I've always loved the movie but, never took the time to read the book. I'm sorry I didn't read it sooner. I'll be reading it again. ( )

Read 'The Maltese Falcon.' Watch the Bogart movie. Read the book again. One thing that should strike you is the fact that there is scarcely one spare word in either creation. Working with Hammett's book in one hand, John Huston must have slapped his screenplay together in about 30 minutes.

Hammett's 'Falcon' is tight as a drumhead. The characters are not drawn but chiseled. The action is as fast as any speeding bullet. Every word of dialog sparks blue and crackles with electricity while it speeds things along. Nothing is wasted. 'The Maltese Falcon' is lean and mean, 100 percent nonfat.

Chandler's Marlowe is more cerebral. Every once in a while he even notices what somebody is wearing. In recent memory, only Gus Hasford's Dowdy Lewis is so hard, so fast, so smooth, and cracks so wise. Hammett's Spade, by contrast, doesn't horse around. He just walks into the room and goes for the throat.

Philosophical issues are fun to ponder. It's nice to be able to think about big issues when, every once in a while, one gets the chance. That's the stuff that typically wins prizes in literary circles, and that's as things should be. Even so, anybody can write a good, hard-boiled dick deserves (and gets) my respect.

Dashiell Hammett gave us Sam Spade, and there are none better anywhere. Read 'The Maltese Falcon.' You will never be sorry. ( )

Sit down, sir, no need to stand there. We are civilized people here, not barbarians. But in civilization, sir, some people are rulers and some people are pawns. Sometimes pawns need to be sacrificed. But, I digress, sir. Have a drink while I tell you about the bird and the hunt for it.

Where it comes from and where it goes is of no consequence. The only thing that matters is the story. And, sir, let me say, what a story it is. Absolutely archetypical in the telling, in the characterizations and the execution. Forgive my little pun there. Force of habit, you know. Yes, I dare say that by now, you know all these characters, the hard boiled cops, the grieving cheating widow, the philanderous partner; you can anticipate all the crosses and double crosses; you know who ends up clean and who ends up dead. But remember, sir, the type was perfected here.

Yes, it is not so much about goal, but the road to the goal, and what a road it was. The road does not exist anymore. It was antiquated, so it was redressed, it was modernized, it was polished to look like new and renamed repeatedly, but none of the modern versions have the charm of the original. These modern versions still have diversions on the road to tempt and charm you, but none, sir, have the power the original had. Truly a one-of-a-kind creation.

If you like your detective stories and your whiskey raw and straight up, this is the story for you. If you pride yourself on collecting originals, not cheap imitations, let us negotiate for a deal, sir, one we can both live to enjoy. If you, sir, are astute enough to know there is not an original sin in the world, only the manner the sins are committed, you will appreciate this recounting of what one bard may call the most unoriginal sin.

Good day, sir, and may you enjoy your journey as much as I did. ( )

I've read this & "The Thin Man" before, but not for many years, so no rating yet. I'm due to re-read it for a book group soon. Probably more fair to rate it then as the book & the movie have melded in my head. I remember liking both quite a bit, but it says something that I haven't re-read the book.--------Jan09, I'm reading it again with an entirely new appreciation of it. The story line was great. It's a mystery with a tough PI in it. He's a tough, but flawed man, which makes the story even more suspenseful since you're not quite sure what he's going to do next. It's set in 1929, the year it was first published, but isn't particularly dated except by some of the police procedures. Things were a lot more loose then. Some of the descriptions are a bit odd. There's some extreme detail about things most wouldn't bother to describe now. Other times, it was the opposite.All in all, I enjoyed it very much. It was well worth re-reading. ( )

My favorite classic mystery, definitely Hammett's best work in novel form. ( )