Believe it or not, the Wall Street Journal has a Book Club (who doesn’t? Oprah has a lot to answer for). Next month’s WSJ Book Club book is Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. I immediately reread The Maltese Falcon. Plenty of smoking and drinking. Plenty of double-dealing. I came away with a strange urge to reread Raymond Chandler. If you want to see the WSJ Book Club in action, just click here.
Somehow fitting that WSJ would pick a book about greed, treachery and cutting your losses.
Dan, the private detective business was never the same after THE MALTESE FALCON.
I guess the WSJ would shy away from RED HARVEST–too much like holding a mirror up–but I think it’s the superior book.
Deb, you’re right about RED HARVEST. It’s far and away Hammett’s best book. I also admire Hammett’s THE CONTINENTAL OP short stories.
Just one of the best books of its kind ever for me.
Sergio, I’m also fond of Mickey Spillane’s version: I, THE JURY.
I love the Op stories too, including RED HARVEST, but I still have a fond place in my heart for FALCON. A lot of people who think THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN or GONE GIRL is so great should read the real thing.
Jeff, Diane’s Book Club is reading THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN for their next meeting.
I finished GIRL ON THE TRAIN a few weeks ago and, while I didn’t find it as irritating as GONE GIRL (perhaps because the hype was more muted), I still had problems with it. To wit–
1. The book is narrated by three different women but no attempt is made to give them distinct narrative voices. They all speak in an interchangeable way, so I kept flipping back to the start of each chapter to verify who was speaking.
2. Alcoholism is by it’s very nature not something you can control , but one character’s alcoholism is very convenient for the plot: black-out drunk one day, teetotaler the next.
3. Only three possible suspects are ever introduced–and I guessed the culprit correctly by the middle of the book. Maybe Agatha Christie could get away with a small suspect pool (CARDS ON THE TABLE), but even the Queen of Suspense tried that I frequently.
Sorry for the off-topic rant, but had to share.
Infrequently
Deb, I’ve heard mixed reviews of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN. Your analysis is insightful and convincing. I’ll pass it on to my wife after she finishes reading the book. As you might have suspected, there’s already a movie version of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN in the works.
I like this book a lot, though the Op stories are better, I think. RED HARVEST may be the bloodiest of Hammet’s books. I was thinking I haven’t read DAIN CURSE in a long time, and just the once.
I Don’t put I, THE JURY in the same basket as the Hammett books. I was just thinking the other day of rereading Chandler’s THE HIGH WINDOW, which I also haven’t read in a very long time.
WSJ should stick to financial stuff.
Rick, what could be more financial than a falcon worth a million dollars?
Of course I meant the book club.
I’ll await Diane’s review but will skip the book.
I may have to read Wolf Hall after all, it seems. I wonder if her Cromwell resembles Sansom’s version.
Jeff, Hillary’s Cromwell is very Machiavellian.
I prefer Falcon to Red Harvest by a mile.
George, would you believe it, I don’t think I have ever read a Dashiell Hammett though I have been meaning to read his novels and review them on my blog.