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Title: The Thin Man (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) by Dashiell Hammett ISBN: 0-679-72263-7 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 August, 1992 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.07 (27 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Grand Classic Detective novel.................
Comment: The Thin Man is a wonderful novel. Written in the classic Hammett style, the story is full of twists and turns of the interaction of well defined, recognizable characters.
The central characters are Nick and Nora Charles. Nick has been a history as a successful private detective. Nora is a wealthy socialite. Together they are an intriguing and fun couple, who are forced into investigating the circumstance surrounding the mysterious death of a secretary and the unexplained disappearance of an eccentric,wealthy scientist.
The story is so well crafted that everyone becomes a serious suspect and you are left chasing after each individual motive, trying to "figure it out" before the Charles' do.
This novel is a classic from start to finish.
If you have never watched the classic Black and White movie from the 1930's, THE THIN MAN, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, you have missed out on a treasure, although the book was better and more in-depth.
The movie mirrors the book the closest of any I have seen. The reason, Dashiell Hammett was there to keep it true to the novel. Many of the delightful lines are directly out of the book!
This is a grand and classic detective tale.
Rating: 4
Summary: The Dark Underbelly of Depression-Era New York
Comment: Unlike the famous film version starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, the characters of Dashiell Hammett's THE THIN MAN range in tone from vapid to vicious, with only Nick and Nora Charles emerging as somewhat similar to their cinematic counterparts. The plot is also considerably less lean, and Hammett packs it with a number of unnecessary excursions that tend to sidetrack the flow of action. The result is less of an action-packed detective story than it is a portrait of New York in the early 1930s, where cops are brutal and stupid, society rubs shoulders with criminals in lowlife speakeasies, and every one is out for what they can get.
And what they want are sex and money and more sex, preferrably laced with bootleg liquior. Fans of the film will easily recognize the basic plot: retired detective Nick Charles is unwilling dragged into the search for a former client, inventor Clyde Wynant, who is wanted for questioning in connection with the brutal murder of his secretary-mistress. But not only the police want him: ex-wife Mimi is low on funds and would like to lay hands on his dough, his estranged children Dorothy and Gilbert have vested interests of their own, and Mimi's current husband is playing his own hand as well. The characters are considerably darker here, particularly in reference to Dorothy and Gilbert, with Dorothy a manipulative and hard-drinking little tramp and Gilbert an ineffectual weakling; mother Mimi is viciously neurotic and abusive; and the missing Clyde Wynant is so eccentric that whether or not he had a hand in the murder he clearly needs to be locked up. To further complicate matters, both Dorothy and Mimi are on the make for Nick Charles. As for Nick and wife Nora, they possess considerable sparkle--but they too are of this world, Nick clearly en route to an alcoholic hell and pulling Nora along with him.
Hammett writes with his usual strength, but as a novel THE THIN MAN lacks the focus of his more famous THE MALTESE FALCON, and his digressions and excursions hinder the book as a whole. Even so, his dark and frequently witty look at the underbelly of depression-era New York packs enough punch to bring it in at a solid four stars. Recommended for fans of the classic "hard boiled" style, but probably of more interest to hard-core completists than casual readers.
Rating: 4
Summary: Thin man, good book
Comment: The last of Dashiell Hammett's novels was "The Thin Man," and what a last novel it is. A hard-edged whodunnit, Hammett's writing had become very polished and his characters even more intricate by the time he wrote this, and while it's not the best he had written, it's a solid example of his work.
Nick Charles was a rough'n'tough detective... until he married wealthy socialite Nora. Now he's retired early, drinks a lot, and has no apparent wish to come into contact with his messy past life. Enter Dorothy Wynant, daughter of weird (and possibly insane) inventor Clyde Wynant. As it happens, Wynant's secretary/mistress has just been murdered, and was found dying by his ex-wife Mimi.
Nick keeps insisting that he doesn't want to detect, but somehow he gets sucked into it anyway when a gangster (ex-boyfriend of the murdered woman) invades his home and nearly kills him. Dorothy keeps popping up and pleading for help and protection; Charles' old flame Mimi is acting oddly; and her husband has some secrets of his own. Despite Nick's aversion to detective work, he and Nora set out to unravel the mystery surrounding the Thin Man. (Wynant, for your information)
Hammett's cynical attitude was a huge part of his writing, but there's a new dimension to it in "Thin Man." Charles spends a lot of time trying to distance himself from his detective past, and in a way it feels like Hammett was distancing himself from his detective novels. Was Nick's dissatisfaction a sign of Hammett's? Quite possibly.
But many of the things about "Thin Man" are vintage Hammett: lying waifs, men in disguise, lots of lying and booze. Almost everyone is sociopathic, and Nick and Nora aren't exactly what one would call "heroes." However, the dialogue is sharp and witty and the action is slickly exciting. Best of all, Hammett's writing had evolved a bit from his minimalist style; here he describes things like Mimi snarling in a bit more detail.
Nick is the quintessential Hammett anti-hero (cynical, tough, and more than a little obnoxious), except here he's a bit weathered and tired out. Sam Spade and the Continental Op were on top of their games, but he's past his. Nora comes across as a little perkier but as tough in her own way. The crazy Wynant family, like manipulative mom Mimi and freaky son Gilbert, serves as a nice source of conflict.
"The Thin Man" wasn't the best thing Hammett ever wrote, but it's still a solid mystery read. Pass the martinis.
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Title: The Maltese Falcon (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) by Dashiell Hammett ISBN: 0679722645 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 August, 1992 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: The Continental Op (Vintage Crime) by Dashiell Hammett, Steven Marcus ISBN: 0679722580 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 August, 1992 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler ISBN: 0394758285 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 August, 1992 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Dain Curse (Vintage Crime) by Dashiell Hammett ISBN: 0679722602 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 July, 1989 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Lady in the Lake (Vintage Crime/ Black Lizard) by Raymond Chandler ISBN: 0394758250 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 August, 1992 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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