MONKY BUSINESS

Monk and the Case of the Iraqi Maze (Paul Greenberg, 8/08/03, Jewish World Review)

In the labyrinth of any problem that confronts us, we must select the most promising paths; if we attempt to follow all at once we shall arrive nowhere.
--Nero Wolfe in "The League of Frightened Men"

When does detective fiction rise to literature? Answer: When the detective becomes more than a stock figure, and the intricacies of the plot become only background. People don't read about Sherlock Holmes to solve the cases.

In a great detective story, it is the central character that enthralls us. Someone we could watch forever. Like a Columbo, an Hercule Poirot, or the latest classic, Adrian Monk on the USA Network.

This newest object of our fascination is a total obsessive. He shrinks back from holding hands, or must sterilize everything in sight, or arrange his furniture just so. He is so frightened by things that don't frighten us. We are amused--and feel superior.

Yet his obsessiveness also makes Monk superior to us. His sensitivity is such that he can separate all the clutter and discern a central theme. He can separate the multiple threads in the fabric of a story, and spot the single one out of place.

Adrian Monk has a lot to teach us as an election year approaches and a war lingers. The political attacks on the White House are sure to increase. Many of those attacks will be misleading--threads that go nowhere.

See the big to-do over the Sixteen Words.

Actually, the critics seem to be the ones with obsessive-compulsive disorder: "What about the yellowcake?" Posted by Orrin Judd at August 10, 2003 12:11 PM