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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
THE classic hard-boiled detective story. I get it, it is atmospheric and the slang is amazing, but overall it's just not my style. I didn't feel much interest in who ended up with the falcon.
And what's up with the descriptions? People are always having "white-ringed eyes." Doesn't everyone? Spade is always yellow. The fact that his eyes are yellow-grey is repeated a LOT. WHY ARE THEY YELLOW? His face is also various shades of yellow. WHY? Does he have jaundice? We get it, Cairo is effeminate. I didn't need 200 descriptions of him mincing. And as for Gutman's fat pouches continuously wobbling? Less of that please.
And what's up with the descriptions? People are always having "white-ringed eyes." Doesn't everyone? Spade is always yellow. The fact that his eyes are yellow-grey is repeated a LOT. WHY ARE THEY YELLOW? His face is also various shades of yellow. WHY? Does he have jaundice? We get it, Cairo is effeminate. I didn't need 200 descriptions of him mincing. And as for Gutman's fat pouches continuously wobbling? Less of that please.
dark
tense
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:
Complicated
It isn't wrong to call The Maltese Falcon the best detective novel ever written. It isn't wrong to call it one of the best-written stories of the 20th century. It isn't too far to suggest that it's a book everyone should read at least once in their lifetime. The book is just that damned good.
No writer can lay claim to being able to write as compactly, as complexly, or as thrillingly as Dashiell Hammett. He's a master at the craft, a storyteller with so much style and nuance that he almost literally exists in a league of his own.
I've said before that I don't even think The Maltese Falcon is his best book, but it's so good it doesn't even matter; it's a goddamn perfect piece of art, and that hasn't changed in almost 100 years.
And it probably won't.
No writer can lay claim to being able to write as compactly, as complexly, or as thrillingly as Dashiell Hammett. He's a master at the craft, a storyteller with so much style and nuance that he almost literally exists in a league of his own.
I've said before that I don't even think The Maltese Falcon is his best book, but it's so good it doesn't even matter; it's a goddamn perfect piece of art, and that hasn't changed in almost 100 years.
And it probably won't.
adventurous
dark
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:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
yay for mystery, but boo for misogyny
there's certainly a conversation to be had about holding old books to modern standards, but i just didn't really enjoy parts of this?
there's certainly a conversation to be had about holding old books to modern standards, but i just didn't really enjoy parts of this?
What a misogynistic, homophobic book. My favorite part was how much the author wanted readers to like Sam Spade and how much I wanted him to die at the end. 1.5.
That was just a great detective story. So much has been written about it already that there's not much more to add.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Maltese Falcon is a noir blast to the past, written entirely in external third-person narrative with no thoughts or feelings. The result is a somewhat disconnected perspective of iconic detective Sam Spade, who is often coldly detached, analytical, and unflinching in the face of danger.
While some might even call him a poster child for toxic masculinity, I found his ruthless determination fun and refreshing. Given the other characters in the book are equally well-equipped and cunning (male or female), Spade needs to be every bit as charming and charismatic to thrive.
In fact, the entire plot is sparked by the beautiful "Miss Wonderley" who hires them to follow Floyd Thursby. She claims Thursby has run off with her sister but is really setting up a con of her own — roping the unsuspecting detectives into an international treasure hunt for a near-priceless relic once owned by the King of Spain.
Although Wonderley often comes across as a Confederate (or perhaps Spade wants it to appear that way), the other villains appear heavily stereotyped and overplayed. Or, they may have even set the stereotype that most of us have come to know from James Bond and Indiana Jones-like bad guys. The sniveling Joel Cairo and engrossed Kasper Gutman, and hot-headed Wilmer Cook feel like they've all appeared in a thousand similar stories about cops, robbers, cons, and crooks.
The story is enjoyable overall, except for the rapid-fire tying up of loose ends at the finish. But even so, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't like nor understand noir, as you'll see most other reviews seem split along those lines — those who don't like noir don't like it. Those who understand it on the front end enjoy it because it delivers exactly what it is. Even as much as I enjoyed it, The Maltese Falcon will never be my favorite. But not all books have to be.
While some might even call him a poster child for toxic masculinity, I found his ruthless determination fun and refreshing. Given the other characters in the book are equally well-equipped and cunning (male or female), Spade needs to be every bit as charming and charismatic to thrive.
In fact, the entire plot is sparked by the beautiful "Miss Wonderley" who hires them to follow Floyd Thursby. She claims Thursby has run off with her sister but is really setting up a con of her own — roping the unsuspecting detectives into an international treasure hunt for a near-priceless relic once owned by the King of Spain.
Although Wonderley often comes across as a Confederate (or perhaps Spade wants it to appear that way), the other villains appear heavily stereotyped and overplayed. Or, they may have even set the stereotype that most of us have come to know from James Bond and Indiana Jones-like bad guys. The sniveling Joel Cairo and engrossed Kasper Gutman, and hot-headed Wilmer Cook feel like they've all appeared in a thousand similar stories about cops, robbers, cons, and crooks.
The story is enjoyable overall, except for the rapid-fire tying up of loose ends at the finish. But even so, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't like nor understand noir, as you'll see most other reviews seem split along those lines — those who don't like noir don't like it. Those who understand it on the front end enjoy it because it delivers exactly what it is. Even as much as I enjoyed it, The Maltese Falcon will never be my favorite. But not all books have to be.