-62177936289290130182013-01-14T17:19:21.013-05:002013-01-14T17:19:21.013-05:00My bad, I should have said Janice's point, not...My bad, I should have said Janice's point, not Fran's, about the solution to the mystery squaring the circle. David Edgerley Gateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05302818835018859164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-82851754544374946132013-01-14T17:17:14.244-05:002013-01-14T17:17:14.244-05:00Patricia Highsmith (who wrote STRANGERS ON A TRAIN...Patricia Highsmith (who wrote STRANGERS ON A TRAIN and the Ripley books) is a master of doubt, and ambiguity, its second cousin, mixed motives being one of the engines of noir. Fran's point is well-taken that mysteries are inherently conservative, in that justice is done and order restored, the crime---murder in particular---being an act of anarchy, an attack on the social compact. Doubt can sometimes be more subversive, though. Look at the ending of Sue Grafton's F IS FOR FUGITIVE, for example, which leaves the answers open to question. David Edgerley Gateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05302818835018859164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-47045778957977569352013-01-14T16:29:09.049-05:002013-01-14T16:29:09.049-05:00Alistair MacLean at his best was a master of certa...Alistair MacLean at his best was a master of certainty and doubt, the good guy you were certain of is the bad guy, or vice versa. Truly masterful, although predictable once you grew to watch for it.<br /><br />Reflecting upon at Herschel's comment, I guess I use doubt in my stories: Who <i>is</i> this character? Who is the odd foreign duck who can bowl magnificently… and continues bowling through an armed robbery in <i>English</i>? Who is the stranger in the bar in <i>Swamped</i>? What is going on in the Alzheimer's story <i>Quality of Mercy</i>? So yes, I do deploy doubt.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-86693563233122593952013-01-14T14:24:38.230-05:002013-01-14T14:24:38.230-05:00I can't think of a single instance when doubt ...I can't think of a single instance when doubt was a part of a story I have written. But your examples are excellent, and certainly food for thought. There have been many movies made where things are not as they seem. In some cases overdone. (I am thinking of the first Mission Impossible among others). Many noir movies use doubt very effectively.<br /><br /><br />BTW I was amused by "sleepy" Santa Rosa. That adjective hardly applies today.Herschel Cozinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06097703750150309319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-69985301199068518992013-01-14T10:29:34.412-05:002013-01-14T10:29:34.412-05:00Loved this, Janice. Nathaniel Hawthorne used the ...Loved this, Janice. Nathaniel Hawthorne used the idea of doubt more than once, including in my favorite of his, "The Minister's Black Veil" - why did the minister wear that veil? Whose guilt was he veiling? Or was he just mad?<br /><br />One thing I think that we, in modern times, have lost is the ability to depict and understand guilt. We have criminals, we have detectives, but nobody really feels guilty, at least not compared to the Victorians, who were masters at it, and sometimes just plain wallowed in it. (Hawthorne was very good at guilt as well as doubt.) Have we gotten past guilt? Is everything societal? Is everything situational? I think the last best study I saw of guilt was in "Crimes and Misdemeanors", and eventually, he got over it. Just a thought. Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-26971061170093752792013-01-14T09:51:22.474-05:002013-01-14T09:51:22.474-05:00Some very interesting thoughts, Janice. I just re...Some very interesting thoughts, Janice. I just read "Goodman Brown" a few months ago, and it had already popped into my mind before I got to it in your article. Wonderful story--I love the almost matter-of-fact treatment of the presence of the supernatural. Doubt and uncertainty, the province of the noon day devil.David Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13005457506363262838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-75403850814141456492013-01-14T05:19:57.061-05:002013-01-14T05:19:57.061-05:00Just thought I'd use the word "definitely...Just thought I'd use the word "definitely" one more time this morning.Fran Rizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08655783035179620991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-55209133134849747322013-01-14T05:19:12.785-05:002013-01-14T05:19:12.785-05:00Never having considered doubt's importance in ...Never having considered doubt's importance in fiction, your word this morning have set me to thinking and make a conscious decision to include a significant doubt in the plot of what I'm working on. I will also definitely make it a point to look into SHADOW OF A DOUBT. It definitely sounds like my kind of movie. Fran Rizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08655783035179620991noreply@blogger.com