Bill Hagen wrote:
> As one who reveres The Maltese Falcon, I seem to
find earlier Hammetts,
> like Red Harvest, involve a lot of suspension of
disbelief. Sort of like
> going back to action comics.
Having spent the majority of my career in copper mines and
around mining towns, I, perhaps have a different perspective
here. I believe I read somewhere that Hammet spent some of
his time with Pinkertons in Butte, Montana. "Poisonville"
was, no doubt, modeled after Butte.
I agree that the massive bloddletting portrayed in Red
Harvest goes well beyond any actual events, but readers
shouldn't suspend disbelief too far.
"Big Trouble" by J. Anthony Lucas is a superb true account of
some very violent episodes stemming from union/management
strife in mining towns early in the last century (feels funny
to refer to the 1900s as the last century). The Pinkertons
were heavily involved in these events. An ex-governor of
Idaho died from a bomb placed at his front gate. Clarence
Darrow defended the accused.
As recently as 1982 we saw raw violence and gunplay in
Morenci, Arizona, related to modern union/management troubles
in a copper mining community.
Also, the theme of the outsider taking on the corrupt small
town is one of my favorites. Red Harvest is the earliest, and
perhaps the best I have read with this theme.
Tim Oliver
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