Not very deep in Hammett lore. Knowing no better, forge on.
Others will
set things straight.
Why the "v motif," the blond Satan look for Spade? Name,
death card
allusion, but are we supposed to read "SS" too? Is this a
case of pumping
up the significance?
I like the opening scene, the ambivalence in the description
of
"Wonderly"--not quite wonderful, a hint of wandering in the
name; the voice
soft, the eyes shy, but probing, or the tasteful blues
contrasted to the
red hair, "more brightly red" lips, and glistening teeth.
Appropriately,
when she sits down, a machine vibrates nearby, and a "limp
cigarette," then
more limp cigarettes are noticed in the tray. Ashes, flakes
of ash "twitch
and crawl." May the eyes of Sigmund beam upon them all.
Bill Hagen
<billha@ionet.net>
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