The Maltese Falcon

First Literay Lads book club book ✅

Fun read! No surprise at all this stands as (perhaps the most) classic noir from that period. The dialogue is slick, the references witty; the very limited POV keeps us guessing how Spade’s gonna react to every situation, and allows us to slowly piece together the puzzle of his psychology, leading up that effective, open-ended conclusion. I think I was inevitably restricted by having so much knowledge of the entire genre that this book spawned. Probably not a stretch to say that the various twists hit early 20th century readers a lot harder than they would today. For me, it’s mostly in the Brigid character - possibly she would have been considered dynamic by the standards of female characters a show more century ago, but in a modern context there’s not too much to sink our teeth into with her character-wise, so the final twist is a bit dampened as the Sam-Brigid tension feels sort of unearned. Still, lots to enjoy here, and the fact that this vintage noir is still page-turning proves that it’s going to stand the test of time for years to come. show less

Hammett's novel still seems fresh and startling eighty years later. Sam Spade is no tough guy with a gentle heart; he's just a couple of steps removed from a thug, yet I found myself rooting for him, even as Hammett sets the story up to make me wonder whether or not Spade killed Archer.

Still, I'm wavering somewhere between three-and-a-half and four stars, probably because I'm comparing this to Chandler's Big Sleep and finding Falcon coming up just a bit short. I think I gravitate more towards Chandler's metaphors--there aren't as many single lines of description or dialogue in Falcon that bowl me over as in Chandler. Plot-wise, Hammett may have the edge, and his descriptions of Gutman as a set of pendant, bulbous cones are striking. show more Brigid wasn't as powerful a character for me as I think Hammett intended...Carmen Sternwood would have eaten her for breakfast. I found myself drawn to Effie Perine more, and I'm guessing many other readers have felt the same. Maybe it's because a lot of things in this novel happen off-stage, like the confrontation at "La Paloma," that don't always get rendered as solidly as I'd wish.

But this is nit-picking to some extent. Hammett created a solid gem here...and without writers like Hammett, there may not have been a Chandler. show less

The gut of the book is entirely in the last few pages. There's a tension here between doing the right or just thing (loyalty to one's partner) and with an idea, no longer culturally subscribed to in the same way, of love. Justice vs. mercy of another era, one might say. Sam Spade chooses justice. His secretary is keenly disappointed. She had nothing to gain either way, but obviously wanted the romantic to win.
What does it mean to love? "I won't play the sap for you," Sam says about 5 times. The Maltese Falcon is a kind of tough love before the term was born.

I've never read Hammett before, nor have I ever seen the movie based off this book. In fact, I only had the barest hint of what this was even about.

And I think, at least for me, that was the best way to come into this story. Sam Spade is an absolutely brilliantly written character. He's almost always unflappable, and can toss an unexpected wrench into any other characters' machinations. He's basically the element of chaos.

At the same time, he's an absolute bastard. Screwing his partner's wife. Leading his secretary on. Screwing his client (in more ways than one). Doesn't seem to give a shit that his partner was murdered.

He's an interesting guy.

But Hammett doesn't stop there...he loads this short novel with other fascinating characters. show more Brigid. Gutman. Cairo. The cops that are following him around. The kid. The hotel detectives. Everyone is an absolute joy to read.

And then there's the ever-twisting plot. Yes, it gets more and more complicated as the story progresses, drawing the reader into a vat of confusion, leaving them not knowing what's true and what's not, which is, I believe, the entire point of the story...this is like a damn dream where the reader can take absolutely nothing anyone says at face value. Spade constantly calls out his client for lying, and often, she readily admits to it. There's not a single reliable narrator to be found here, and that's half the fun.

Just an absolute blast to read. Now I have to go watch the movie... show less

I once read the following in some TV guide regarding the classic movie adaptation: “The 1941 mystery is the yardstick against which all private-eye films are measured.” It is even more true of the novel. Never before (or since) has a protagonist been forced to look so deeply within himself, to have to explain who he is to so many while not completely understanding why he is that way himself. Sam Spade knows what he has to do, and extensively he knows why he has to do it. He acts assuredly, without hesitation. Yet there is a deeper part of himself that is merely along for the ride, as if some of his decisions were never really decisions at all. He has led a life with more than a few amoral choices but when confronted with what should show more be the easiest of shortcuts, he discovers he has a moral core that cannot be so easily overruled. An array of fascinating characters and the explanation and solution to several murders become side issues once all the lies are exposed. THE masterpiece. show less

The scene is San Francisco at a time just before the Great Depression. When the beautiful Miss Wonderly walks into the private detective agency he and his partner share, Sam Spade’s life soon gets more interesting and whole lot more complicated. Following up on the young woman’s request to find her missing sister results in the deaths of two people, including Spade’s partner, and Spade himself is quickly implicated in the murders. However, the lady’s story is a ruse, as her real purpose in hiring Spade is to help her secure possession a priceless artifact—a jewel-encrusted statue of a falcon--that has changed hands many, many times over the past few centuries. Unraveling the mystery puts Sam in constant danger from a dizzying show more array of high-level crooks and fortune seekers, low-level hoodlums, clueless law enforcement officials, and the duplicitous femme fatale herself. How he navigates those dangerous waters is what drives the story to its satisfying conclusion.

As a matter of course, I don’t spend a lot of time with noir-ish crime fiction, although I have read some great examples of the genre by writers such as Raymond Chandler and Graham Greene. That is worth noting because I found The Maltese Falcon to be the best of what I have encountered in this area so far. To me, the novel had everything that I would have hoped for: a hardboiled hero who plays by his own rules, a mysterious love interest who may or may not be trustworthy, an assortment of compelling supporting characters, a clever plot that moves along nicely, engaging dialogue that places the reader squarely in a bygone era, and, in the bird statue itself, one of the greatest objects of misdirection to be found in literature. And, make no mistake, this book does rise to the level of being called literature; in fact, it even rates a place on Modern Library’s list of the 100 Best Novels (#56, to be exact). After reading it, I cannot really argue with that assessment. show less

The plot is extremely fast-paced, to the point where you can get lost in it. Aside from Sam Spade, the characters are not what they seem. They appear to be on different sides and yet are all mixed up together. Sam Spade is smart, yet sometimes he just seems to be gambling and trying his luck. Nevertheless, you have to admire how unflappable he stays even in the most trying of circumstances. After reading this, I can understand why it is a classic. Just be on your toes reading this so you don't get lost in the plot.