Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. Sam Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with a louse called Floyd Thursby.
But Miss Wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and when Spade's partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby's trail, Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird, a treas Sam Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with a louse called Floyd Thursby.
But Miss Wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and when Spade's partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby's trail, Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird, a treasure worth killing for, before the Fat Man finds him? Get A Copy. Paperback , pages. Published March 1st by Orion first published More Details Original Title.
Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Maltese Falcon , please sign up. Can a teenager read this book and understand it?? Taylor Bullis I read this book in 8th grade as a 14 year old. Unless you are dealing with a very immature batch of teenagers, I would highly reccomend this book!
Greg Yes, Zaira. And you might find, though, that the movie is even better! For me, the plot and various subplots are just overwhelming in the book, but th …more Yes, Zaira.
For me, the plot and various subplots are just overwhelming in the book, but the movie streamlines the story, imo. See all 9 questions about The Maltese Falcon…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of The Maltese Falcon. Dashiell Hammett wrote this story originally as a serial in the magazine Black Mask.
It was eventually published as a novel in Hammett writes well — narration is largely just descriptions. Without any insight into their thoughts or motivation through narration, we still get very distinct and rich characters.
Spade is determined, cold, and highly observant. The feme fatale is devious, manipulative and unreliable, but still somehow alluring and enchanting.
That Hammett can create such distinctive characters through dialog and action is the sign of a great storyteller. I flew through this story. A classic hard-boiled detective novel that stands the test of time with excellent writing, strong characters, and an often-copied, but certainly entertaining plot. View all 26 comments. Apr 15, noelle rated it really liked it. Third time reading this one and I swear I just love it more each time. View all 4 comments.
May 15, Stephen rated it it was amazing Shelves: ebooks , mystery , hardboiled-and-noir , kings-of-badassia , , audiobook , crime.
Do I really need to continue the review after that? That is perfection. Now there are a lot of wonderful noirs out there, many of them classics, but this story is THE noir.
It is the noirest aka that which has reached the pinnacle of noirism. Second, you have a smart, interesting mystery-based plot that is paced perfectly. Third, you have a phenomenal cast of odd and engaging characters without a good guy in sight. Our hero by default, Sam Spade, is as gray as the economic skies over America and moves through the story as cool and slick as a Teflon cat.
Oh…the FUNtastic spectacle that is this book is something to behold. In fact, rather then mess this review up any further, I am going to let the dialogue speak for itself…. Just classic. If you want to hang around, you'll be polite. Brilliant, sir…. There's never any telling what you'll say or do next, except that it's bound to be something astonishing. By Gad? Oh that one is going right into the repertoire as it is too slicktastic.
I've been bad, worse than you could know. Sam Spade makes me feel like a dorkadouche. You're good. Chiefly your eyes, I think, and that throb you get in your voice when you say things like 'Be generous, Mr.
But the lie was in the way I said it, not at all in what I said. It's my own fault if you can't believe me now. I'll have some rotten nights after I've sent you over, but that'll pass. I hope they don't hang you, precious, by that sweet neck. Yes, angel, I'm gonna send you over. The chances are you'll get off with life. That means if you're a good girl, you'll be out in 20 years.
I'll be waiting for you. If they hang you, I'll always remember you. Yes, that is exactly what he is saying…this guy is like a walking Urban Legend of the ultimate badass. View all 48 comments. My top ten reasons why this Dashiell Hammett is one of the greatest crime novels ever written: 1.
The City — The buildings and streets in San Francisco have such a tangible presence, even today, after nearly years, they still give Maltese Falcon tours. Femme My top ten reasons why this Dashiell Hammett is one of the greatest crime novels ever written: 1. Her looks, her way of speaking, her cunning, her charms, her allurement— legions of writers of detective fiction have changed her name, her home town, color of her hair and eyes, but all you have to do is scratch the surface and there she is.
Outside the Law — Nobody likes a cog in the legal wheel or a grey flannel flunkey following orders. Sam Spade is anything but — an outsider to the police, district attorney and even his clients, Sammy is his own man, cracking the case in his own way, in his own time and even willing to get socked in the jaw by a police lieutenant or pulled in by a high ranking official to make it happen. Tone — Sharp and crisp. When the last pocket had been turned out he returned to his own chair, rolled and lighted a cigarette, and began to examine his spoils.
He examined them with grave unhurried thoroughness. Violence — Nothing juices the action in a detective fiction more than cold bloody murder. An entire string of murders are featured here, all happening at the right time to accelerate tempo.
Serves him right for thinking himself so refined and above it all. The Color of Character — Dashiell Hammett set the gold standard here for writers of detective fiction. As he advanced to meet Spade all his bulbs rose and shook and fell separately with such step, in the manner of clustered soap-bubbles not yet released from the pipe through which they had been blown.
His eyes, made small by fat puffs around them, where dark and sleek. Dark ringlets thinly covered his broad scalp. He wore a back cutaway coat, black vest, black satin Ascot tie holding a pinkish pearl, striped grey worsted trousers, and patent-leather shoes. His voice was a throaty purr. The Moral Code — As one character finds out the hard way, Sam Spade is a man of the high, uncompromising character.
You will have to read the novel to find out just how high and just how uncompromising. The Whole is Greater than the Parts — The Maltese Falcon has that special something that separates it from other crime fiction, even crime fiction of the first order. What is it? Hard to put your finger on it, but as millions of readers have discovered every time they pick it up, this is one doozy of a classic. Has there ever been a famous actor more closely connected with a famous object?
