To sum up my March theme in a few words, the question was if there was a genre which could be called machokrimi. My readers have suggested that noir or hard-boiled crime fiction could be the answer.With regard to content, it seems that when femikrimi focuses too much on cooking, cleaning and child care, men begin to talk about chick-lit or ´lipstick literature´. (Too much estrogen?)
What, then, might turn women off certain male crime novels? Personally, I like many crime novels which take place in male environments, and many of my favourite protagonists are male, but the more focus on the following themes, the less I tend to like the book: spies, conspiracies, dealing with arms, the mafia, terror and international crime.
Are there certain themes or subgenres which you steer away from? Or certain authors who are too ´macho´ or too ´femi´ for your taste?
April: Crime for All
I hope you are going to enjoy the new theme, and that I can tempt or provoke some of you to participate with your own ideas, questions and comments.
April 1: Bait in the Box as usual
April 2: my first guest blogger ever – a professional crime fiction writer has agreed to write a post for me on the above subject – come back and see who!
Machokrimi i Marts
Spørgsmålet var, om der findes en genre, som kan kaldes machokrimi. Mine læsere har foreslået noir eller hårdkogt krimi.
Med hensyn til indhold, ser det ud til, at når femikrimi fokuserer for meget på madlavning, rengøring og børnepasning, begynder mænd at vride sig i sæderne og mumle ´chick-lit´ eller læbestiftlitteratur (for meget østrogen?)
Hvad får kvinder til at vælge mandekrimier fra? Personligt kan jeg lide masser af krimier, som udspiller sig i et mandligt univers, og mange af mine yndlings-helte er mandlige, men jo mere bogen fokuserer på følgende emner, jo mindre plejer jeg at synes om bogen: spioner, sammensværgelser, våbenhandler, mafiaen, terror og internationale forbrydelser.
Er der bestemte emner eller undergenrer, du går i en stor bue uden om? Eller bestemte forfattere, som er alt for ´femi´ eller ´macho´ efter din mening?
April: Krimi for Alle
Jeg håber du vil synes om det nye emne, og at jeg kan friste eller provokere nogle af jer til at deltage i diskussionen med ideer, spørgsmål og kommentarer.
1. april: Gæt en Bog - som sædvanlig
2. april: min første gæste-blogger – en professionel krimiforfatter har sagt ja til a skrive et indlæg for mig om ovennævnte emne – kig indenfor og se hvem.
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9 kommentarer:
A good choice of book cover Dorte. Isn't it strange macho is almost a derogatory just like brotherhood. You got a sisterhood award but brotherhood is associated with the Aryan brotherhood and Islamic brotherhood.
I rather like reading about women and their problems by femikrimi writers such as Lackberg, Marklund, Tursten, Alvtegen and Van der Vlugt.
I look forward to your April theme and your guest blogger.
I've always liked "male" books, too - when I was a child I loved reading Robin Hood, about the Greeks and Trojans, etc, and when a young teen I loved James Bond. I've read and enjoyed lots of these "written for men" books in my time. Peter Temple is a current favourite, he is fabulous. I think Lee Child has made a fortune out of writing books that appeal to women yet are very "male". (Peter Temple is better, but is not such an international bestseller, though in my opinion he certainly deserves to be).
I like books that show originality and independence, whether they are "macho" or "femi" (though I admit I don't like "chick lit"). I do not like books that show excessive violence for no apparent plot-related reason but just to thrill - and for me this lets out quite a few male and female authors. I have not tried Chelsea Cain for this reason. And there are a few male authors whom I would not read again because I was not interested in the "gratuitous" violence level. Similarly, some of the more "pathological" crime novels put me off. I quite liked the early Thomas Harris, Patricia Cornwell, Tess Gerritsen, for example, but after a few books I found the gore aspects outweighed any interest I had in the plot or characters, so I've given up.
PS, yes I am looking forward to your mystery celebrity guest blogger, too!
