On Hammett

[yendi]

I hadn't mentioned it, but one of the books I read at Resnet was Hammett's Red Harvest. This is probably one of the best books you haven't read. His first novel, it's the book that inspired Kurosawa's Yojimbo (and I assume, of course, that you're familiar with the pop culture family tree from there). It follows the Continental Op (like Yojimbo and The Man With No Name, we never get a real name from him -- all three "heroes" play nicely off the old superstition that giving someone your name gives them power over you) as he cleans up the corrupt town of Personville (known as Poisonville to most folks) by playing the various corrupt folks against one another. It's a brutal, bloody little novel, with more mystery than any of its followers, but it nicely lays out the template that pretty much every "corrupt town" book and movie since has used. Great, sparse prose (groundbreaking at the time), wonderful characters, and dialogue that's still powerful 80 years later.

What really impressed me, though, is that about two thirds of the way through the novel, there's a dream sequence. A real one, with surreal imagery, shifting senses, and a definitely awareness of psychology. I'm not sure I can recall any earlier novel that has an effective dream sequence.

Hammett is never given enough credit, imho. Poe is (rightly) given credit for the mystery genre, but everyone who followed (including Doyle) simply expanded and popularized it. Hammett gave us the American crime novel (although it's certainly been exported -- the entire contemporary British field seems to be a giant Hammett and Chandler tribute group). He gave us Sam Spade and Nick and Nora. Andrew Vachss and Robert Parker wouldn't even exist without him (even if Parker cites Chandler as his influence). Shit, pretty much every contemporary crime author, up to and including Janet Evanovich, owe something to his work.

Comments

[coffeeinhell.livejournal.com]

I love Hammett. My mother introduced me to crime fiction when I was quite young -- she saw no problem in lending me her books when she was done with them, even though I now wonder if any weren't questionable reading for a kid of nine or ten. But Hammett was my favorite, early on.

Yeah, he did it first and he did it best. Even the later pulp authors -- Charles Willeford, Jim Thompson, et al -- owed their style to Hammett.

Patrick and I watched Yojimbo again several months ago, and we talked about it being based on red Harvest. Then, a few days later, there were a couple of Thin Man films on TCM. Patrick, somehow, had never seen any of the Thin Man movies so (naturally) I made him watch them with me. He was seriously surprised to know that Hammett created the characters.

[yendi]

I think most folks are suprised at Hammett's connection to the characters. The original novel was almost like his own reaction to his earlier works, with Nick as The Continental Op after settling down. People forget what a great sense of fun Hammett was capable of.

[mister-wolf.livejournal.com]

I've get to read any Hammett, but you'd better believe Red Harvest is going to be the next book I read. I really love Chandler, tho'. Or, more precisely, I love Philip Marlowe. He's just the right mix of stand-up guy and loser, the perfect anti-hero.

[yendi]

If you love Chandler, you'll love Hammett (and vice-versa). I love flawed anti-heroes, and they created the archetypes.