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oldschoolcrimefighters(Originally posted July 23rd/24th, 2015)
I’ve been having a hard time getting a feel for Margo Lane as a character, and between the failed Tom Helmore pilot and my reading somewhere that her relationship with Lamont is meant to be like Nick and Nora Charles, I decided to take a short break from The Shadow to delve into some Hammett. I wasn’t able to find any of the movies, sadly, so fell back on my water-damaged copy of The Thin Man.
Aaand seven chapters in and I’m remembering that this is one of those rare times where the movie is better than the book (or my memory of the movies, anyway.) Hammett’s dialogue is fun but occasionally hard to follow due to his rather spare narrative style. William Powell and Myrna Loy bring a much-needed life to it.
Also I can do without Nick Charles’ mental comments regarding Dorothy Wynant. Ew.
(As a side-note, Dashiell Hammett’s name is great for people like me who cannot remember doubled letters. Any letter that might be doubled, is.)
Upon finishing: I forgot how creepy and abusive the Wynant/Jorgenson family is, eugh. Worse yet how totally blase everyone is about it.
Otherwise, the book was about what I remembered. Some clever dialogue, a scene or two I liked that didn’t make it to the movie, a scene or two I didn’t like and was glad didn’t end up in the movie. A lot more loose ends than I’m used to in a mystery, which felt both more realistic and less satisfying, so it’s a give-and-take.
Honestly -- this is one of the only cases where I’ll say this -- watch the movies, at least the first two or three. Leave the book. You won’t be missing much.
(Still leaps ahead of The Glass Key, though. That one deserves its obscurity.)
I’ve been having a hard time getting a feel for Margo Lane as a character, and between the failed Tom Helmore pilot and my reading somewhere that her relationship with Lamont is meant to be like Nick and Nora Charles, I decided to take a short break from The Shadow to delve into some Hammett. I wasn’t able to find any of the movies, sadly, so fell back on my water-damaged copy of The Thin Man.
Aaand seven chapters in and I’m remembering that this is one of those rare times where the movie is better than the book (or my memory of the movies, anyway.) Hammett’s dialogue is fun but occasionally hard to follow due to his rather spare narrative style. William Powell and Myrna Loy bring a much-needed life to it.
Also I can do without Nick Charles’ mental comments regarding Dorothy Wynant. Ew.
(As a side-note, Dashiell Hammett’s name is great for people like me who cannot remember doubled letters. Any letter that might be doubled, is.)
Upon finishing: I forgot how creepy and abusive the Wynant/Jorgenson family is, eugh. Worse yet how totally blase everyone is about it.
Otherwise, the book was about what I remembered. Some clever dialogue, a scene or two I liked that didn’t make it to the movie, a scene or two I didn’t like and was glad didn’t end up in the movie. A lot more loose ends than I’m used to in a mystery, which felt both more realistic and less satisfying, so it’s a give-and-take.
Honestly -- this is one of the only cases where I’ll say this -- watch the movies, at least the first two or three. Leave the book. You won’t be missing much.
(Still leaps ahead of The Glass Key, though. That one deserves its obscurity.)