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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
This was painful to read...
Most of the characters were archetypes, the plot had no definite course, the writing was stilted and difficult to get into... I really can't tell you how many times I had to put the book down because I was bored or lost.
Not to mention I wanted to rip my eyelashes out every time it was mentioned that Sam rolled a cigarette. I GET IT, OKAY? HE SMOKES. JESUS.
It was okay... I could see why people really enjoyed it, it just wasn't my style. Especially when you can't find anything you like in the main character.
I'm still going to see the movie adaptation. Apparently it's better. We'll see.
Most of the characters were archetypes, the plot had no definite course, the writing was stilted and difficult to get into... I really can't tell you how many times I had to put the book down because I was bored or lost.
Not to mention I wanted to rip my eyelashes out every time it was mentioned that Sam rolled a cigarette. I GET IT, OKAY? HE SMOKES. JESUS.
It was okay... I could see why people really enjoyed it, it just wasn't my style. Especially when you can't find anything you like in the main character.
I'm still going to see the movie adaptation. Apparently it's better. We'll see.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It’s a classic for a reason. Outstanding writing, good audiobook narration, and a story that will pull you along for the ride. It’s certainly “of its time” in places but in a way that makes it feel real for that era.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
I tackled this after The Big Sleep in my noir readathon this summer, but didn't enjoy it quite as much as Chandler's; the plot and characters are good, but Hammett's humour didn't ring as strongly with me, and I especially grew tired of his repetitive descriptions. You can really tell what his comfortable, fallback turns-of-phrase were.
Still, though, I'm nitpicking! It's a solid and enjoyable book, and the ending is particularly great.
(Sidenote: I'm onto The Thin Man now and already liking it more, so I feel like Hammett might have improved with time and as his noir formula percolated.)
(Sidenote sidenote, added in 2018: Red Harvest has turned out to be one of my favourite noir novels of all time, and it was Hammett's first, so I can only conclude that there is no rhyme or reason to how much I like his writing! I might reread this classic soon to give it another shot.)
Still, though, I'm nitpicking! It's a solid and enjoyable book, and the ending is particularly great.
(Sidenote: I'm onto The Thin Man now and already liking it more, so I feel like Hammett might have improved with time and as his noir formula percolated.)
(Sidenote sidenote, added in 2018: Red Harvest has turned out to be one of my favourite noir novels of all time, and it was Hammett's first, so I can only conclude that there is no rhyme or reason to how much I like his writing! I might reread this classic soon to give it another shot.)
"'When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it. It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you're supposed to do something about it. Then it happens we were in the detective business. Well, when one of your organizations gets killed it's bad business to let the killer get away with it. It's bad all around - bad for that one organization, bad for every detective everywhere'" (Hammett 226).
That one quote in Dashiell Hammett's 1929 novel The Maltese Falcon makes up for the very complex and often times confusing plot contained within its pages. Sam Spade, the novel's central protagonist, is a detective that is hard and rough around the edges, but he has morals, and he sticks with them in a profession where one encounters the worst of the worst of people. It is this surprising humanity in him that makes the novel memorable to me and wins me over to adoring it.
The focus of the novel is on the mystery on the murder of Spade's partner Miles Archer who was killed tailing a person by the behest of their client of the name Miss Wonderly, though her name is actually Brigid O'Shaughnessy. Spade has to find out what happened and discovers that Archer's murder is part of an entangling plot having to do with bad characters trying to recover a valuable relic that is the Maltese falcon.
I've grown to adore the hardboiled style of writing thanks to reading a lot of Raymond Chandler and Hammett's other novel The Thin Man. I figured it would serve me well to read Hammett's most famous novel with is this one, and I'm so glad I did. All the elements are in play: the gritty crime, the slimy cast of characters, the incompetent police, the femme fatale in O'Shaughnessy and of course the private eye that attempts to triumph through it all even though he too suffers an emotional blow. Reading the novel took me into another world and that what is what good fiction does.
The end of the novel proves to be the best part of it because it ties everything together and reveals great insight on Sam Spade and is values in life and his profession. Even though the crime is solved, not everything is happy, yet Spade continues on as he always does. It is so nice to read males characters that can have depth and feelings but also be strong and tough in the face of such badness in life.
The femme fatale character of Brigid O'Shaughnessy is interesting, coming off as seemingly innocent but is slowly revealed to have much more nefarious intentions as the plot unravels. Modern readers might take offense at her character, criticizing its sexist undertones, but I actually feel that some women like O'Shaughnessy do exist even today, women who take advantage of male chivalry to do whatever they want. It's really unsettling. However, it proves that even an old classic novel as this one can have striking parallels to our world today, which is why it has stood the test of time.
That one quote in Dashiell Hammett's 1929 novel The Maltese Falcon makes up for the very complex and often times confusing plot contained within its pages. Sam Spade, the novel's central protagonist, is a detective that is hard and rough around the edges, but he has morals, and he sticks with them in a profession where one encounters the worst of the worst of people. It is this surprising humanity in him that makes the novel memorable to me and wins me over to adoring it.
The focus of the novel is on the mystery on the murder of Spade's partner Miles Archer who was killed tailing a person by the behest of their client of the name Miss Wonderly, though her name is actually Brigid O'Shaughnessy. Spade has to find out what happened and discovers that Archer's murder is part of an entangling plot having to do with bad characters trying to recover a valuable relic that is the Maltese falcon.
I've grown to adore the hardboiled style of writing thanks to reading a lot of Raymond Chandler and Hammett's other novel The Thin Man. I figured it would serve me well to read Hammett's most famous novel with is this one, and I'm so glad I did. All the elements are in play: the gritty crime, the slimy cast of characters, the incompetent police, the femme fatale in O'Shaughnessy and of course the private eye that attempts to triumph through it all even though he too suffers an emotional blow. Reading the novel took me into another world and that what is what good fiction does.
The end of the novel proves to be the best part of it because it ties everything together and reveals great insight on Sam Spade and is values in life and his profession. Even though the crime is solved, not everything is happy, yet Spade continues on as he always does. It is so nice to read males characters that can have depth and feelings but also be strong and tough in the face of such badness in life.
The femme fatale character of Brigid O'Shaughnessy is interesting, coming off as seemingly innocent but is slowly revealed to have much more nefarious intentions as the plot unravels. Modern readers might take offense at her character, criticizing its sexist undertones, but I actually feel that some women like O'Shaughnessy do exist even today, women who take advantage of male chivalry to do whatever they want. It's really unsettling. However, it proves that even an old classic novel as this one can have striking parallels to our world today, which is why it has stood the test of time.
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Excellent plotting; Sam Spade is not an appealing character. Raging misogynist, to begin with....
ნორმალური ნაწარმოებია, იდეა მომეწონა, ალბათ სხვა ავტორს რომ დაემუშავებინა პერსონაჟები, ბევრად უფრო საინტერესო სახეს მიიღებდა, მაგრამ არც ჰემეთის შევარდენია ცუდი. თარგმანი კარგია შესაძლებლობის ფარგლებში, ამას დამატებული ის, რომ მარიამ ჯგუშიასთვის დებიუტია. ფილმი უკეთესია ვფიქრობ, მხოლოდ ბოგარტიც კმარა არგუმენტად :D
I may be one of the few schmucks who hasn't yet seen the movie, which allowed me a more pristine reading experience. Maybe this hits all the hard-boiled detective (what does that mean anyway, hard-boiled?) stereotypes, but the writing was wonderfully clean and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.