Crime Stories and Other Writings

Hammett's noir stories are fun and well told. Typically I completed a story at one sitting, though these are longer than Chandler's and broken into sections -- I could pause before the end if need be. Interestingly, the famous twist in The Usual Suspects is markedly similar to that in Hammett's story, "The Big Knock-Over". Unclear whether Hammett influenced that screenplay, though, but he provides a follow-up story in "106,000 Dollar Blood Money".

I don't like eloquence: if it isn't effective enough to pierce your hide, it's tiresome; and if it is effective enough, then it muddles your thoughts.
-- "Zigzags of Treachery" / 89

I noted in my reading of Chandler short stories that typically they scan easily, the action comes thick and fast, show more and generally the plot propels the narrative so it's easy for a reader not to take a breath or try to get an angle on the whole tale. This narrative compulsion perfectly suits the shamus's effort to figure the angles while distracting others with banter and tough talk. The narration, in other words, is an accomplice, and this observation applies doubly for Hammett.

The Continental Op epitomises Hammett's sleuth, he's the default character even when Hammett writes him under other names. His sleuth Guild (in the "Thin Man" draft) has a similar personality but is described from outside, and there are exceedingly interesting interactions with another character on this very point. LOA's marketing flier notes the Op has a "professional code" that separates him from criminals, though I'd argue that Code is simply a different species of crime in some cases: it is a professional code, primarily, not a moral one.

All Continental Op stories are told in the first person. The Op has a distinct outlook and motivation, different than Chandler's Marlow or Macdonald's Archer. The Op (it's a standing joke that he's never named) is motivated by the work, by the puzzle, and is far less concerned with justice or other principles in his pursuit. At various points, Hammett demonstrates the Op will allow innocents die, will commit perjury, falsely accuse witnesses or suspects to provoke mistakes, or conceal developments if it furthers his abilities to solve the case and defeat (outsmart) the bad guy. His is a very zero-sum and self-centred outlook. There are a cast of fellow operatives from the Continental Detective Agency, they are not all like that but perhaps the Old Man is --the Op's supervisor, head of the SF branch office-- and it seems the Op admires if not idolises him.

Reflecting on these stories, I wonder what to make of the fact Hammett creates this personality, mostly manifesting as the Op but recognisably the same under different guises, sticks with it despite some experimentation, and makes it the center of the Op's expertise and success ... what to make of those facts, and the fact that Hammett was himself an Op? The only one of himself, Chandler, Macdonald. It would be too easy to make too much of it, no doubt, and yet equally easy to dismiss it out of hand.

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By my count all but 3 stories are Continental Op. (The other 3 feature three different characters, and then there's an incomplete draft of a Thin Man novel appended to this volume, each told in third person.) Hammett wrote many stories not compiled here, but not Contintental Op stories: the only Op stories missing were repurposed for the Op novels, The Dain Curse and Red Harvest, which LOA publishes in a separate volume.

LOA's typical Chronology as useful as ever, as are notes on original sources. The two essays by Hammett are fun if not particularly necessary to understanding the stories, providing tongue-in-cheek advice to would-be crime writers and a glimpse into Hammett's own past as a Pinkerton detective. show less

THE MALTESE FALCON
July 11, 2017

I'm not a big fan of Hammett, but I revisited this as my daughter was reading it for a RL book club. I can never remember the actual story here. Now I know why. There isn't a particle of story in it. A few people get bumped off, a lot of dumb slang gets thrown about, and a woman acts like a complete ninny. Pages and pages are spent in pointless argument about how to go about something, neither side presenting any new reasons for "doing it my way". I like me a good noir novel; this one failed to establish the atmosphere for me. I love a fine hard-boiled detective, but Sam Spade has nothing to love. Sorry to trash a classic, but I'm not impressed. Also, there's the misogyny, and the fairly distasteful show more representation of homosexuals. show less

This is a collection primarily of short stories. There are a few other items (chiefly an early draft of what became "The Thin Man"), but the vast majority of the book is stories.

I enjoyed the ones starring The Continental Op. Hammett's spare, detached style suited that character's voice. However, the voice doesn't change when the protagonist does. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the protagonist doesn't really change much - they don't tend to vary much in personality, although there are differences in surface characteristics. I found this jarring, and several times was unpleasantly jerked out of the story by the realization that what I was reading was not a Continental Op story.

Those stories build a consistent world, existing in show more the seedy underworld of San Francisco. There are recurring characters and locations, things fit in well together. Hammett's world building is first rate. He also constructs real detective stories. There are clues, and the Continental Op figures things out, based (mostly) on material actually present on the page.

Worth reading, but I'll be looking for his novels next, rather than more short stories. show less