Review: The Thin Man
I wish I liked Dashiell Hammett’s work more.
I see the clever plotting and the realistic characters. I like the dialog that sounds just clever enough that a wise guy would use it. I like the moral ambiguity of his world. I like the plots that are just twisty enough to be confounding without being unbelievable.
And I recognize that he’s part of a genuine sea change in detective and crime fiction. I read Murder on the Orient Express after I read The Thin Man and there are a couple times where Nora suggests Poirot’s techniques and Nick directly says “that doesn’t work.” You could say these are works in conversation, but Hammett’s giving a lecture. I respect that. And I take his point that many earlier mysteries are just candy crush before there were screens and he’s writing stories about characters in settings.
But it doesn’t all gel for me somehow. I know this is a de gustibus thing for me. I think that if you like detective stories at all, you should check out Hammett. He’s an excellent writer and broke plenty of new ground in the genre. I really like the movies made from the books. But I don’t light up when I read him.
Strongly Recommended.