MobileRead Discussion: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

[GA Russell]

Tom, I've spent much of the year reading it. It's a great selection!

I note that the print book is currently $22.58. I got it for $16.50. Perhaps it will come down again as we approach Christmas.

Are you aware of camelcamelcamel.com? It keeps track of current Amazon prices of items you are interested in, and emails you when your target price has been reached. I suggest you go to "the camels" and put a $16.50 target for yourself on the book.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I forgot to mention this earlier.

Do you remember when the narrative abruptly stopped, and Spade told the story/parable about Flitcraft, the man who left his family in Tacoma and then started a new one in Spokane?

I didn't understand why Hammett included it when I read the book in 1972, and I still don't understand it in 2011. What did that story have to do with the plot or anything else?

Originally Posted by Oldtribe

Why Spade tells the story: he is actually contemplating to run with the girl and the treasure, but is trying to convince himself not to.

Oldtribe, I kept your explanation in mind as I read the Flitcraft story the other day, and I think you are right.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

It wasn't clear to me on whose behalf Cairo was working when he first hired Spade. Gutman? Hammett never made clear that Gutman and Cairo had a relationship prior to that date. Cairo's relationship was with Brigid in Constantinople, and Brigid was working for Gutman at that time, but the actual link (such as a meeting) between Cairo and Gutman at that point was never established, I don't believe.

Speaking of Cairo, it's not clear to me how he came to think that Spade had the Falcon to begin with. I don't recall any reason to think that Brigid told Gutman and Cairo that she had retained Spade & Archer. Are we to believe that Gutman and Wilmer arrived in San Francisco before Brigid and Thursby, and tailed them from the time they got off the boat? How else would Wilmer have known where to find Thursby to shoot him?

[Mike L]

GA, thanks very much for your observations and comments, which were most illuminating. You've encouraged me to get the Black Lizard version.

I'll review your comments in more details when I have one of the books in front of me.

Mike

[GA Russell]

Thanks Mike! I'm glad you've noticed this thread update.

[bloodlover]

This is the first detecive novel I've read and if this is the best (or one of the best) books in the genre, then I am not impressed.

Sam Spade, a private detective, is the main character of the book and he's an asshole (pardon my French). It's ironic that on the back of my book he is described as "a private detective, a little old fashioned but with strong ethical principles". The reality is quite the opposite I'm afraid: Spade is a 100% macho man that only impresses light-minded women. He goes around teasing them and treating them like garbage, except of course when he needs their help. The rest of the characters are mediocre at best and they fit well with Spade's personality.

I can't comment much on the story in comparison to other similar books. I did like the twists in the end but this was not enough to make the book better. Sometimes it feels that the story is progressing too slow and the story only makes sense near the end of the book.

The book is silly sometimes, with mediocre or bad characters and thin story. Maybe it will please people that like the genre, but for me it was ok at best.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Tom, I've spent much of the year reading it. It's a great selection!

I note that the print book is currently $22.58. I got it for $16.50. Perhaps it will come down again as we approach Christmas.

Are you aware of camelcamelcamel.com? It keeps track of current Amazon prices of items you are interested in, and emails you when your target price has been reached. I suggest you go to "the camels" and put a $16.50 target for yourself on the book.

Originally Posted by Mike L

GA, thanks very much for your observations and comments, which were most illuminating. You've encouraged me to get the Black Lizard version.

I'll review your comments in more details when I have one of the books in front of me.

Mike

Attention shoppers! I see that the Black Lizard book is now down to the $16.50 price I paid for it last December.

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Lizard-S...k+mask+stories

[Iznogood]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Attention shoppers! I see that the Black Lizard book is now down to the $16.50 price I paid for it last December.

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Lizard-S...k+mask+stories

I just checked it up. Unfortunately the kindle price is $19.54, which is a bit expencive for leasing. But thanks for the alert. It sounds like an interesting book

[Billsuits1]

Yet another great book but the movie did not do it justice. I saw the movie first, so can't complain about having a better time later.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Mike L

Isn't that the scene where, in the book, he insists she takes all her clothes off - ostensibly to prove she doesn't have the money?

I assume that didn't make it to the film (I'd have remembered it if did).

Mike

No doubt due to the Hays office and it's successor. Hays Office

[WT Sharpe]

Prudish censors have ruined many a good scene. Frankly, my dear, I do give a hoot.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Billsuits1

Yet another great book but the movie did not do it justice. I saw the movie first, so can't complain about having a better time later.

I think it's a far better movie than book. As a book, it's a little absurd with what have come to be stock characters and situations. But the film with those performances by Bogart, Astor, Greenstreet and Lorre and direction by John Huston lifts the story into art. The book is dated; the movie still breathes as an exemplar of noir.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think it's a far better movie than book. As a book, it's a little absurd with what have come to be stock characters and situations. But the film with those performances by Bogart, Astor, Greenstreet and Lorre and direction by John Huston lifts the story into art. The book is dated; the movie still breathes as an exemplar of noir.

I agree.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

The reason the movie didn't mention Spade's sleeping with Brigid is because it was filmed post-code. For the same reason, the bathroom strip-search was omitted. There's an earlier film version, 1931 I believe, that is much more explicit. It was critically acclaimed and popular at the box office, but it was banned after the code came in. While I liked the Bogart movie, I felt that he and Astor had zero chemistry, and yes, her declaration of love and his response made little sense in that context.

I really enjoyed the book, and I wish Hammett had written more Sam Spade adventures. He was an interesting character.

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Tom, I've always wanted to see that first movie. All references to it that I've seen have been dismissive. I had no idea that it disappeared from sight because of the code.

Did you know that Hammett wrote four Sam Spade short stories? They are collected together with other Hammett works in a book entitled The Adventures of Sam Spade.

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I also want to see it. The dismissive reviews I've seen refer not to it, but to Satan Met a Lady (1936), which was a comedic adaptation of the book. The 1931 film is still available, but I can't find it on line for free or for rent, and I haven't had much luck with ordering DVDs through the mail. A couple of times I did order DVDs and never got the goods. I think there must be some movie buffs working at the Post Office.



No I didn't, although I knew others had written Sam Spade stories. Thanks for that. I'll have to check it out.

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

I hae and have watched the 1931 movie version. I was not overly impressed. The characters were not true to the book. Imagine Sam Spade leering (and I do mean leering) at every girl that walks by...

To understand the Wilmer character, look up the yiddish term gonsel (slipped into the 41 movie as gunsel).

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Was there nudity in that version? Does it make clear O'Shaughnessy and Spade were sleeping together? I know the strip search scene was suppose to be in that one, but I don't know how much was actually shown onscreen. "Lewdness" is what earned the movie its ban after the code came in.

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

I only watched it once, I'll have to rewatch it tonight. Certainly no nude scenes stuck out in my memory.

I have found the 1931 Maltese Falcon film at Amazon. It comes with its remake, Satan Met a Lady.

A few weeks ago they had a new copy for $25, but I see today that their best offer is a used copy for $32.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

To those of you who enjoyed The Maltese Falcon, may I recommend the Hammett short story it was based upon - Who Killed Bob Teal?

http://www.manybooks.net/titles/hamm...05bobteal.html

I see that Who Killed Bob Teal? and 14 other stories are available as eBooks from Amazon US for only 99 cents total.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085ZL7XG/...I2NGOOGCNB7ICE