I recently finished Hammett's "Red Harvest" and I'm leading a
discussion on it for another list. This is a pretty
sophisticated group of mystery readers with very diverse
tastes and while we've had a few bursts of enthusiasm for the
book, most reactions are along the lines of "dated,"
"dull," "I didn't care what happened to any of these people."
Now I basically enjoyed the book. I liked Hammett's use of
language, enjoyed the Op's voice, thought some of the plot
twists were quite ingenious, and several thumbnail sketches
of the characters (ripping this very apt term off Jack
Burns/Bludis who is on that list and may be on this one too)
were brilliant. Still, in a sense I was grading on a curve,
working from the knowledge that this has been an extremely
influential book. I'm not even going to pretend that I cared
who was doing what to whom, on the occasions when I could
even figure it out.
Now, if I had a mind to write a thesis on this book, there
would be plenty of material. I can imagine making extensive
charts of the very complex web of relationships the author
has woven but - as someone essentially reading for pleasure,
I just don't care. So I can understand the academic appeal of
the book, to a scholar or a filmmaker interested in weaving
in homages. This is Coen brothers heaven. But it does seem
out of step with what modern readers expect out of a mystery
- comprehensible plot, extensive novel-length character
development. Hammett's up-front characterizations are very
good; the characters are colorful and have distinctive
voices, but we don't seem ever to learn anything new about
them after they are first introduced (one of the perps is the
only exception I can think of, and I thought this was the
cleverest part of the book). I think part of the issue is
that it's obviously a cobbling-together of several serial
stories, and so doesn't quite have the unified feeling we
expect from a detective novel.
So I know I'm taking aim at a sacred cow but does anyone
agree with me that Red Harvest doesn't hold up very well? Was
this ever a popular success in novel form?
I should say that I really like the Maltese Falcon and think
it holds up very well for the average reader.
Carrie
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