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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first time I read this book years ago I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I liked the gritty reality and hard nosed detective Sam Spade and his dependable, lively secretary Effie Perine but the ending left me conflicted. But on a reread it’s more understandable, although it still gutted me. Poor Sam. He plays up the tough detective but there are emotions he pushes down and locks up. While The Thin Man was a more enjoyable romp, The Maltese Falcon is a more series look at the diabolical side of humans and just as much 5 star read as The Thin Man.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sam Spade smokes (no exaggeration) fifty thousand cigarettes a day.
Hammett definitely has a unique writing style and I’m not completely sold on it, (though I like the line “Gutman’s [eyes] twinkled merrily between sheltering fat-puffs” lol) but it works really really well for a mystery novel that we never know what anybody’s thinking, just the facial expressions they make. Spade is the ultimate film noir anti-hero. It boggles my mind that one of the top reviews of this book on here is someone complaining about him not being a great hero- one of the first descriptions we get of him is that he looks like a blond Satan, is that really how you expect the chivalrous hero to be introduced?
Hammett definitely has a unique writing style and I’m not completely sold on it, (though I like the line “Gutman’s [eyes] twinkled merrily between sheltering fat-puffs” lol) but it works really really well for a mystery novel that we never know what anybody’s thinking, just the facial expressions they make. Spade is the ultimate film noir anti-hero. It boggles my mind that one of the top reviews of this book on here is someone complaining about him not being a great hero- one of the first descriptions we get of him is that he looks like a blond Satan, is that really how you expect the chivalrous hero to be introduced?
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Didn’t really do it for me. Serviceable story with interesting characters for the 1930’s but other than that it was a lot of repetition. Maybe it was fresh and original for its time and better consumed in its serialized form because as it is it just felt very slow and boring.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I rate simply: 5 = liked it, 3 = meh, and 1 = didn't like it.
It is easy to see why this book is held in high regard and as a pioneer and measurement of hard boiled noir.
I had been meaning to read this for years and somehow never got around to it. Having finally read it, it was nothing short of superb. As I write this now it is 2.44am and I just finished it.
Prior to reading it I had no idea what the book was about. Having not seen any adaptations and resisted looking at spoilers. It was different to what I expected, my only other experience of Maltese Falcon was from an old game called Mafia II where a bar is named it. The story was very interesting and especially the history of the Maltese Falcon (not sure if fiction or real - not checked). Being noir there is no true good guy but Sam Spade is a good guy in this (despite his many flaws).
I would love to read more by Dashiel Hammett as well as noir of his era. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
I had been meaning to read this for years and somehow never got around to it. Having finally read it, it was nothing short of superb. As I write this now it is 2.44am and I just finished it.
Prior to reading it I had no idea what the book was about. Having not seen any adaptations and resisted looking at spoilers. It was different to what I expected, my only other experience of Maltese Falcon was from an old game called Mafia II where a bar is named it. The story was very interesting and especially the history of the Maltese Falcon (not sure if fiction or real - not checked). Being noir there is no true good guy but Sam Spade is a good guy in this (despite his many flaws).
I would love to read more by Dashiel Hammett as well as noir of his era. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I love how much contempt Hammett clearly has for any character that isn’t Sam Spade. like anytime he describes Caspar Gutman, he basically writes “the fat man blubbered fatly”.
an easy, atmospheric read that perfectly accompanies long nights in San Francisco and—like everything else Hammett wrote—laid the foundation for cinematic gold.
an easy, atmospheric read that perfectly accompanies long nights in San Francisco and—like everything else Hammett wrote—laid the foundation for cinematic gold.