"As I mentioned earlier, I would have sworn that there were
some internal thoughts of Spade's in FALCON, especially
concerning the women, but when I reread it, it became
apparent that anything he was thinking was transferred to the
reader by direct observation."
This reminds me of seeing the group My Bloody Valentine (or
Glenn Branca, for that matter). They played a single note,
very loudly, for 17 minutes. After a few minutes, your mind
begins to fill in things like melody. It seems to me that
Hammett does much the same, stay right at the fact, leading
the reader to fill in his own emotions. As Mario has pointed
out, this is very hard to do well. Who else has
succeeded?
"At the other end of the spectrum are novels which provide a
thorough description of every character's thoughts after
every line of dialogue. Baker's YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN is not
far from this category. As Mario said about one of Harris's
books, it leaves little for the reader to contribute."
This strikes me as similar to McLuhan's distinction between
hot and cool media.
"Incidentally, GLASS KEY is one of the books I picked up out
in D.C. I believe that Carrie said it was Hammett's favorite.
I'm looking forward to reading it."
Afterwards, be sure to watch the Coen Brothers' Miller's
Crossing, which draws heavily on it (as well as Red Harvest).
I liked it a lot more than The Glass Key with Alan Ladd and
Veronica Lake (not that I didn't also enjoy it, just like the
Coen's more).
Mark
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