RARA-AVIS: wet feet...

From: Robison Michael R CNIN ( Robison_M@crane.navy.mil)
Date: 27 Apr 2001


hello everyone,

well i've just about finished red harvest. although i've read a lot of mystery and detective novels, like burke, michael connelly, martin cruz smith, mcbain, ridley pearson, i'm thinking that hammet is really my first experience with REAL hardboiled crime fiction. the con op guy is a tougher hombre and more ruthless than vachss's burke.

i've got mixed feelings about it. i like hammett's clean prose and the fast pace. and to be honest, its refreshing to find something outside the stuff i'm used to, which seems to be somewhat watered down by the present political correctness theme (even vachss's burke is major politically correct).

i hesitate to level criticism at something that i don't understand (hb), so i'll just comment. the novels that really grab me are the ones that draw me into the characters. ridley pearson's lou boldt, connelly's harry bosch, martin cruz smith's arkaky, harris's lecter and starling come to mind. they make me feel something strongly, be it compassion, revulsion, pity. love or hate. empathy is what i'm looking for.

hammett tells a lean mean exciting story in red harvest, but the con op has so far failed to move me... even his breakdown confession to dinah seems out of character, forced, and awkward.

but i'm still enjoying it. i'm really anxious to read thompson's _killer inside me_, denton's _blackburn_, and one of the two pelecano's i bought, but i've arranged the dozen or so hbs i bought in copyright order and i'm gonna try to stick with that. anyway, i'm gonna read the maltese falcon next, and then move on to chandler's big sleep.

hope i haven't offended the hammet people out there. my comments should be taken as more of a reflection on me than on the time-tested skills of hammett.

miker

 

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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 27 Apr 2001 EDT