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Comments (22)

What did you think about this title?
1 to 22 of 22 items
Aug 01, 2023jimbo_yosemite rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
The movie follows this book plot fairly closely for most of it. I visualized Humphrey Bogart while reading the book even though Sam Spade is described as being blonde haired with a "V-shaped" face. Oddly enough the photo of Dashiell…
Feb 27, 2023diaparalectdoxical rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The book moves at a rapid pace, with no time to breathe. Three murders and a rapidly evolving plot don’t let the reader relax and come to conclusions, they’d be foiled in the next chapter. The plot spans the globe and the two eccentric and…
Aug 10, 2022kaphings rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
A fun read.
Jul 07, 2022goldenbeetle rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I'm surprised by the controversial rating of this novel. I did a basic search on "top books to read crime" and this book repeatedly showed up on lists. It's one of the many books I picked up in order to get my foot in the mystery-crime…
Jun 24, 2022DPL_Emily rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
This book contained a lot of talking about things but very little doing things. Combined with the dated stereotypes and sexism/homophobia, it was a real slog to get through.
Jan 24, 2022Anita_Dickey rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I read this book for the 52 books in 52 weeks reading challenge. I used the 2022 prompt read a book whose chapters have titles. It is also on Listopia's 300 books everyone should read once list. I found it super boring. It was like one of…
Nov 27, 2021mattfromthecity rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
A summer blockbuster of fiction; fun, fast paced, not much commentary below the surface, but a rollicking adventure across the streets of prewar San Francisco.
Oct 27, 2021ReedReadsmore rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
One of my favorite books of all time. Written in the objective third person, the author never gives you insight into anyone's thoughts. You have to figure out what they're thinking from the dialogue and their actions. Utterly fantastic…
Aug 02, 2021Austen_18 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A classic detective story with an incredible 1941 film adaptation featuring Humphrey Bogart.
Dec 03, 2019lunabookworm55 rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
This is probably because I'm "from a different era". But the values (or lack thereof) being pushed by the book turned me off of the mystery real quick. The main character talks to a woman who's desperate for his skills as a private…
StevenOClark
Aug 24, 2017StevenOClark rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I finally got around to reading The Maltese Falcon. A great, terse novel. Hammett's life was the equal of his book. He lived as well as he wrote.
Apr 25, 2017FoltinSmyde rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Great novel, intriguing and full of suspense. The characters and locales are described in a style that is engrossing, yet concise and minimalistic.
Jun 22, 2015iwasthewalrus rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Dashiell Hammett’s beloved detective novel follows hard-boiled sleuth Sam Spade as he navigates through a web of murder and deception. He finds himself surrounded by a colourful cast of characters, such as a mischievous femme fatale,…
Apr 24, 2015athena14 rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Hammett's descriptions of his characters are like comic book illustrations: often so grotesque that I laughed in disbelief.
EuSei
Mar 18, 2015EuSei rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed the movie (where Humphrey Bogart played an excellent Sam spade) more than the book. (I felt the same with "The Thin Man.") I guess I just don't like super "hard-boiled dicks" with an excessively cold demeanor and zero…
bookfanatic1979
Oct 22, 2013
I found an old copy at my library’s used book sale and thought “What the hell?” I never would have read it if I hadn’t tripped over it. I think I enjoyed it more for the glimpse into the past than for the actual plot. It’s a classic, no…
Jun 19, 2013
Arguably the unbeatable aura of the American private-detective in fiction belongs to one man and one work of fiction. The man is Dashiell Hammet and the work is "The Maltese Falcon". He was a man who just seemed to know things about life…
Roxannajayc
Jul 23, 2012Roxannajayc rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
One of the best detective novels of the 20th century.
Oct 07, 2011lisastitch rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
A classic--and the beginning of the hard-boiled detective genre.
turveydrop
Aug 03, 2011turveydrop rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Not always knowing what's going on = suspense.
Jan 03, 2011lisahiggs rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Hammett has the same eye for people that Sam Spade has – their looks, their demeanor, their actions. Unfortunately while he describes everything that Spade sees, he never describes what Spade thinks. When smiling-eyed red-headed Brigid…
Dec 08, 2010e_long rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is where you need to start. If you haven't read this, you don't know Noir!