Is it understatement to say that Classic Detective/Mystery Fictions are far below Modern Detective/Mystery Fiction?

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AdhiraamBose
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Post by AdhiraamBose »

I was once(In 2019) listening to the story of the Hollywood Movie 'Psycho' and when comparing its plot/story with other Mordern Movies' plot/story of the same Genre(Mystery),I found out that though the Mystery aspect was Good for its Time,it didn't match upto the Mystery Behind the Plots and Stories of Mordern Movies.
So,I thought(In 2021).Is this fact applicable to Books and Literary Works?i.e.,Do Mordern Mystery Novels and Short Stories have better Mystery than Older Ones(Those Written In 1800s and 1900s)?
Last edited by AdhiraamBose on June 30th, 2021, 8:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
lurcherlover
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Post by lurcherlover »

No, personally I think modern detective/mystery books, films etc are a lot worse!
schrm
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Post by schrm »

i second, that the contrary is true!
i know, that the language usage is an influence, but regarding the stories...
and ideas...
each book was a whole, carefully constructed world and plot, while i think it is hard to claim something like that of many more modern books
cheers
wolfi
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AdhiraamBose
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Post by AdhiraamBose »

I like both of Your Answers and I hope it's True. :D
mightyfelix
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Post by mightyfelix »

This is the kind of question that one can't definitively answer, I think, because it's really a matter of opinion. Some people like new things because they're new; other people like old things because they're old.

Personally, I don't read/watch a whole lot of mysteries, only every now and then, but I think that it's a mix. Some of the modern stuff is rubbish, and some of it is very good. Some of the old stuff is rubbish (most of which is probably forgotten by now), and the rest are classics.
AdhiraamBose
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Post by AdhiraamBose »

mightyfelix wrote: June 30th, 2021, 6:36 am This is the kind of question that one can't definitively answer, I think, because it's really a matter of opinion. Some people like new things because they're new; other people like old things because they're old.

Personally, I don't read/watch a whole lot of mysteries, only every now and then, but I think that it's a mix. Some of the modern stuff is rubbish, and some of it is very good. Some of the old stuff is rubbish (most of which is probably forgotten by now), and the rest are classics.
By Classics,Do You mean the Serlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot Series?
AdhiraamBose
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Post by AdhiraamBose »

By The Way,I am a bit skeptical of whether You people Understand what I mean to Say or Not.
When I heard the Mystery Of 'Psycho' being revealed,I didn't feel much awe.I thought it was very much Obvious.Whereas,at the same time,when I heard Mysteries of other Movies(Mordern Ones) being revealed,most of them made me awestruck.

In other words,the Revealation was not (So) obvious in most cases.

Now if You get my point. :)
iBeScotty
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Post by iBeScotty »

I am not sure the same really holds for novels as it does for movies as the latter medium has evolved so much. And I felt ‘Psycho’ was a bit more about the overall, skin-crawling creepiness than the ultimate reveal (maybe because by the time I watched it, the premise was already embedded in pop culture), though ‘The Sixth Sense’ certainly was great on both counts. I liked ‘Bates Motel,’ the modern series based on ‘Psycho’ too.

Oddly, I have recently been having similar (reversed?) feelings about old comedy, really missing comedians/comic actors like Jack Benny, Stan Freberg, Phil Silvers, and on and on.

Scotty
mightyfelix
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Post by mightyfelix »

AdhiraamBose wrote: June 30th, 2021, 8:20 am By Classics,Do You mean the Serlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot Series?
I didn't have any specific books in mind when I said that. I just meant that if a book is old and bad, it typically gets forgotten. If it is old and good, people keep reading it and talking about it and eventually it comes to be considered a "classic."
AdhiraamBose wrote: June 30th, 2021, 8:28 am By The Way,I am a bit skeptical of whether You people Understand what I mean to Say or Not.
When I heard the Mystery Of 'Psycho' being revealed,I didn't feel much awe.I thought it was very much Obvious.Whereas,at the same time,when I heard Mysteries of other Movies(Mordern Ones) being revealed,most of them made me awestruck.

In other words,the Revealation was not (So) obvious in most cases.

Now if You get my point. :)
Ah, so I think you mean that newer books and movies are better at the surprise ending, and you can usually see what is going to happen in the old ones? It could be.

But, there again, I think different people like different things. I'm realizing more and more lately that I don't really care whether the ending is a surprise or not. In fact, I think that sometimes, authors and filmmakers try so hard to surprise their audience that they end up introducing really weird plot devices and making their characters act in uncharacteristic ways. I like a good story with an interesting and believable progression, whether I can see the ending coming or not. Others like to be surprised, and that's ok too.
annise
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Post by annise »

Often if someone came up with a good ending years ago the next lot of writers twisted it a little and so on so everyone knows it even if they haven't read the book.
Just me trying to explain a joke with ships sailing off a flat ocean to my grandchildren, even the 6-year-old said but the world is like a ball. Whereas a few hundred years ago the Pope considered it to be heresy.

Anne
annise
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Post by annise »

Often if someone came up with a good ending years ago the next lot of writers twisted it a little and so on so everyone knows it even if they haven't read the book.
Just me trying to explain a joke with ships sailing off a flat ocean and plunging to their death to my grandchildren, even the 6-year-old said but the world is like a ball. Whereas a few hundred years ago the Pope considered that to be heresy.

Anne
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