The Thin Man

Boy, these reviews are all over the place, aren't they! Well, they at least give you the plot so I don't have to. Here are some quick comments: There is so much going on in this book that most people miss much of it the first time (as these reviews show), especially if they don't know Hammett's life. As noted, Hammett modeled Nick and Nora on himself and his paramour, budding playwright Lillian Hellman, so it's interesting to see how he dealt in fiction with their relationship and his ultimate failure to cope with success. Yet, "The Thin Man" works - and works well - as a straight, hard-boiled detective novel, too (which is why none of the characters are particularly likeable). Also, Nora, one of the few, strong female detectives of the pulp magazine era, has inspired countless woman (including Myrna Loy) through the decades. Hammett's sparse style of writing, which many critics (including myself) think Hemingway merely popularized, revolutionized American literature. Each of Hammett's words had to do its part. Similarly, unlike those of earlier detective novels, Hammett's characters committed murder and other mayhem for actual reasons! The notion greatly affected Chandler, Macdonald, and all the others who toiled in the garden Hammett created. His books are all classics of American literature. Some of these reviewers have made too much of the "alcoholism" in the book. Fact is, a certain, large segment of society in the `30s - products of Prohibition - did (or wanted to) drink the way the book's characters do and thought nothing of it. Basically, everybody drank in those days. Even the President of the United States had a bootlegger. To my mind, an alcoholic is a person who drinks because he or she _has_ to; these characters drink because they _want_ to. Those revisionist Puritan reviewers just don't understand the context of the drinking in "The Thin Man". Speaking of Puritans, the city of Boston banned "The Thin Man" upon release (thereby greatly increasing its sales) because Nora asks Nick if he got an erection while wrestling with one of the female characters. The word - heard without reaction on TV and in the movies these days - was simply too much for the city fathers. ("Just a little one" Nick answered, if memory serves.) The movie producers could not chance a similar ban on the movie so they cut a lot of the dark humor out of it but introduced Hammett to a lot of people over the world. The problems come when the viewers don't realize the book and the movies are two very different animals. I would love to see "The Thin Man" made into a movie now - when the producers would respect the work while employing fantastic production values. I'm sure they would remember that Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" did not succeed as a movie until the third try when new producer John Huston wisely utilized most of Hammett's cutting but sparkling dialogue. Hammett wrote five novels and, while they share similar traits, each one is different fr

This is one of the best crime novels ever written because it transcends the genre so beautifully, you won't even care about the mystery plot. The characters make it biting, strong and unforgettable, freaks and weirdos alike... Nick and Nora Charles are 2 of the most perfect literary creations in all of fiction. Hollywood cleaned them up a little and made them classy social lushes, but in their original written form, they're cynical, world weary wise acres. Their heavy drinking only adds to the book's appeal. Dashielle dedicated it to his long time love Lillian Hellman, as she, in turn, dedicated a few of her plays to him. The Maltese Falcon is the most famous of Hammett's works, The Daine Curse, his most complicated, Red Harvest, his most violent, The Glass Key, his most bitter. But the Thin Man is the most entertaining. You'll feel like reading it with a bottle of booze at your side.

This may be a "detective novel," but that's the least of it. The Thin Man is a statement of the good life, and included are plenty of style and sexiness. Nick and Nora Charles are the greatest, most reasonably decadent couple and the final, best commentary on the American high life that was thrown into such relief by the foil of Prohibition. Sure, there's a murder mystery, but there's also raw roast beef and onions, plenty of onions, from an all-night deli, washed down with perpetual scotch and soda. ... Dashiell Hammett wrote Nick Charles in order to be Dashiell Hammett: drunk, yes, but so what? Once great, always great, as long as you leave a legacy that people admire.

Forget those movies. They took a grimly funny novel about a group of predatory monsters and turned it into a series of light comedies. As splendid as William Powell and Myrna Loy are, they cannot hold a candle to the Nick and Nora portrayed in this novel.Hammett did not write a novel about a sophisticated couple who genteelly solve a murder while pouring cocktails and trading quips. He wrote a dark novel about an ex-detective who has married a wildly wealthy woman, and wants to spend the rest of his life managing her money. He is only faintly connected to the murders, having known the victim and his family briefly several years before, and wants nothing to do with the whole business. He is continually dragged in, however, and very nearly becomes a victim himself. Even a cursory reading of the novel should demonstrate that Hammett was up to much more than a series of one-liners with detective interruptions. Why else would Hammett, one of the most economical of authors, bring the novel to a halt to include a case history of Alfred Packer, the only American convicted of the crime of cannibalism?There is much more here than Hollywood, or anyone else that I know of, has yet realized.

I love Hammett's fat detective from Red Harvest, etc. but I think this is a wonderful story. The characterizations are razor sharp, the pacing incredible, and there are no false notes, for me at least, through many readings. In a fairly short novel with dozens of characters and settings this is remarkable. The Maltese Falcon is at the top of the genre, but I would put this one just behind. Great fun!