Talk:S. S. Van Dine

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Drug addiction[edit]

That's a weird-sounding drug addiction. If he *was* addicted, why would he go to bed for two years? To just lie there and shoot himself up? Or to just lie there and *not* do dope? Both of them seem rather unlikely. Is there more info about this in the bio? If so, it might go into the article also.... Hayford Peirce 20:18, 9 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Check the biography; it goes into more detail. If I remember the details right, the “going to bed for two years” was just a fiction to cover up the fact that he had to recover from drug addiction. He moved in fast circles when he was editor of “The Smart Set”, and they were the ones to introduce him to drugs. This was too scandalous for the 1920s (no one would have touched his books had they known this); hence the story of being confined to bed for two years. I don’t think he was actually confined to bed. But it was while he was recovering that he started reading mysteries, and that part is true. [the one who posted about the drug addiction]

Similar text[edit]

A lot of the text is similar to that on IMDB, at [[1]]. I am unable to determine which is the earlier text, since that page is not present in the Internet Archive. Quatloo 00:39, 27 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Pothead, of sorts[edit]

Somewhere I've read that Wright was a heavy marijuana user for a long time. Any info on that? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.27.73.102 (talk) 23:12, 25 January 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Citation[edit]

I've added a quote from Julian Symons which seems to sum up the relationship between Van Dine and his work. Accounting4Taste 03:23, 3 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Titles[edit]

Did he ever explain why he chose such prosaic titles for his Vance novels?Lestrade (talk) 15:45, 11 July 2008 (UTC)Lestrade[reply]

My understanding is that he was interested in numerology and wanted each novel to have a six-letter descriptor in its title. The one different one was meant to have been called simply "The Gracie Murder Case". As to their prosaic nature -- well, it may not be so to modern eyes, but I suggest that the 'Canary' murder case was unusually-titled for its time, so much so that in contemporaneous material the quotes around the word "Canary" were never omitted. Accounting4Taste:talk 16:27, 11 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A touch of class[edit]

Van Dine identified with the aristocratic class. This social group, however, largely dissolved into other, sometimes lower, classes after World War I. A prominent example is the life of Vladimir Nabokov. Van Dine's detective belonged to the naturally superior aristocracy. He didn't have to exert much effort in order to surpass his lower–class associates, who were mere workmen. The author's fascination with this type of educated and cultured person is evident in his concern with being a highbrow and belonging to the smart set. Another indication is his interest in Nietzsche's Übermensch concept. The reading public's taste changed in favor of the lower–classed hardboiled detective. Men like Philo Vance and Lord Peter Wimsey were replaced by Slam Bradley, Mike Hammer, Philip Marlowe (whose name still retained a touch of the aristocratic), and Sam Spade. These detectives have given names that are usually nicknames. Surnames like "spade" and "hammer" suggest tools that are used by men who labor with their hands, unlike an intellectual aristocrat like Philo Vance. It might be interesting to find some author's writing regarding the cause of Van Dine's class preferences. Possibly, he was indoctrinated by his mother in that Virginia plantation atmosphere of Southern Aristocracy.71.125.128.10 (talk) 16:42, 11 July 2008 (UTC)Lestrade[reply]

Uh oh[edit]

Okay, am I blind or the list of his 20 commandments about Golden Detective fiction is gone from wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Enerccio (talk • contribs) 16:25, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's linked from the bottom of the S.S. Van Dine article at [2]; I'm not sure why it might have been removed, but it could be a copyright issue. Accounting4Taste:talk 18:17, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Cause of death[edit]

Did the use of drugs contribute to his death at the early age of 50?Lestrade (talk) 22:58, 10 June 2010 (UTC)Lestrade[reply]