Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Spenser Speculation

It's rumored that Robert B. Parker wanted to kill off Spenser in Valediction (1984) but his publisher talked him out of doing so. I wonder...

I'm not saying Parker should have killed Spenser, but what if he had stopped writing him for a while and concentrated on other projects/possible series (as Robert Crais, Dennis Lehane, and Harlan Coben have done). Then when Spenser returned, fans might be more eager than ever to see him.

If Parker couldn't refresh Spenser with new ideas, perhaps a hiatus from writing him would have done the trick. Of course, it's possible Parker's readers and/or publisher have demanded a new Spenser every year. And it's possible if Parker stopped writing Spenser, he'd have trouble starting up again.

Comments?

9 comments:

Graham Powell said...

Well, Lawrence Block felt like he'd used up Matt Scudder in EIGHT MILLION WAYS TO DIE, but he was able to come back with a different approach in WHEN THE SACRED GINMILL CLOSES.

Yeah, I think changing things up would have helped the Spenser series. I am not one of those who feels that characters need to grow and develop - after all even Philip Marlowe didn't change until THE LONG GOODBYE - but judging just by entertainment value, the later Spenser books have not measured up.

(Though I am not a Spenser expert!)

JD Rhoades said...

We all know who needs to die in that series, and it's not Spenser.

Anonymous said...

Jim Winter, you made me laugh. Spenser has been a paragon of early middle-aged manhood for three decades now.

I think Parker is damned if he does/doesn't with Spenser. Any radical deviation from the 'standard' elements of the series would be met with the howls of legions of fans. Seems like his other series and recent extra-genre work may be his way of dealing with wanting to move away from those elements.

Gerald So said...

I think Parker is damned if he does/doesn't with Spenser. Any radical deviation from the 'standard' elements of the series would be met with the howls of legions of fans.

I agree it's probably too late now for Parker to make changes, but back when Valediction came out, any formula to the series was less established.

I'm not suggesting he make any changes at that point, just that a break from writing Spenser then would have created suspense--"Will Spenser be back? What shape will he be in?"--without Parker having to write a word. And when the character did come back, fans might be even more excited.

Given that even in his non-Spenser series and standalones Parker never has departed from the themes of manliness and enduring love, can we be sure fans wouldn't like a departure?

Gerald So said...

...I think it would have been risky to [take a break] at the time of Valediction.

I agree it would have been risky, but no more risky than what he'd already done, separating Spenser and Susan for two books. You're right he couldn't have pleased everyone, but I would've liked to see him continue to err on the side of taking risks with his characters.

Gerald So said...

Not so sure separating Susan and Spenser was so much risky writing as Parker working through a similar separation in his own life.

True, but a separation was nonetheless risky for the characters. He hasn't taken a chance like that since. Spenser was shot in Small Vices, but who didn't think he'd come back from that?

Parker could have done any number of things similar to planting doubt in Spenser and Susan's relationship. He could have put Hawk more at odds with Spenser, he could have made Quirk less tolerant of Spenser getting involved in police business, and so on.

Dave White said...

The problem now--I think--is that Parker has so Spenser-centrified his universe that no one hates him. I would love to find a way Hawk and Spenser could be at odds again. Ultimately, Hawk is still a hitman, but he rarely seems to be killing people except for anyone Spenser needs killed. In fact, one of the best moments in one of the novels was when someone tried to hire Hawk to kill Spenser and Hawk turned him down, then went and told Spenser. I thought that was very clever, but it's happened a few time since, if I remember correctly.

I've long said that the only way to shake up the Spenser world is to have Hawk kill Susan and send Spenser on a rampage of revenge. But everyone in the novels loves Susan, so that could never happen. Isn't the Gray Man even on Spenser's side now?

Gerald So said...

...Parker has introduced several more overtly criminal characters who, in turn, have also shown a more noble side.

But is this a good thing? I prefer the grayer, less categorizable Spenser (and Hawk) of the past.

Gerald So said...

When Parker highlights this dichotomy, it's "same old same old." When he doesn't beat us over the head with the fact that, for instance, Hawk's a stone killer, the characters are going soft.

I see your point, which is why I think Parker ought to have taken a break from Spenser. That way at least the same old same old wouldn't seem so old. :)