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Daily RC Article 58

Novels of P.D. James


Paragraph 1

Wherever the crime novels of P. D. James are discussed by critics, there is a tendency on the one hand to exaggerate her merits and on the other to castigate her as a genre writer who is getting above herself. Perhaps underlying the debate is that familiar, false opposition set up between different kinds of fiction, according to which enjoyable novels are held to be somehow slightly lowbrow, and a novel is not considered true literature unless it is a tiny bit dull.

Paragraph 2

Those commentators who would elevate James’ books to the status of high literature point to her painstakingly constructed characters, her elaborate settings, her sense of place, and her love of abstractions: notions about morality, duty, pain, and pleasure are never far from the lips of her police officers and murderers. Others find her pretentious and tiresome; an inverted snobbery accuses her of abandoning the time-honored conventions of the detective genre in favor of a highbrow literary style. The critic Harriet Waugh wants P. D. James to get on with “the more taxing business of laying a tricky trail and then fooling the reader”; Philip Oakes in The Literary Review groans, “Could we please proceed with the business of clapping the handcuffs on the killer?”

Paragraph 3

James is certainly capable of strikingly good writing. She takes immense trouble to provide her characters with convincing histories and passions. Her descriptive digressions are part of the pleasure of her books and give them dignity and weight. But it is equally true that they frequently interfere with the story; the patinas and aromas of a country kitchen receive more loving attention than does the plot itself. Her devices to advance the story can be and thin (lacking substance or strength “thin broth” “a thin plot”), and it is often impossible to see how her detective arrives at the truth; one is left to conclude that the detective solves crimes through intuition. At this stage in her career P. D. James seems to be less interested in the specifics of detection than in her characters’ vulnerabilities and perplexities

Paragraph 4

However, once the rules of a chosen genre cramp creative thought, there is no reason why an able and interesting writer should accept them. In her latest book, there are signs that James is beginning to feel constrained by the crime-novel genre, here her determination to leave areas of ambiguity in the solution of the crime and to distribute guilt among the murderer, victim, and bystanders points to conscious rebellion against the traditional neatness of detective fiction. It is fashionable, though reprehensible, for one writer to prescribe to another. But perhaps the time has come for P. D. James to slide out of her handcuffs and stride into the territory of the mainstream novel.

Topic and Scope:

The crime novels of P. D. James; specifically, differing critical responses to her work, and how her novels do not conform to the traditional scope of the crime-novel genre.

Purpose and Main Idea:

The author’s purpose is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of James’s work. Her main point is that James should consider taking the plunge “into the territory of the mainstream novel.”

Paragraph Structure:

Paragraphs 1 and 2 summarize contrasting views of James’s novels. Paragraph 1 indicates that while some critics tend to “exaggerate her merits,” others disparage her for being too highfalutin’ for the crime genre. The author distances herself from both views, suggesting that she’ll try to mediate between them. Paragraph 2 expands on the two critical views.

Paragraphs 3 and 4 supply the author’s position. Paragraph 3 describes James as “strikingly good” and explains why, but it then argues that her high ambitions as a novelist lead her to slight the simple requirements of the crime novel. Para 4 supplies the logical conclusion: James should consider leaving the crime genre and moving “into the territory of the mainstream novel.”

The Big Picture:

  • This is a case where the RC section’s first passage might be a good place to start, even though the author’s main point about James isn’t stated explicitly until the last lines. Why start here? —because the topic is accessible and the passage’s structure is neat.
  • This passage exemplifies how passage structure packages and delivers the main idea. The passage splits cleanly into two halves: paragraphs 1 and 2 outline the prevailing responses to James, while paragraphs 3 and 4 deliver the author’s argument and conclusion.

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