Just Finished Reading: The Noir Style by Alain Silver and James Ursini

I love Noir and of course one of the things I love it for is its unique style. I love the play of shadow, the darkened streets, the framing of protagonists in doorways, the inevitable hail of bullets and the tragic ending. I think it plays really well to the way I see the world. I don’t know who else to explain the deep unthinking emotional response to this genre not only in film – which this book exclusively deals with – but in literature too. There is something (or indeed many things) about the Noir style that speaks to me on a subconscious level that is hard to explain – a bit like love I expect.

I read this book over a weekend. Despite its large coffee-table format it was a very quick read being largely composed of (naturally) black & white photographs from the classic Noir movies. It was interesting actually to read the stylistic analysis of each example of the art and to begin to understand the method of creating a Noir feel. I’ve never really studied my love of certain movies critically fearing, I suppose, that they would lose some of their ‘magic’, that I would be analysing films rather than enjoying them. This is why I chose not to study English Literature being convinced (rightly I feel) that it would damage my love of books. Anyway, I hugely enjoyed this book and will no doubt be reading others of its like in the future. You’ll also be seeing reviews of Noir films and books here too. It would appear that this book has reawakened my love of the Noir Style!