Stories about friendship are a lot more compelling to me than stories about romance.

[betweensunandmoon]

Friendship fascinates me. Gangsters also fascinate me. It's why I loved Angels With Dirty Faces so much. Which is to say, I would happily pay money to see a movie about the tragic three-way relationship between Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Siegel, and Meyer Lansky.

(Though I still can't get over how much Lucky and Bugsy sound like names for pet rabbits.)

Comments

[igenlode]

I think that's why I loved "The Way of the Strong" and "Underworld" so much; they are love stories, but they are least as much mistaken-betrayal-of-friendship stories. Of course gangsters have a lot of opportunity for betrayal...

I can't promise gangsters, but have you tried D.K.Broster's The Flight of the Heron and The Gleam in the North -- and, of course, Mr Rowl? ;-p

She wrote so convincingly about friendship that most of her readers assumed she was male :-D

[betweensunandmoon]

Of course gangsters have a lot of opportunity for betrayal...
I don't know how much you know about the American mafia, but you're certainly not wrong about that, particularly in regards to the three gentlemen I mentioned above. :P

Thanks for the book recommendations. *adds to to-read list*

Friendship is a very under-explored topic in fiction as a whole, I've noticed.

[igenlode]

Friendship is a very under-explored topic in fiction as a whole, I've noticed.

I get the impression it used to be a lot more popular -- in a lot of old adventure novels, for example, the main relationship in the story consists of the uneasy or otherwise loyalties between the male characters, while the love-interest is largely there as an abstract ideal for motivation.

Friendship between female characters isn't so common as a theme, partly I think because women tend to be seen as rivals for male interest rather than team-mates who depend on each other. (And I get the impression that female characters really don't go in for that intense loyalty bond -- unless, again, it's to the man she loves. A man will give up his life for his friend; a woman will give up her life for her lover.)

[betweensunandmoon]

Writers probably stopped focusing on friendship because they didn't want readers to perceive their male characters as gay. :P

Friendship between female characters isn't so common as a theme, partly I think because women tend to be seen as rivals for male interest rather than team-mates who depend on each other.

Sad but true. (Not Like Other Girls, etc.)

[igenlode]

I never cease to be surprised at the number of people who assume that if you deprive a group of men of access to prostitutes for a month or so, they are inevitably going to start buggering each other :-( (Because constant sexual activity is really, really important, and people can't possibly endure life without being regularly serviced; in fact, it's supposedly a human right.)

[betweensunandmoon]

Well, that's all men can think about, you know? Being emotional is for women!
/sarcasm

[igenlode]

NB The Way of the Strong and Underworld are both gangster movies ;-)