The Maltese Falcon | Dashiell Hammett | Sweet dreams are made of these

The Maltese Falcon | Dashiell Hammett | A true jewel of the noir genre!

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The Maltese Falcon

	The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett Vintage, 1989 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 132 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Sweet dreams are made of these

who am I to disagree?

Dashiell Hammett was an extraordinary writer. His short stories and novels gave birth to the concept of the `hard-boiled detective'. Another great writer, Raymond Chandler wrote that Hammett "did over and over again what only the best writers can ever do at all. He wrote scenes that seemed never to have been written before." Maltese Falcon is Hammett at the top of his game. It is a must read for those who haven't read it, or only seen the Humphrey Bogart movie. For a fan of Hammett it is certainly worth reading again.

"Everybody's looking for something. Some of them want to use you. Some of them want to get used by you. Some of them want to abuse you. Some of them want to be abused by you."

The plot of Maltese Falcon is well-known and the above bit of lyrics seems to sum up its essence. A strange, alluring woman, Brigid O'Shaughnessy, walks into the door of Archer & Spade, two San Francisco detectives. Miles Archer, a man wit an eye for the ladies, particularly those willing to pay top dollar for his services agrees to take on an assignment. He is killed that night and it is left to his surviving partner, Sam Spade, to put the matter to rest. In no time at all Spade is embroiled with a cast of characters that includes O'Shaughnessy, Joel Cairo, Kasper Gutman, and Wilmer Cook. They are all embarked on a quest, a murderous quest as it turns out, for "the Maltese Falcon" a jewel-encrusted falcon lost from view since the Middle Ages and worth more money than one can imagine.

Hammett draws each character with a vivid eye for detail and for sharp prose that comes at you like bullets from Spade's revolver. Spade has seen it all. He spots O'Shaughnessy as a sharpie from the get go but seems to fall for her despite himself. Cairo is both unctuous, effeminate and Gutman (the fat man as Spade calls him) is smooth talking and the brains behind the search for the falcon. Wilmer Cook is a vicious thug but Spade, being the hard-boiled detective quickly spots him for the minor-leaguer that he is. As the story nears its end the loose strings sort themselves out and the smoke clears. Spade is forced to make a choice but in the world created by Hammett people like Spade have a certain code. It doesn't matter that they aren't sophisticated, Ivy-League educated, parlor-room detectives. It doesn't matter that they speak the way a street-cop pounding a beat would speak and don't always observe the niceties of the Queen's English. There are rules that must be followed and tough choices must be made.

It seems impossible to review this book without reference to the movie. The John Huston directed movie was and remains a classic. It was a terrific adaptation. There are some interesting differences worth noting. Hammett was far more direct in acknowledging the illicit relationship between Sam Spade and Iva Archer, Miles' widow. Spade's cavalier love them and leave them attitude was also more in evidence in the book. He was also direct, quite blunt in fact, in pointing out the `orientation' or `preference' of Joel Cairo. The way Hammett paints the relationship between Cairo (Peter Lorre) and the gun-slinging Wilmer Cook was fascinating.

If you like Dashiell Hammett you don't me need to tell you that it is worth reading again. If you are new to Hammett, this book is a terrific place to start. I do not think you will be disappointed.

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A true jewel of the noir genre!

This story is still just as fresh as the day it was written in 1928. Hammett has created a masterpiece with this book. The story is so real and genuine that it's hard to believe that it's out of his imagination. Hammett can create atmosphere like no one else, and his love and knowledge for 1920's San Fransico comes out loud and clear in these pages. It's also easy to see that Hammett writes from experience. This is a Hard-boiled detective story, and it stands alone and above anything that followed after. Hammett's Sam Spade breathes life on the pages, just as he did in the early movie version with Humphrey Bogart. The dialogue is so good in this book, that it was lifted off in its entirety for the movie. Anyone that calls himself or herself a detective story afficiondo, must read this book.

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A classic detective novel

The Maltese Falcon represents everything that makes a detective novel great. Quick-witted, fast-paced dialogue from all characters, great and enteraining role-players in the case, and twists and turns in the story up until the very end. While I have yet to see the film version of the novel, I must say that the book represents perfect source material for a film noir to be made. Sam Spade is probably one of the greatest characters of all time. It really is amazing how much Spade talks down to the women in the novel. I know that women played a much different role in society when this novel was written, but wow, you can tell that Spade thinks he is smarter and more important than all women characters in the book. Even though he is such a jerk, you can't help but love his character and root for him to get to the bottom of the case. The storyline is very convoluted, to say the least. It starts out with a woman entering Spade's office to ask him to tail a man that is looking for her. Spade sends his partner, Miles Archer, to do the dirty work, and when Miles ends up dead, Spade is launched into a web of betrayal, deception, and murder that he could have never expected.

This is my first Dashiell Hammett novel, and it for sure will not be the last.

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Outstanding Crime Novel

Outstanding Crime Novel

Dashiell Hammett is among the indisputable masters of detective fiction. The Maltese Falcon, probably his best-known work, is a classic of the genre. Like many of the best detective stories, the tale pits the cold-blooded, lone-ranger private eye versus a colorful array of bad guys, set against a backdrop of jazz-age vice. Samuel Spade, who looks "pleasantly like a blond satan," is employed to help recover a priceless falcon statuette, but becomes quickly caught up in a game of murder, theft and undecipherable loyalties.

Unlike many other mystery protagonists, however, Spade is much more morally ambiguous. With a remarkable economy of words, Hammett constructs a main character who is sometimes as treacherous as the villains he fights.

The book is among the best pieces of detective fiction I have ever read. It remains primarily a detective novel, which never quite transcends the genre into the realm of outstanding fiction but which will not disappoint the reader looking for a thrilling, blazing-fast story.

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The damsel in distress & the mystery bird

When a beautiful red-head comes to Private Investigator Sam Spade's office asking him to help find her sister Sam does not believe her story for a minute. A wise man is Sam. For her story is just a front to find a missing treasure that people will kill for. Soon enough Sam's partner is dead and the police are trying to pin his death on Sam. For his own good he has to solve the mystey the red-head landed in his lap.

Not having seen the movie of the same name I didn't know what to expect of this story, except that it is labelled a 'classic'. I found this an easy read, and a reasonably short novel. The solution mystery wasn't obvious till near the end and Sam is a classic hard boiled detective. The original man of few words. If you enjoy a good mystery this is one you should read if only see how little, in some ways, this genre has changed over the years.

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