RARA-AVIS: The Maltese Falcon

Bill Hagen (billha@ionet.net)
Sat, 29 Nov 1997 22:12:04 -0600 (CST) OK, just found the Falcon in the bookshelf, the hidden back row.

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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