Due to recent discussions here I reread The Dain Curse (a
book I hadn't looked at since high school), and it might just
be the 3rd best PI novel I've read (Maltese Falcon and Red
Harvest being the two best) for exactly that reason--having
teeth. Not only is the writing pitch perfect and the plotting
ingenious, but the Continental Op is exactly what I want in a
PI--tough and bright. He makes all the connections a smart PI
should make, and nowhere is the plot advanced because he
overlooks the obvious. Unfortunately there was only one
Hammett and only one Continental Op.
Btw. I think Mike R. pointed out how Solomon's Vineyard by
Jonathan Latimer was influenced by the cult stuff in Dain
Curse. To me, Latimer was influenced by all of Hammett--the
Bill Crane books heavily influenced by The Thin Man, and
Solomon's Vineyard showing influences from Maltese Falcon (PI
avenging murdered partner), Red Harvest (influences obvious
with all the deaths that follow Craven's investigation) and
Dain Curse.
One more point about the Op since this is Block month (or
months)-- I'd have to think Keller from the Hitman stories
was intended to pay homage to the Op.
--Dave Zeltserman
>
>
> --- Michael Robison <miker_zspider@...>
wrote:
>
> >
> > These inner demons are at least one of the
elements
> > that separates Hammett's Con Op from
Chandler's
> > Marlowe.
> >
> Yes. But give us a demon with teeth and not
the
> private detective who is having a struggle
with
> chocolate. One of the reasons that I pretty much
gave
> up on recent detective fiction is that
the
> protagonists are so lame. Most of it seems written
for
> people who want to escape from any form of
thought.
>
> William
>
> Essays and Ramblings
> <http://www.williamahearn.com>
>
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 03 Nov 2007 EDT