I love 'boys books' and always have since my Dad read me my bedtime stories - The Saint, Jennings, The Thirty-Nine Steps, Biggles :o) I love noir and hard-boiled. Like you Dorte, spies and conspiracies put me off. and like Maxine, overly gory books are not my thing (Tess Gerritsen and Mo Hayder are no-nos for me).
I don't like medical thrillers, and don't much care for legal thrillers, and don't like books where the crime element is subordinate to knitting/quilting/cooking/candlemaking. I don't like my crime fiction to have crafting tips or recipes. "There was a noise at the door. Could it be the killer come back to get me? What should I do? I was in the middle of making beans on toast. Take a tin of beans and empty it into a pan, heat on a slow heat, taking care not to burn. Meanwhile, place 2 slices of bread under the grill and allow to brown gently before turning over. The doorhandle turned..."
I guess I prefer machokrimi to femikrimi.
If I had my collection of Biggles books available to sell today I might be as rich as an MP with an outer London constituency. Who knew?
Norman, I think it is unfair, probably even sexist, that sisterhood, femikrimi & feminist can be seen as so positive terms, while (as you and Bernd among others point out) the opposite terms are non-existent or derogatory. I know women have had to fight for their rights; in some places & circumstances they still have to, but in my everyday life I feel respected and valued on equal terms.
So please see my April theme as a new beginning: crime for all - good books written by both genders, read & enjoyed by us all :)
Maxine, I am glad to hear that Peter Temple is such a favourite. I´ll have to read one of his for my book club this month. When I didn´t read as a child, I was actually a real tomboy, hanging around in the treetops or in our little stream, fishing & getting extremely dirty. Not very feminine. And I am sure you are looking forward to my mysterious guest blogger ;)
Donna, I have read Jennings, and I particularly liked books with codes in them :) I do read noir & hard-boiled once in a while, but my heart is not in it the same way as when I read Martin Edwards or Andrew Taylor.
With regard to femikrimi, I also prefer the ones where they remember they have a plot to attend to, which is why I think Läckberg is better than Jungstedt, but they have a strong tendency in the direction of cinnamon buns.
Hov, ovenstående kommentar var en fejl. Men nu har jeg i det mindste endelig fundet ud af at kommentere på din blog. Så det er jo en start :) Jeg skulle bruge min Google-konto før det virkede.
Nå, men for at vende tilbage til dit indlæg. Du skriver selv at du vælger krimier fra der koncentrerer sig meget om spioner, sammensværgelser, våbenhandler, mafiaen, terror og internationale forbrydelser - eller i hvertfald er du som udgangspunkt ikke så interesseret i emnerne.
Når jeg læser krimier går jeg som udgangspunkt ikke efter specielle emner. Terror, mafia og lignende "machoemner" tiltrækker mig ikke så meget som selve karakterne i bøgerne. Det er som regel det der tænder min lyst til at læse; når jeg fornemmer at der er tale om personer der har noget på spil, personer der brænder igennem. Og det er nok også derfor jeg undgår de der svenske og danske "femikrimier": Personerne virker flade og 2-dimensionelle; der er simpelthen ikke nok på spil. Når de "rigtige karakterer" er til stede, er jeg sådan set villig til at hoppe med på en hvilken som helst handling. Næsten.
www.eskapisten.dk
Hej Carsten.
Bedre sent end aldrig :)
Jeg kan egentlig heller ikke sige, jeg går efter emner. Fx kan Jo Nesbø gøre et bankrøveri interessant, og når han skriver om krig og lejemordere, nyder jeg selvfølgelig hans bøger alligevel. Jeg nyder også Arne Dahls serie om A-grupen, selv om den har den internationale side med, men efter nogle tusind krimier har jeg erfaret, at der ikke er ret mange forfattere, som formår at gøre de ovennævnte emner vedkomende for mig. Nogle af dem skaber efter min mening heller ikke levende personer, men tegner u-mennesker, ofte skabt af politiske systemer eller fanatiske ideologier. Somme tider frygteligt realistisk, i virkeligheden, men ikke noget jeg kan slappe af med i sofaen.
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