The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1930)
Full of character
Book cover blurb
Well, this is embarrassing, there is no cover blurb for this fine old book. Simply a characteristic of how The Folio Society produces its editions. Rigid slipcase and no sleeve over the hardback book itself.
I’d hate for you to feel cheated so here is the cover blurb from Orion’s 2005 release.
Sam Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with a louse called Floyd Thursby. But Miss Wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and when Spade's partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby's trail, Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird, a treasure worth killing for, before the Fat Man finds him?
My Review
Let me start by letting you know I’m no spring chicken but even as a very young child, I was far more into black-and-white classic movies than I was all the stuff kids of that age were supposed to be into. Until Star Wars hit cinemas that is. Needless to say, I've watched The Maltese Falcon probably more than 100 times over the years.
So why read the book? Well, to be honest, I never really had any interest in reading it until I heard it described in a lecture about creative writing I was listening to. It was explained that the author writes no mental insight into the characters. All you get is what they say, what they do, and how they look. I'm pretty sure I've never read a book written in this manner so I just had to give it a try.
The first thing that struck me was just how accurately portrayed it was in the movie. All the names, dialogue and action are just as it is in the book, which I found to be quite refreshing, considering how Hollywood likes to meddle with book portrayals. And yes, you do picture the actors and hear their voices as you read, but that actually fades quite quickly and you just begin to take the book for what it is.
Like the faces of the movie actors, the writing style intrudes a little at first but I think that's just because it's new and different, but once you settle into the read it no longer stands out. In fact, the writing style gives a whole other dimension to the read. It helps you to really picture the scenes, to race along with the pace of the story. I also think that's why these characters come across as being so vivid, you aren't privileged to their thoughts so you're left to get to know them like you would real people, through interaction, verbal and visual. And believe me, the characters in this book are very much 3 dimensional, they really do stand right out of the page for you.
Now, if you're thinking, "Well, I've seen the movie, I'm not going to bother with the book," then I'm sorry but you're wrong! Believe me, even though this book essentially is the movie, it's also its very own experience. Knowing these characters and the goings-on via the written word is very much its own reward. Give it a try, you will not be disappointed.
Now, guess which movie I'm of to watch...
My copy of this novel
The Folio Society hardback edition.
Published in 2004
239 pages