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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Found this to be a bit of a chore to read. I found the conclusion very intriguing, but that wasn't enough to make up for my lack of interest throughout. Still, well-written and frequently funny. I suppose this just wasn't "for me."
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hammett is an amazing writer. I picked this book up after reading about Hammett's life, and how, essentially, he wrote furiously and gained fame fast, but then had writer's block the rest of his life.
This book was great in the sense that every detective novel I've ever read, or movie I've seen (or even Picard's holodeck excursions on Star Trek: The Next Generation) are based on the descriptions Hammett creates here.
I have now read 2 of Hammett's books, and I hope to read more!
This book was great in the sense that every detective novel I've ever read, or movie I've seen (or even Picard's holodeck excursions on Star Trek: The Next Generation) are based on the descriptions Hammett creates here.
I have now read 2 of Hammett's books, and I hope to read more!
Sam Spade is a terrible detective and pretty much a jackass. Some of this reading is due to changes in society from when this was written and the expectations of what it is to be a"hard man ". I get that, but despite changing societal norms Spade's primary detecting is accomplished through smug silence and slapping people, while relying on the subject to happen to say the necessary information of their own accord. He was even sleeping with his business partner's wife, then blowing her off when she needed him... jackass.
This is one of the most classic noire, or hardboiled detective fiction books of all time. I think, in part, its fame results from the amazing film version, which starred Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. Had Raymond Chandler written this book, it would have become a literary masterpiece, despite the genre. Hammett, however, has the writing chops of a second-rate physical chemist. And I've read enough physical chemistry in my life that I'm not sure Hammett even comes off well against the second-rate ones. But, Hammett did have a flair for devising interesting plot lines. I find his books are much better in retrospect, when I think about what went on in them, unhampered by the wooden prose and the cardboard characterization.
Anyway, Sam Spade is a private detective. A young woman comes to him to get him to help her evade someone on her tracks, Floyd Thursby. Spade's partner, Miles, comes in and assures the young woman that he'll be all over it. No problem.
So, in the middle of the night, the police call Sam to tell him that Miles has been murdered. Not long thereafter, Thursby is also found murdered. It seems that the young woman gave Spade a false name. Also, it seems that Miles' spouse was alley catting around Spade and had been hoping to dump one PI for the other. Thus, the police finger Sam as a prime suspect.
Well, then Joel Cairo comes in (Peter Lorre) to ask Spade about the return of an object of great value, which Cairo thinks Spade got from the woman. Also, there's a "Fat Man" lurking in the background and a young punk, Wilmer something, who is the Fat Man's muscle, but not really particularly competent muscle.
It seems they're all in it together in one way or another, the young woman, Cairo, Thursby, the Fat Man, sometimes working together, sometimes trying to double cross each other. The item of interest is a jewel encrusted falcon, initially crafted in the Middle Ages by the Knights of Malta, or some such. It's a very engaging, fast paced story. The only real blemish is Hammett's complete lack of writing chops.
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April 2023 thoughts
I went to California for a week, some 150 miles northwest of San Francisco. So, for some reason, I thought to read a book that took place in SF. I decided to re-read this one. Probably not the best idea. I was up in gold country, so I should have been reading Bret Harte. Oh well.
I've read this book before and liked it ok. I'm not sure the book is as good as the movie, featuring Humphry Bogart, but it's a lot easier to read a book on a cross country plane flight than it is to view an old movie that isn't likely to be one of the offerings on the plane. Besides, the screen in front of my seat was broken, and all the video I could watch was other people's screens from a distance. Interestingly, someone in the row in front of me was binge watching The Office, both on the trip out to CA as well as the trip back to Boston.
Anyway, what struck me about this book this time around was that Sam Spade was rather an a-hole. I guess I'm more woke that I was the last time I read this book, but his treatment of women was horrific. It reminds me of the guy in college, back in the 1960s, who pontificated that "a woman is a vessel for a man's pleasure". Anyway, that's Sam Spade in a nutshell, women were for flirtation and fondling, but not for taking seriously. Gah! I may be done with Sam Spade.
Anyway, Sam Spade is a private detective. A young woman comes to him to get him to help her evade someone on her tracks, Floyd Thursby. Spade's partner, Miles, comes in and assures the young woman that he'll be all over it. No problem.
So, in the middle of the night, the police call Sam to tell him that Miles has been murdered. Not long thereafter, Thursby is also found murdered. It seems that the young woman gave Spade a false name. Also, it seems that Miles' spouse was alley catting around Spade and had been hoping to dump one PI for the other. Thus, the police finger Sam as a prime suspect.
Well, then Joel Cairo comes in (Peter Lorre) to ask Spade about the return of an object of great value, which Cairo thinks Spade got from the woman. Also, there's a "Fat Man" lurking in the background and a young punk, Wilmer something, who is the Fat Man's muscle, but not really particularly competent muscle.
It seems they're all in it together in one way or another, the young woman, Cairo, Thursby, the Fat Man, sometimes working together, sometimes trying to double cross each other. The item of interest is a jewel encrusted falcon, initially crafted in the Middle Ages by the Knights of Malta, or some such. It's a very engaging, fast paced story. The only real blemish is Hammett's complete lack of writing chops.
