Simple question; who was tougher?

[B.R.Stateham]

Okay, boys and girls. Here's a simple question: Who was tougher back in the old days , Sam Spade or Phillip Marlowe?

Who's the toughest P.I. in today's genre? And would you include Mike Hammer to be in today's choices?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Dana King]

I write hard-boiled detective and multi-POV crime stories with quite a bit of humor in them, which I try to create from the situation and character; they're not intended as humor, though there are (I hope) a fair number of laughs in each.

[Barbara DeShong]

That's what I like about Lee's characters. I write humorous mysteries -and sometimes it's a trick to be funny and talk about both murder and a character with a lot of inside pain. What do you write?

[Dana King]

Dave Robicheaux is an interesting case. He's definitely tough, though I wouldn't say he's mean. He's also dark, though that darkness is mostly directed inwardly.

Thanks, Barbara. I'll have to get a hold of a copy of Bitterroot.

[Dana King]

D.R. rasies an interesting point. Modern writing has made it difficult to distinguish between who is tough and who is hard; they're not the same thing. I'd say Spade was harder than Marlowe, but Marlowe was probably tougher, for the reasons D.R. states.

[Barbara DeShong]

I'm a James Lee Burke fan. And Rochebieux is tough, but I like his Texan character better. If you haven't read "Bitterroot" (2 r's?) it's a must. A tough guy with troubled relationships who deals with the meanest man ever.

[B.R.Stateham]

How about this Rochebieux (sp) character out of New Orleans? I hear he's dark and mean.

[D.R. MacMaster]

Hmmmm.... Spade's a much colder character and not as sensitive as Marlowe, but it could be said that Marlowe's tougher because he is sensitive, yet keeps plugging on.

I'll take the coward's way out and say it's a tie.

Though the Continental Op is tougher than both. ;)

As for modern PIs, I don't know enough of the current characters to pass judgment.