----- Original Message -----
From: "Scotty Henderson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2001 4:58 PM
Subject: Re: [rehfans] Well, it's the 21st century
> From: Michael Martinez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2001 8:31 AM
> Subject: Re: [rehfans] Well, it's the 21st century
>
>
> > Yes, there is brand recognition. But why did Conan get the brand and
not
> > some other character? Why Howard and not, say, Lovecraft (who actually
> has
> > had more stories turned into movies than Howard, IIRC)?
>
> It is about character recognition. Conan is vastly more identifiable to
the
> public than any HPL character. Although Pigeons From Hell was made into a
TV
> movie it did nothing for Howard. Ask the average person what Cthulhu, HPL,
> mythos tales, REH, and Conan mean. Almost all will twig to Conan. The
others
> will elicit virtually no comment.
>
> > I know there are still some pulp writers out there, but they
> > aren't getting the attention that Howard and his contempories get.
>
> Depends on which genre you think of. In crime stories Chandler and Hammett
> are as big as ever. It is a complex question and I've started a line to
> explore it on another list dealing in weird and genre writing.
>
> Scotty Henderson
This is somewhat off-topic, but I would disagree about Hammett and Chandler.
I'm around mystery fandom quite a bit, and there are now an incredible
number of mystery fans who have never read *anything* written before about
1985 and have absolutely no interest in anything older than that. (Sort of
like the fantasy fans who think Robert Jordan created not only Conan but the
entire fantasy genre.) The increasing Balkanization of all fiction, with
not only disinterest but active dislike for everything else except one's own
niche, drives me nuts. I grew up reading almost all kinds of fiction, still
do, and I suspect that's true of many people here.
Best,
James
