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What are readers saying about The Maltese Falcon?
| Reviews of The Maltese Falcon - Page 1 of 4 |
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-11-01 12:45:31.
(Language: English)
 
In my sudden quest for the noir detective genre, I have read all his books over the space of a week. I still prefer Chandler, but these were very enjoyable and well written.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-02-23 06:08:46.
(Language: English)
 
Essential hardboiled fiction with barely a word wasted, and one that helped create the generic template. Amazing to see how closely John Huston stuck to the book when adapting it for the screen and also to ponder how much the dialogue and character-driven action stylistically influenced the likes of George V. Higgins, Elmore Leonard and many others. A landmark in 20th century popular fiction.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-19 02:12:00.
(Language: English)
Damn fine story. The complex plot with a clorful cast of characters kept the story moving at anice fast pace, which i can't say appies to all novels. spade is extremely interesting to read about. he sleeps with his partner's wife, lies and cheats for his own goals, yet interstingly he does a code he lives by, and he won't change for anyone. anyone who enjoyed the film with humphrey bogart should certainly pick this up and read it, and hammett is recognized along with chandler and fleming as a wonderful architect of the detectiv novel.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-23 01:01:28.
(Language: English)
a pretty good story overall. i love hammett's detailed depictions of the eyes and facial expressions of his characters. much much better than the movie!
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-10-05 11:33:26.
(Language: English)
It's hard-boiled crime at its best.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-06-07 03:03:44.
(Language: English)
The best detective novel ever written. Hammett's prose is clear and tense (one of the reasons I liked this book as a kid, when I had a somewhat bad case of dyslexia). The plot is complicated and there are still some things about I'm unsure of but, this is a very, very, very good book nethertheless. Also, one should check out the classic movie with Bogart. One of the few times a movie is as good as the book.
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Emmanuel posted a review at 2010-12-08 01:37:24.
(Language: English)
Traduction Natalie Beunat
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K.C. posted a review at 2010-05-28 07:07:25.
(Language: English)
I wish I was as cool as Sam Spade. He didn't play the sap for no woman!
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Joshua posted a review at 2009-12-28 12:40:37.
(Language: English)
it's all there in the movie
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-06 05:04:11.
(Language: English)
The maltese falcon is a better book than it's film counterpart, although the film is a very successful adaptation. The film, however, does not do too much to transcend the genre of the hardboiled detective, whereas the book does. The book presents an almost malicious hero, a femme fatale who uses spade and gets used, and group of villians with subtle homosexual tendencies, and the inclusion of the flitcraft story gives the book another notch up toward the road to literature. Re read the flitcraft story, it seems out of place, and almost random, but it is an important part of the book, and a brillaint chapter.Alot of ground is broken here not just for detective fiction, but for all fiction. the star rating should be higher.
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sumann posted a review at 2012-01-10 12:46:32.
(Language: English)
Rather uninteresting, disjointed, and childish plot to write a detective story. Though the character of Spade as the detective has a refreshing touch of good and evil, but the other characters lack depth and dimension. There is no point for detective's sharp observations and inferences, and the lack of morale of Sharp regarding women lacks the charisma of Bond. Overall a very mediocre read, I fail to understand how it got the rave reviews in spite of total failure to be interesting and engrossing story!
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John posted a review at 2011-11-24 03:10:09.
(Language: English)
Good yarn
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Jason posted a review at 2008-06-04 02:18:45.
(Language: English)
This is definitely a detective novel that transcends its genre. Sam Spade is an unforgettable character. He exerts power over people, leading them around on leashes, by never exactly telling them what he knows and what he doesn't. He lies to everyone but only because his lies force them to reveal the truth. He confronts a doltish gang of criminals who are searching for the Maltese Falcon, a symbol of absolute wealth and power. Along the way he makes absolute fools of the police. The characters he encounters are unforgettable. The building of suspense in the narrative is mastered as well as anything Hitchcock ever attempted. The layers of truth and falsehood peel away to reveal Sam Spade for who he is, a larger than life detective possessed of infinite self-confidence who can control everybody around him because he is the only guy around who knows absolutely who he is. I'd say this is possibly one of the ten greatest American novels ever written.
