I have to agree, Bill. Of all of Hammett's creations, the Op
is my (and I believe his) favorite. "The Girl With The Silver
Eyes", "Fly Paper", "The House on Turk Street" are all
fabulous, as is my favorite Hammett short story, "The
Scorched Face."
In fact my two favorite Hammett novels are the ones featuring
the Op: The Dain Curse, and Red Harvest.
At 11:20 PM 10/15/02 -0400, you wrote:
>I've read eleven of the stories in CRIME STORIES AND
OTHER WRITINGS
>now--next up is "The Scorched Face"--and except for
one story, it's all
>great stuff. The one I didn't like as much is
"Nightmare Town," which ran
>in ARGOSY and isn't an Op story. The idea behind the
town is neat, but
>the story's confused. All the rest are very good.
They're all Op
>stories, and they start off being about cases where
the Continental
>Detective Agency is hired by a rich man because of a
murder or kidnapping.
>Later stories like "The House of Turk Street" and
"The Whosis Kid" are
>about the Op stumbling into trouble unexpectedly.
Hammett's great when
>there's a bunch of greedy, nervous crooks in a room,
all armed with guns.
>When the Op sees his chance, there's
trouble.
>
>Femmes fatales, forerunners of Brigid O'Shaughnessy,
pop up a fair bit.
> From "The Girl with the Silver Eyes," where the Op
is driving a beautiful
>woman to the police:
>
>| I grunted noncommittally, and forcibly restrained
my tongue from
>| running out to moisten my dry lips.
>| "I'm going to jail tonight if you are the same hard
man who
>| has goaded me into whining love into his uncaring
ears, but before
>| that, can't I have one whole-hearted assurance that
you think
>| me a little more than 'quite pretty'? Or at least a
hint that if I
>| were not a prisoner your pulse might be a little
faster when I
>| touch you? I'm going to this jail for a long
while--perhaps to
>| the gallows. Can't I take my vanity there not quite
in tatters
>| to keep me company? Can't you do some slight thing
to keep me
>| from the afterthought of having bleated all this
out to a man who
>| was simple bored?"
>| Her lids had come down half over the silver-grey
eyes; her head
>| had tilted back so far that a little pulse showed
throbbing in
>| her write throat; her lips were motionless over
slightly parted
>| teeth, as the last word has left them. My fingers
went deep into
>| the soft white flesh of her shoulders. Her head
went further back,
>| her eyes closed, one hand came up to my
shoulder.
>| "You're beautiful as all hell!" I shouted crazily
into her face,
>| and flung her against the door.
>
>In "Zigzags of Treachery" the Op is hired by a lawyer
who gets very
>emotional about the case.
>
>| His voice was losing its calmness again, so I
picked up my
>| hat, said something about starting to work at once,
and went out.
>| I don't like eloquence: if it isn't effective
enough to pierce
>| your hide, it's tiresome; and if it is effective
enough, then it
>| muddles your thoughts.
>
>Later he says, "This lawyer was bound on getting me
worked up; and I like
>my jobs to be simply jobs--emotions are nuisances
during business hours."
>
>The Op may be nameless, and he may not crack wise or
philosophize like
>Marlowe, but he's no cipher. I like him.
>
>Bill
>--
>William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/
: Caveat lector.
>
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