I've read eleven of the stories in CRIME STORIES AND OTHER
WRITINGS now--next up is "The Scorched Face"--and except for
one story, it's all great stuff. The one I didn't like as
much is "Nightmare Town," which ran in ARGOSY and isn't an Op
story. The idea behind the town is neat, but the story's
confused. All the rest are very good. They're all Op stories,
and they start off being about cases where the Continental
Detective Agency is hired by a rich man because of a murder
or kidnapping. Later stories like "The House of Turk Street"
and "The Whosis Kid" are about the Op stumbling into trouble
unexpectedly. Hammett's great when there's a bunch of greedy,
nervous crooks in a room, all armed with guns. When the Op
sees his chance, there's trouble.
Femmes fatales, forerunners of Brigid O'Shaughnessy, pop up a
fair bit. From "The Girl with the Silver Eyes," where the Op
is driving a beautiful woman to the police:
| I grunted noncommittally, and forcibly restrained my tongue
from
| running out to moisten my dry lips.
| "I'm going to jail tonight if you are the same hard man
who
| has goaded me into whining love into his uncaring ears, but
before
| that, can't I have one whole-hearted assurance that you
think
| me a little more than 'quite pretty'? Or at least a hint
that if I
| were not a prisoner your pulse might be a little faster
when I
| touch you? I'm going to this jail for a long while--perhaps
to
| the gallows. Can't I take my vanity there not quite in
tatters
| to keep me company? Can't you do some slight thing to keep
me
| from the afterthought of having bleated all this out to a
man who
| was simple bored?"
| Her lids had come down half over the silver-grey eyes; her
head
| had tilted back so far that a little pulse showed throbbing
in
| her write throat; her lips were motionless over slightly
parted
| teeth, as the last word has left them. My fingers went deep
into
| the soft white flesh of her shoulders. Her head went
further back,
| her eyes closed, one hand came up to my shoulder.
| "You're beautiful as all hell!" I shouted crazily into her
face,
| and flung her against the door.
In "Zigzags of Treachery" the Op is hired by a lawyer who
gets very emotional about the case.
| His voice was losing its calmness again, so I picked up
my
| hat, said something about starting to work at once, and
went out.
| I don't like eloquence: if it isn't effective enough to
pierce
| your hide, it's tiresome; and if it is effective enough,
then it
| muddles your thoughts.
Later he says, "This lawyer was bound on getting me worked
up; and I like my jobs to be simply jobs--emotions are
nuisances during business hours."
The Op may be nameless, and he may not crack wise or
philosophize like Marlowe, but he's no cipher. I like
him.
Bill
-- William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/ : Caveat lector.
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