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A review by thekarpuk
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
4.0
I wasn't aware of this previously, but apparently you just gotta slap a dame when they get hysterical. The things you learn when you read hard-boiled fiction.
"The Thin Man" was read as an attempt to get into the mindset of noir, since a friend of mine is asking me to write him a script in the style. It's one of my first encounters with crime fiction from that era, and I came away generally amused.
Nick Charles is on vacation with his wife Nora. He doesn't want to solve a mystery. He wants to drink, and have fun, and quite specifically not get answers. The trouble is that people he's acquainted with keep showing up, because apparently he's the right man for the job when a woman shows up dead.
Dashiel Hammet is a good man to read if you want to study fun dialogue. Nick and Nora engage in the sort of banter that we normal people wish we were having. His stalwart refusal to tell anyone exactly what he may or may not know leads to lots of enjoyable circuitous dialogue in which people keep pressing him for information.
There are some real hallmarks of the era in this book. For starters, the aforementioned sexism, which fortunately is counter-balanced by Nora, who's actually a surprisingly progressive character. She tags along through most of the investigation providing sass and observations, and it made me wish more detectives had such classy accompaniment.
What really took me by surprise was the odd sophistication of it. Most of the story is about conversations, and it really is a study of manners and class as Charles goes between well-off families in nice rooms to thugs and goons in run down apartments and speakeasies. It's a well rounded perspective on the city life of the area.
The drinking is also amusing. By any normal standard most of the characters would be drunk through most of the story. I think it may have been fantasy at the time, since the book was released not long before prohibition was ended, and people wanted to read about rich people getting plastered in nice hotel rooms.
Here's a game you can play at home while reading: Take a shot every time a character in the book takes a drink. See how long it takes you before you experience alcohol poisoning.
"The Thin Man" was read as an attempt to get into the mindset of noir, since a friend of mine is asking me to write him a script in the style. It's one of my first encounters with crime fiction from that era, and I came away generally amused.
Nick Charles is on vacation with his wife Nora. He doesn't want to solve a mystery. He wants to drink, and have fun, and quite specifically not get answers. The trouble is that people he's acquainted with keep showing up, because apparently he's the right man for the job when a woman shows up dead.
Dashiel Hammet is a good man to read if you want to study fun dialogue. Nick and Nora engage in the sort of banter that we normal people wish we were having. His stalwart refusal to tell anyone exactly what he may or may not know leads to lots of enjoyable circuitous dialogue in which people keep pressing him for information.
There are some real hallmarks of the era in this book. For starters, the aforementioned sexism, which fortunately is counter-balanced by Nora, who's actually a surprisingly progressive character. She tags along through most of the investigation providing sass and observations, and it made me wish more detectives had such classy accompaniment.
What really took me by surprise was the odd sophistication of it. Most of the story is about conversations, and it really is a study of manners and class as Charles goes between well-off families in nice rooms to thugs and goons in run down apartments and speakeasies. It's a well rounded perspective on the city life of the area.
The drinking is also amusing. By any normal standard most of the characters would be drunk through most of the story. I think it may have been fantasy at the time, since the book was released not long before prohibition was ended, and people wanted to read about rich people getting plastered in nice hotel rooms.
Here's a game you can play at home while reading: Take a shot every time a character in the book takes a drink. See how long it takes you before you experience alcohol poisoning.