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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
The story is amazing in that almost none of the main characters ever tell each other the truth. The description in the story is incredibly detailed. It is difficult to tell if this was a stylistic decision or because the author was on a lot of drugs. The ending was excellent and reflected the tone of the rest of the book.
All these years and I thought I knew how it ended, I was wrong!
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Good classic noir! A dame, a pi, some cops, some shady characters, and a falcon. I liked reading through this and it's old timey feel. Totally love the movie with bogart as spade. Great book, great film.
The mysterious, alluring woman who can't necessarily be trusted. The search for an exotic, expensive item that people will kill for, literally. The detective who has strong morals but will bend the law to find the truth. All of these familiar elements of hardboiled detective novels began in 1930 with "The Maltese Falcon," which is the Big Read selection for 2012.
I really got sucked into this book! The action begins right away and is nonstop until the end. The author tells a lot of the story and develops the characters by using details to create a mental picture, and all of the details are relevant. There aren't any insignificant descriptions cluttering things up. Hammett's storytelling made the story come alive for me, and there are lots of twists in the plot that kept me interested. I'll definitely be checking out some of his other novels and short stories.
I really got sucked into this book! The action begins right away and is nonstop until the end. The author tells a lot of the story and develops the characters by using details to create a mental picture, and all of the details are relevant. There aren't any insignificant descriptions cluttering things up. Hammett's storytelling made the story come alive for me, and there are lots of twists in the plot that kept me interested. I'll definitely be checking out some of his other novels and short stories.
dark
mysterious
tense
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I began reading [b:The Maltese Falcon|29999|The Maltese Falcon|Dashiell Hammett|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1306421260s/29999.jpg|980184] with every expectation that I would enjoy it. I have heard so many comparisons of [a:Dashiell Hammett|16927|Dashiell Hammett|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1287255332p2/16927.jpg] to [a:Raymond Chandler|1377|Raymond Chandler|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1206535318p2/1377.jpg] that anything else seemed impossible. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Try as hard as I can, I cannot see where the brilliance supposedly lies. All of the ingredients are there: beautiful, lying and tragic woman; hard-boiled detective; copious amounts of booze and coffee; evil men slapping the beautiful women in the face. (Seriously, what is up with all the slapping in noir?) Somehow, despite everything, it came off less compelling than a third-rate [a:Alistair MacLean|26970|Alistair MacLean|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1238207294p2/26970.jpg]. What's up with that?
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated