Reviews

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

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joshnew10987's review against another edition

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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

2.75

whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition

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2.0

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?

onkeltuka's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

crowsandprose's review against another edition

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4.0

The writing, on a techinical level, is a bit weak; there are a lot of phrase that are quite gripping though! However, it's not the style or the skill that defined The Maltese Falcon. It's that there is only one good human being in the whole book -- the secratery!

Poor Effie has no idea about the world she lives on the fringes of. Sam Spade's foggy Noir San Francisco is steeped with corruption, vendetta and greed. You wouldn't want to live there, but it's not a bad place to visit for a while.

Had the writing been as strong as the story, this would have scored 5 out of 5. However, it's technical flaws cannot entirely br ignored.

avent1ne's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

jprocino's review against another edition

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1.0

An invigorating mystery as all Hammett books are, but it was difficult to overlook the misogyny and homophobia. I know the book was written before WW1, but it really detracts from the enjoyment. If you’re looking to read Hammett, I would suggest The Thin Man.