--------------------------------------------------------------
April 2023 thoughts
I went to California for a week, some 150 miles northwest of San Francisco. So, for some reason, I thought to read a book that took place in SF. I decided to re-read this one. Probably not the best idea. I was up in gold country, so I should have been reading Bret Harte. Oh well.
I've read this book before and liked it ok. I'm not sure the book is as good as the movie, featuring Humphry Bogart, but it's a lot easier to read a book on a cross country plane flight than it is to view an old movie that isn't likely to be one of the offerings on the plane. Besides, the screen in front of my seat was broken, and all the video I could watch was other people's screens from a distance. Interestingly, someone in the row in front of me was binge watching The Office, both on the trip out to CA as well as the trip back to Boston.
Anyway, what struck me about this book this time around was that Sam Spade was rather an a-hole. I guess I'm more woke that I was the last time I read this book, but his treatment of women was horrific. It reminds me of the guy in college, back in the 1960s, who pontificated that "a woman is a vessel for a man's pleasure". Anyway, that's Sam Spade in a nutshell, women were for flirtation and fondling, but not for taking seriously. Gah! I may be done with Sam Spade.
I'm quite the fan of the neo-noir stories (my most recent favourite is [a:Alistair Reynolds|6448117|Alistair Reynolds|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg]' [b:Century Rain|89192|Century Rain|Alastair Reynolds|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309281997s/89192.jpg|86084]) so I figured it might be interesting to go back to one of the pioneering detective-noir stories to see how it all began.
Obviously, harking from 1930 it's a little dated, but it's just telling a story, not prognosticating the future (as are most other things I read) so it doesn't really suffer from this. The main thing that really kept annoying me was the role of the leading ladies, all of which were suitably (for the time) docile and demure and which to me somewhat soured what was otherwise a good story (I can't really explain without entering spoiler territory, so I shan't).
The story is described elsewhere so I'm not going to touch on that more than to say that it's well paced and Spade is quite unpredictable in his actions so knowing what's coming next is not quite as easy to suppose as you might think. The descriptive prose is brief, but effective. When it comes to places and scenes, transporting! I relished the language used in the evocative descriptions of old San Francisco.
Overall I enjoyed it, although I'd not be rushing out to read more of Sam Spade (which isn't a problem, since there isn't any).
Obviously, harking from 1930 it's a little dated, but it's just telling a story, not prognosticating the future (as are most other things I read) so it doesn't really suffer from this. The main thing that really kept annoying me was the role of the leading ladies, all of which were suitably (for the time) docile and demure and which to me somewhat soured what was otherwise a good story (I can't really explain without entering spoiler territory, so I shan't).
The story is described elsewhere so I'm not going to touch on that more than to say that it's well paced and Spade is quite unpredictable in his actions so knowing what's coming next is not quite as easy to suppose as you might think. The descriptive prose is brief, but effective. When it comes to places and scenes, transporting! I relished the language used in the evocative descriptions of old San Francisco.
Overall I enjoyed it, although I'd not be rushing out to read more of Sam Spade (which isn't a problem, since there isn't any).
1929, when this book was published, doesn't seem that long ago, but with the language and writing style, it comes across as decidedly eccentric. In particular, there's much more physical character description here than I typically see in modern writing. It's also in the actions and attitudes of the characters where we see the real time that has passed. They all seem a bit foreign, with Spade being particularly hard to pin down - he's supposed to be a tough guy investigator, but he's always smiling or grinning, which seems at odds with other aspects of his behavior. And then there are Brigid and Iva, both of whom come across as similarly inconsistent, though this is probably an intentional attempt to portray them as flighty or manipulative or both.
The characters are clearly the centerpiece of the book, with the plot being secondary, which I found unfortunate, since the book becomes more interesting when the history behind the Maltese Falcon finally comes out, more than halfway through the book. But Hammett focuses on the characters, presumably to make a statement or two about greed, deception, and human nature.
So it wasn't bad; I didn't know about the twist(s) at the at the end, and didn't see them coming, so that was well done, and I can see where later detective stories and especially movies owe something to Hammett's work. But overall I wasn't wildly impressed.
The characters are clearly the centerpiece of the book, with the plot being secondary, which I found unfortunate, since the book becomes more interesting when the history behind the Maltese Falcon finally comes out, more than halfway through the book. But Hammett focuses on the characters, presumably to make a statement or two about greed, deception, and human nature.
So it wasn't bad; I didn't know about the twist(s) at the at the end, and didn't see them coming, so that was well done, and I can see where later detective stories and especially movies owe something to Hammett's work. But overall I wasn't wildly impressed.
This is classic noir: one of the staples of the genre. I liked it overall. It's got some goofy potboiler moments (like how every woman drools over the main character for no reason, or how sassing the police has no consequences) but those are part of noir, and I consider them the price of admission. The book is overtly homophobic, and weirdly racist towards Greek people; and will not appeal to everyone. I had a good time enjoying the grittiness and hijinks. I would like to read a retelling from Joe Cairo's perspective.
Edit: turns out the racism towards Greek people was actually just homophobia the entire time. "Greek" was slang for a gay man when this book was written, and the "greek" character (Joe Cairo) isn't actually greek. Now I want to read this retold from his perspective even more.
Edit: turns out the racism towards Greek people was actually just homophobia the entire time. "Greek" was slang for a gay man when this book was written, and the "greek" character (Joe Cairo) isn't actually greek. Now I want to read this retold from his perspective even more.
mysterious