Rating: 
Summary: A classic work by one of America's greatst writers
Review: Dashiell Hammett still hasn't gotten his proper due. Although pretty much universally regarded as the founder of the hardboiled school of detective fiction, and considered--along with Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald--to be one of the three classic masters of the genre, he is still somewhat marginalized as being merely a detective writer. In fact, Hammett was much more than that. He was one of the crucial figures in the 1920s in liberating American prose from those writers who were intent upon imitating continental styles, such as Dreiser and Sinclair Lewis, who consciously followed Zola's realism. Hammett was one of the key figures in developing a prose style that was uniquely American. His sentences are tough, terse, and urban.THE MALTESE FALCON is my favorite Hammett novel, though not my favorite work by Hammett. He was a very good novelist, but he was an extraordinary short story writer, and if one wants the very, very best of his work, one should go to the collection of Continental Op stories (the Op was also his primary character) contained in THE CONTINENTAL OP. Still, this novel belongs on the shortest of short lists of the finest hardboiled detective novels ever written. The novel's overall status would be much higher if we didn't feel such a powerful compulsion to pigeonhole our writers. Hammett at his best certainly rivals 1920s contemporaries such as Hemingway and Fitzgerald. The plot is familiar to anyone who has seen the Bogart version of the novel. For a Hays Office era film, it does a great job of presenting most of the details of the novel, although Joel Cairo's homosexuality, blantant in the novel, is muted in the film. The film is a very great film, but what a fan of the film will discover upon coming to the novel is that it is also a very great novel. Some great movies are based upon relatively weak novels (a specialty of Alfred Hitchcock). In this case, both are masterpieces. Any lover of the film will find the same delightful characters, the same riveting dialog, and the same smokey atmosphere. Almost all the great lines of the movie are also in the book. The largest single difference will be the character of Sam Spade. Hammett's Spade is a tad more leering, a bit more self-serving, a little less moral. Bogart's Sam Spade seems to have been filtered through Chandler's knight errant Philip Marlowe. Anyone who is a fan of American literature needs to read this book. It is one of the greatest works by one of the most influential American writers of the first part of the 20th century. What is amazing is how sharp and edgy the prose remains after seventy years. A must read.
Rating:
Summary: Pulp fiction at it's best
Review: Sam Spade is the quintessential hard-nosed take-no-bull detective of literature and film. Every writer tries to live up to Dashiell Hammett's Spade, and though they may come close they can never match the original.
All the characters are perfectly described to the last detail, and strangely enough resemble their movie counterparts so much you would think Hammett had Lorre, Greenstreet and Astor in mind when he penned the novel.
Sam Spade is a man out for his own, watching the case unfold with detached bemusement. He struts through the novel without a care, only involved in the case because he was paid to do so.
The ending is fantastic, and does justice to all the characters.
The best detective novel you ever will read.
Rating:
Summary: Makes you want to roll your own smokes
Review: I recently saw The Maltese Falcon, with Humphrey Bogart. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to read the book. Dashiell Hammett is a wonderful writer, and Sam Spade is twice as colorful in the book. If you like detective stories, read this one. In fact, read it even if you don't like detective stories, because you will like this one.
Rating:
Summary: Mandatory reading before picking up any other crime fiction
Review: Fabulous defined characters ... each one jumps out of the pages of the novel. I have (unfortunately) not seen the movie, yet I could easily visualise each scene in the book in a way that it left me amazed.
I would stack it up with the real classics in my library.
Rating:
Summary: A book to read, no matter how well you know the movie
Review: The book's definitely grittier than the movie version. Personally, I found it easier to picture Howard Duff, who was radio's Sam Spade, while reading the book. And the character of Wilmer is much younger than the henchman in the movie. This particular fact sharpens the portrayal of Joe Cairo's homosexuality and makes it more evident than in the film. The book goes into further detail concerning Spade's affair with his late partner's wife and adds a "life goes on" twist in the last sentences of the book. There's more of the secretary, Effie Klinker and more of Spade's encounters with the police. Also, there is Gutman's young daughter, who wasn't in the movie. Most importantly, though, the book gives the main character more rough edges, rounds him out a bit better. And the book better fleshes out and portrays the greed of the characters and that greed's consequences. Careful reading here will give you new insights into the story, and is quite recommended.
Rating:
Summary: How Far Will Spade Go in Search of the Truth?
Review: Will Spade protect the beautiful Brigid for whom he has already developed a romantic interest? Why is he so intent on avanging the death of a partner he disliked? Can Spade be bribed? How far will he go in search of the truth? As we learn the answers to these questions, we begin to appreciate that Sam Spade is one of the toughest and most independent private detectives ever created. If I was asked to recommend only one mystery novel, THE MALTESE FALCON would be my first choice.
Rating: 
Summary: Great fun
Review: I can't remember the last time I had as much pure fun reading a novel than I did with this one. Sam Spade is the prototype for all the hard-boiled detective types that came after, and a debt of gratitude is owed to Dashiell Hamett for just about inventing the genre. Contrary to some recent reviews, I think the book stands easily on its own without a need to compare it to the movie. In fact, I'd say the movie owes its success to the pace and atmosphere created in the book. If you've never seen the movie, you should read the book and then rent the movie. If you have seen the movie, I'll bet you'll really enjoy the book anyway. It's just great fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable, but overrated.
Review: As a piece of fluff, its pretty good fluff. Enjoyable writing, interesting characters, good atmosphere, unpredictable plot twists. But that's it. No character development. Every character is the same at the end as they were at the beginning. No insights into the human condition. Grab it for the beach, coffee house, wherever. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: If you've seen the movie, it's too late to read the book...
Review: I'll start by saying that this really is an excellent book. The writing is tight, the plot moves and twists, and the characters are memorable. But I've seen the movie. Quite a few times. And I didn't get anything new out of the book. A couple of extra subplots (very minor). A little bit of color (literally). But that's it. Obviously, the book came first, so if we're giving credit for creating the work, Dashiell Hammett gets all the kudos. The plot belongs to him, the characters belong to him, even the dialogue belongs to him. (The dialogue in the book is, word-for-word, the same as the movie.) It's a fantastic bit of writing. But if you've seen the movie, there's not a lot of reason to read the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Visual style not fit for a book
Review: First, let me say that the writing is very good. I did not enjoy it as much as I hoped because it's not a true detective / murder mystery type. Spade hardly did investigating and instead seemed to stumble into clue after clue and run into a key character here and there. The writing style emphasized the characters and their expressions more than the plot. It was not quite what I expected. The writing was so good that it was very easy to imagine every scene and every character nuance, but it cannot be classified as a murder mystery.
| 
