The Maltese falcon ; The thin man ; Red harvest

I won't go so far as to say Hammett's redeemed himself in my eyes, but I enjoyed this more than I hated The Maltese Falcon. But I'm also just one guy and he died 64 years ago, so I doubt he's pressed about my opinion.

This had one of the more unique setups in noir fiction that I've read; Nick Charles is a (former) detective who keeps reminding everyone of that crucial fact, but no one seems to listen to him and instead he's approached by multiple characters who believe he's the only one who can help them. He's on vacation in NYC with his wife Nora (who didn't actually feature in the book as much as the marketing blurb led me to expect), and gets roped into the problems of a family he used to be friends with. Also everyone in said family is psychotic.

The poor guy can't catch a break and just relax on his trip, and because everyone in town thinks he's working the murder mystery case that he wants nothing to do with, Nick ends up attracting the wrong kind of attention until he has to solve it for his own safety. Obviously it's very of its time with the treatment/portrayal of women, everyone's an indoor chain-smoking alcoholic, and random racial epithets are casually dropped without thought. It comes with the territory of the genre and I'm used to it by now.

What got me was how complicated the final reveal and explanation was; I had to read a summary after the fact because in the source text I had a hard time following who was responsible for what. Still, expectations were met, and I especially enjoyed the aesthetic and vibes of this story, specifically a prolonged scene in a rowdy and dangerous speakeasy. A perfectly acceptable middle-of-the-road example of the genre. Sure, you could do better, but you could do a hell of a lot worse too.

Cinematic whodunnit, some of the turns from dialog to narrated action here are wonderfully written, I might watch the movie, but I'm ready to admit that noir fiction's male navel gazing is not my reading pleasure.

I’ve been meaning to read Dashiell Hammett for ages, thinking it would scratch the same combination of literary and thematic itches that the works of Raymond Chandler do so well. Unfortunately this didn’t do the trick, perhaps in part because it turned out to be more murder mystery than hard-boiled crime novel. Dated though they might be, I found the racism and sexism throughout completely distracting and the writing paled in comparison to Chandler’s. Though I was amazed and amused by the constant drinking that Nick and Nora Charles manage to accomplish throughout the story. At one point Nick declines his wife’s offer of breakfast, complaining that it’s too early, and requests a drink instead. It’s no wonder one of my favorite bar tenders in Portland named his dog Asta after the Charles’ pup. I’ve not given up on Hammett just yet. I’m going to read The Maltese Falcon and see if Sam Spade, Hammett’s solitary private eye, and his moody milieu are anything like Chandler’s Philip Marlowe and his hard-boiled environs.

I'm glad I read this classic but have no desire to read anything else by the author. Although I was told that his other books aren't like The Thin Man in tone so maybe, someday, I'll be persuaded to try another.

I didn't have any idea who did it - and honestly couldn't have - until the very end, which was nice. But I also didn't like any characters, so that wasn't nice at all. Nora was the closest I came to liking someone and there really wasn't much more of her besides getting Nick drinks.

Between the shrewish women and the sexist men (yes, I know it's the cultural atmosphere of the time), I didn't like the book as much as I had hoped I would.

Funny dialogue. Sadly, I couldn't hang in there past the first ten pages or so. Drinks before breakfast, with breakfast, after breakfast, and then isn't it time for a little party?

Dashiell Hammett is often referred to as one of the ‘Big Three’ when it comes to pulp fiction along with Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain. He is known for his hard-boiled novels turned film noir classics including The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man. Return of the Thin man is a collection of two previously unreleased novellas featuring Nick & Nora Charles from The Thin Man.

While “After the Thin Man” and “Another Thin Man” have been promoted as two never before published novellas, these are basically glorified screen plays by the pulp legend. The cynical ex-detective is back along with his very cleaver wife for some more drinking, flirting and crimes. But you really need to have read or seen The Thin Man before reading this because they are sequels that relay heavily on the character development that has already taken place.

The main problem is there are no stories here; nothing to demonstrate the power of Hammett’s pulp styles. These are just scripts for cashing in on the success of The Thin Man film adaptation. I think they would have worked a lot better if they were made into movies in the 1930’s. It reminds me of the recent movie release of Taken 2; all the plot and character development was in its predecessor, it is just cashing in on the success by trying to continue the story.

As a pulp fan I was looking forward to reading this and I really wanted to love it, but I was very disappointed. This is a gimmick release, not recommended for people new to Dashiell Hammett and Nick & Nora Charles. But if you loved The Thin Man there is a slight pleasure in seeing what Hammett had planned for these characters. The Thin Man was never a favourite of mine, I do really like Nora but for someone interested in trying the author I would recommend The Maltese Falcon or my personal favourite, Red Harvest.

This review originally appeared on my blog; literary-exploration.com/2012/11/04/book-review-return-of-the-thin-man/