James, Great observations. I wasn't offended at all. I'm not
sure I would compare TMF with Gatsby, but my only exposure to
Gatsby was a force-feeding in high school which I hardly paid
attention to. Perhaps I should go back and see what
Fitzgerald did and then read TMF again (that would be a good
excuse to dig it up). What I agree with 100% is how good it
truly is, and it's the one novel that lives up to all the
hype surrounding it when so many others do not. I hear thae
Joe Gores did an almost-as-good job with one of his novels -
Interface, I believe, and perhaps somebody who knows can
comment - so I'm not convinced all future novels pale in
comparison, but Dash turned out a story that has held up over
the years, and you can't say that about all of his followers
or contemporaries. Raymond Chandler wrote that a classic in
the "mystery genre" had yet to be written (he said this
post-TMF) but I think TMF is about as close as we'll get to
such a thing. Is it because Hammett cared about what he was
doing and not trying to earn a buck? Who knows. If you break
TMF down to its basic elements, it's just another potboiler,
but Dash's craftsmanship, attention to detail, and
capabilities as a storyteller is what keeps us coming back
for more.
One thing I will add that may offend (and let the flames
begin!).... what I enjoy about Brett Halliday's Michael
Shayne books is that Shayne can be as crafty, calculating,
and unapologetic as Spade. Tampering with evidence in
"Dividend on Death" - hiding the actual murder weapon,
tearing up a confession he knows is bogus - are prime
examples. Halliday wrote post-TMF, and while his writing
style certainly wasn't as clean as Hammet's, he told a few
good stories, too. --Brian
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 27 Nov 2004 EST