He starts out seeming to be positive about the authors, but as her goes on it becomes more and more critical. I like the books by Hammett and Chandler just the way they are, and I certainly wouldn't rake them over the coals for drinking, eyeing the beautiful women (which he calls sexism), or brutality.
Based on his comments here, I wouldn't be interested in reading anything he wrote.
I didn't think Spade had much of a code. I thought the quote proved that he was only grudgingly finding his partner's murderer (and he'd known who the killer was for a long time but thought he might run into the black bird).
The author should hope to write something half as good as THE HIGH WINDOW, and if he thinks that novel is chiefly about a missing doubloon, he doesn't know how to read. And I am quite sick of people today loading accusations of sexism, brutality, drinking, etc., on novels of the mid-20th Century as if every writer should be able to predict what is acceptable in the future.
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Good stuff
He starts out seeming to be positive about the authors, but as her goes on it becomes more and more critical. I like the books by Hammett and Chandler just the way they are, and I certainly wouldn't rake them over the coals for drinking, eyeing the beautiful women (which he calls sexism), or brutality.
Based on his comments here, I wouldn't be interested in reading anything he wrote.
I didn't think Spade had much of a code. I thought the quote proved that he was only grudgingly finding his partner's murderer (and he'd known who the killer was for a long time but thought he might run into the black bird).
I think Chandler's most famous dictum is that "The crime itself is not as important as it's effects on the characters."
"When in doubt, have a couple of guys with guns come through the door." (Or something like that.)
Actually, just read Chandler's essay, "The Simple Art of Murder."
The author should hope to write something half as good as THE HIGH WINDOW, and if he thinks that novel is chiefly about a missing doubloon, he doesn't know how to read. And I am quite sick of people today loading accusations of sexism, brutality, drinking, etc., on novels of the mid-20th Century as if every writer should be able to predict what is acceptable in the future.
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