The Maltese Falcon-fini

Yesterday I finished the MALTESE FALCON, by Dashiell Hammett, it is a fun read based on characters you would find in the real world of 1939. What I mean by that is that he did not fancy them up and Sam Spade is a reflection of our author, who was a Pinkerton Agent. Mr. Hammett was born in Maryland, yeah Maryland. He was born in St. Mary's County, I wonder if he knew any of my relatives. Anyway, he wrote several books, but when he felt he was repeating himself he stopped writing (page xv in the introduction.) Not to be mean but that should be the mantra of many writers. The book I read was published by Alfred A. Knopf in the Everyman's Library edition. It has a copyright of 1929, 1930 by Alfred K. Knopf, renewed in 1956 and 1957 by Mr. Hammett. This publishing was released in 2000. Also included in this book are two other stories by Dashiell Hammett, THE THIN MAN and RED HARAVEST. Neither of these books are on the 100 books to read, so I must take this book back to the library. The book is set in the 1920's, we have a artifact that everyone is looking for, we have three murders, several beatings and if you have ever watched the movie, you can add the twangs and voices of the characters as you read. When I see Sam Spade in the book, I do not see Humphrey Bogart, but that is the who we get to see in the movie. It is a perfect story for a movie. Short and to the point, my favorite kind of book. Sometimes I do not want to have to figure out what someone actually is trying to be symbolic about. For example, I do not want to believe that a rocking horse is sexual tool. Good Read.