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Bayu posted a review at 2010-05-09 06:07:21.
(Language: English)
I had high expectations for this book, and I haven't seen the Bogart movie yet. I didn't hate it, but I didn't warm up to it either. The antagonists didn't interest me, though I did like the characters of Effie and Brigid. As for Spade himself, I can see the appeal, but the hard-boiled detective is a bit one-dimensional. I still plan on seeing the movie.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-02-20 09:39:22.
(Language: English)
For the first two thirds of the book, I didn't get why everyone loves it. The characters were a bit stiff, the case didn't seem to have direction and there was way too much description.However that all changed with the last few chapters when everything was revealed. This really is a classic and it's a shame there aren't any other full novels staring Sam Spade.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-15 03:54:30.
(Language: English)
Doesn't really hold up all that well, but the dialog is lots of fun!
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Pat posted a review at 2012-03-17 03:28:51.
(Language: English)
Trying to catch up on classics.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-27 05:47:23.
(Language: English)
He's a manwhore, but I do love mysteries with an interesting backstory.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-09-15 01:56:18.
(Language: English)
This book, in addition to being written for the screen (if not Humphrey Bogart) is also a fantastic novel. Every device is used consistently and yet without ever being uninteresting. The characters are vivid and well presented. This is the quintessential Hard-Boiled detective novel and has so excellent a MacGuffin that Hitchcock himself must have been proud.The language and the fair play to realism are superb.I've yet to read more from Hammett- but I'm sure solid I'm happy to have this one on my shelf and under my belt.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-01 01:05:05.
(Language: English)
Have seen the movie more times than I can count, but this is the first time I've read the book on which it was based. Most of the dialog is word for word with the screenplay, but there are some fun nuances in the book that don't quite come across in the movie, such as the relationship between Effie and Sam, and between Bridget and Cairo. Funny, with pared down prose that reads years ahead of its time.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-26 12:16:16.
(Language: English)
Great book very suspenceful
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-02-11 06:57:23.
(Language: English)
A masterwork of the Detective Novel. Was Spade a hero or not? He certainly had a flexible sense of morality!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-16 10:59:04.
(Language: English)
Classic.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-07 07:33:11.
(Language: English)
I was very disappointed with this novel that many people consider a "classic." It's fine if you like Dick Tracy or other detective stories, but there's not much to it. The characters are very flat and uninteresting, the plot line is difficult to believe, at best, and organization of the story leaves a lot to be desired. If you want a quick read that is somewhat entertaining, then read this; however, don't expect anything beyond that.
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Laura posted a review at 2009-04-15 11:34:18.
(Language: English)
It was fine. One of the best book club books. Smartly written, well paced, lean and hungry text. Cleary hit a huge chord with people over the years; this text has echoed through literature for eighty years. Not sure I get why. Not a mystery fan, so I’m not in the target audience. And I’m predisposed to dislike Sam Spade; that whole Pinkerton Detective Agency lurking in the background. Not a fan. But I’d always heard the text was sexist and homophobic, and in absolute terms, I agree, but for 1929? An amazingly progressive text. Women and gay men have some serious power. Sam Spade ain’t all that progressive of a character, but I don’t see him glorified in this text. Interesting change from Sherlock Holmes. There, the audience doesn’t get the information we need to solve the mysteries. Here, we had it – at least, I think we did; even though I’ve never read it before, it might just be that I am an American; this story is alluded to constantly. I was a little taken aback by the very end. Seems like our hero ended up exactly where he started. That’s not supposed to be what happens to heroes. But maybe there’s a realism there I just don’t see often. Worth reading, if only because it says something about American morality and power structures.
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| Reviews of The Maltese Falcon - Page 1 of 4 |
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