Autonomy

The image is that of the private detective; the loner; walking the mean streets - righting wrongs, defending the weak and helpless and doing so whilst remaining frightfully uber-cool. The modern image of this chivalric ideal has been rewritten many times but it still holds within it the element of heroism that Literature, Film, Society and Culture all in general can recognise. For myself the Spenser novels of Robert B. Parker demonstrate these qualities par excellence.

Spenser the eponymous hero of the series is now a middle-aged but still strong figure. As the series has developed the physicality of his force has changed - he uses violence only when necessary and never seems to glory in its accomplishment. His powers of persuasion and detection have also subtly altered to include seemingly opposite perspectives from his long-term love interest Susan (The Psychologist) to his brutal enforcer-friend Hawk (The Executioner). Spenser's path (and by inference Parker's) seem to travel between these points. His regular heroic characters portray a stillness around their own centrality. They are confident. They have learned from experience and maturity. They are autonomous without the arrogance of condescension or the unreality of the isolated hero. They are self-sufficient in their autonomy but they accept the need for the beauty and the passion of an outside commitment; whether to truth or beauty or even an individual. Spenser would not shrivel away if Susan died .(Indeed she did leave him in an early book). He would contemplate events and feel sad but I would expect hime to move on. Stoically but with style.

The Godwulf Manuscript (1973)
God Save the Child (1974)
Mortal Stakes (1975)
Promised Land (1976)
The Judas Goat (1978)
Looking for Rachel Wallace (1980)
A Savage Place (1981)
Early Autumn (1981)
Ceremony (1982)
The Widening Gyre (1983)
Valediction (1984)
Catskill Eagle (1985)
Taming a Seahorse (1986)
Pale Kings and Princes (1987)
Crimson Joy (1988)
Playmates (1989)
Stardust (1990)
Pastime (1991)
Double Deuce (1992)
Paper Doll (1993)
Walking Shadow (1994)
Thin Air (1995)
Chance (1996)
Small Vices (1997)
Sudden Mischief (1998)
Hush Money (1999)
Hugger Mugger (2000)
Potshot (2001)
Widow's Walk (2002)
Back Story (2003)
Bad Business (2004)
Cold Service (2005)
School Days (2005)
The Hundred Dollar Baby (2006)
Now and Then (2007)