Unprecedented Achievement: Ross Macdonald's Novel 'The Doomsters' and Detective Lew Archer's Significant Role
There was a time, a time before touch screens and artificial intelligence, a time when the extraordinary was not commonplace, a time when passion had a deeper meaning. During this era, I wore a leather jacket and attended Professor Jules Winfield's class at UCLA. Winfield, a respected figure in Westwood, taught a seminar called "Miracles, Epiphanies and Other Human Phenomena."
According to the Ray Manzarek & Jim Morrison Preservation Project, Morrison and Manzarek studied film at UCLA in the 1960s, and Winfield played an early role in the influential Jim Morrison's development. Alongside Morrison, Winfield worked on a film project called "Breakthrough," though no footage from this project has ever surfaced. It is believed that the project was destroyed in a bungalow fire near Venice Beach. It is known, however, that Morrison and Manzarek eventually left UCLA to form The Doors, and "Break on Through (to the Other Side)" is the title of the first song on the first Doors album.
Years later, upon reconnecting with Professor Winfield, he continued to teach the same seminar at UCLA. With his bow ties and spectacles, Winfield resembled an ordinary person, but his intensity as a lecturer was distinct, their eyes illuminated like the intensity of basketball legend Bill Russell swatting away shots at the rim.
Winfield described the concept of "breaking through" as a singular "moment of clarity," a moment where water turns into wine, or a moment when the cosmic tumblers click into place. Class notes also indicate that Winfield phrased the in-between - the known and unknown - as "the doors."
For my independent study in Winfield's class, I chose to delve into Ross Macdonald's crime novel, "The Doomsters." This seventh novel in Macdonald's Lew Archer series became Macdonald's breakthrough - the novel where Macdonald found his unique voice and cracked the hard shell of the American hard-boiled crime novel.
The opening lines of "The Doomsters" provide a window into Macdonald's distinctive voice, and reading these lines provides the opportunity to hear it for oneself. A working copy of the novel, worn with age and water damaged from the marine layer, is the 2007 Vintage Black Lizard edition, but opening it to page one, paragraph one, reveals the hallmark of Ross Macdonald's writing - Lew Archer waking up from night sweats:
"I was dreaming about a hairless ape who lived in a cage by himself. His trouble was that people were always trying to get in. It kept the ape in a state of nervous tension. I came out of sleep sweating, aware that somebody was at the door. Not the front door, but the side door, that opened into the garage."
The side door serves as a metaphor for the dividing line between the known and unknown, the comfortable and the uncertain, beckoning an adventurous hello or a foreboding warning. Private investigator Lew Archer encounters a desperate-eyed junkie, Carl Hallman, at that door, a scion wealthy political dynasty who suspects he is responsible for the deaths of both his parents. Though uncertain and fearful, Archer chooses to investigate Hallman's claims and unveil the family's dark secrets. This costly decision signaled a turning point in the life of both Lew Archer and Ross Macdonald, as Macdonald found his own, unique voice in the Lew Archer series.
In the opening lines of "The Doomsters," Archer is woken by a knock on the door and stands face to face with a desperate Carl Hallman. He chooses to aid Hallman, even though it means certain inconvenience, embracing his newfound compassion. This moment marks the evolution of Lew Archer from a Marlowe-esque archetype to a detective who cares, questioning the old divisions between good and bad, and forcing himself to choose compassion over convenience. As such, Lew Archer has become a role model for our tumultuous times, encouraging us to open that door between safety and challenge, where we can embrace complexity and finer shades of human nature.
References:[1] The Ray Manzarek & Jim Morrison Preservation Project website, accessed August 17, 2021, http://www.jimmorrison.net/
Books like Ross Macdonald's "The Doomsters," considered a breakthrough for Macdonald, offer a blend of crime fiction and entertainment, delving into complex human phenomena. This seventh novel in Macdonald's Lew Archer series, with its exploration of compassion and challenging the divisions between good and evil, serves as a potent reflection of our times.