And, yes, in many ways, the much sought after black bird adds a unique aesthetic dimension to this tale of noir. View all 46 comments. Born in and serving as a sergeant in World War I, Dashiell Hammett used his experiences to become one of the premier detective writers of the first half of the twentieth century. Set in Depression Era San Francisco and introducing the world to Samuel Spade, Hammett's The Maltese Falcon became a detective story that many in the genre still try to measure up to today.
A classic that helped change the way writers told detective stories, The Maltese Falcon is a classic case that contains all th Born in and serving as a sergeant in World War I, Dashiell Hammett used his experiences to become one of the premier detective writers of the first half of the twentieth century.
A classic that helped change the way writers told detective stories, The Maltese Falcon is a classic case that contains all the elements of a fun whodunit. At the opening of this book, Spade has taken on the services of a new client, one Miss Bridget O'Shaughnessy, who requests protection from thugs who have tailed her around the globe. Along with the assistance of his partner Miles Archer, Spade takes the case; however, Archer is quickly gunned down by one of the aforementioned thugs, and the case spirals into action.
Spade is forced to work alone with only bit help from his secretary Effie Perrine and a classic whodunit ensues. We find out that Spade has contacts all over San Francisco from his work as a private eye detective. The police do not desire that a private detective encroaches on their work, and the chief as well as the district attorney are out to get him for Archer's murder, as far fetched as that sounds. Underneath the murder and thugs is the root of the case- a Maltese Falcon figurine estimated to be worth a million dollars.
In the depression era this was a large fortune, and O'Shaughnessy hopes that Spade helps her procure the Falcon and deliver both her and it to safety before the thugs find them. As this is detective noir, O'Shaughnessy goes from client to lover and good to bad.
Each thug has at least one gun or pistol, and more goons seem to be hanging around each corner, all as far fetched in character as the next: Gutman, the fat man and only one with brains in the group; Cairo, the apparent boy loving Levantine; and Wilmer, Gutman's hired kid and fall guy.
Each attempts to force Spade into a corner, which of course, he eventually gets his way out of. The Maltese Falcon is a classic detective noir story and fun whodunit. A depression era story where everyone wore a trench coat and hat and rolled their own cigarettes, it is also a holdover from the s gangster era, which is becoming one of my favorite eras to read about. A pulp noir story that became a movie starring Humphrey Bogart, The Maltese Falcon is a classic detective tale in a genre that I am quickly starting to enjoy.
I rate The Maltese Falcon 4. View all 17 comments. Dec 16, Anne rated it it was amazing Shelves: noir , mystery , crime , read-in This might be the gold standard for hardboiled detective stories. I mean, Sam Spade. Everyone knows Sam Spade, right? I still prefer Nick and Nora from The Thin Man , but as popular as those two are, I think Sam is probably considered the quintessential private dick.
So, the gist is that hot shady chick comes slinking in one evening, begging Spade and his partner to help her locate her younger sister, who has taken up with a married man. You tell her, Spade This lying client, original This might be the gold standard for hardboiled detective stories. This lying client, originally known as Ruth Wonderly, who then claims to be someone else and eventually fesses up to being Brigid O'Shaughnessy, is incapable of telling the truth about anything.
She's the worst. So of course, Sammy wants to bang her. Apparently, Sam is a ladies' man. I'm not sure how, though. He supposedly looks like Satan and treats all the women in his life like shit. At any rate, all the women are throwing themselves at him and all the men grudgingly respect him for his manly prowess.
Spade is the total package. And he ain't playing the sap for no ditzy dame, gaddammit! Spade is a man with questions that need answers. Lots of questions. How hard is it to shake off a woman you're tired of sleeping with? Is it even wise to do that when you're under investigation for her husband's murder? How much do you owe a partner? Is your secretary really a good judge of character?
What's that goofy looking kid doing spying on you? Who's the mousy guy waiting for you in your office with a deal? And finally, what's a Maltese Falcon, and who the hell is offing everyone in order to get to this weird bird? This was my 1st time reading Hammett's classic about Sam and his search for the Maltese Falcon, but I had already listened to Hollywood Theater of the Ear's theatrical production of the story. However, I'd also suggest that you read the book before listening to it.
Because while it is an amazingly well-done adaptation, it is exactly that. An adaptation. The book is better. View all 18 comments. Sam Spade a cynical, tough yet honest San Francisco private eye is having a good day Miss Wonderly , later Leblanc and still later Brigid O'Shaughnessy what's in a name, a rose by any other name would be confusing , comes into his office.
Miss Won O'Shaughnessy, her name slips fr Sam Spade a cynical, tough yet honest San Francisco private eye is having a good day Miss Wonderly , later Leblanc and still later Brigid O'Shaughnessy what's in a name, a rose by any other name would be confusing , comes into his office.
O'Shaughnessy, her name slips from one to the other, no big deal this happens often in the sleazy business , recites a dubious story of a runaway younger sister accompanied by the mysterious Floyd Thursby.
Effie Perine his loyal secretary tells Sam, her "woman's intuition" says O'Shaugnessy is good, you can trust, not quite. Miles agrees to shadow Thursby; the couple has just arrived in town, it will be Archer's last assignment. He is soon found dead, in a dark lonely street And the culprit who killed him this butcher must be found quickly, a strange case to solve if possible, there are things which remain unknown, however afterwards Thursby is also rubbed out this occurs frequently in these type of books for obvious reasons.
Suspicion falls on Spade That's what two inflexible police detectives are investigating, the effeminate Joel Cairo comes to Sam 's office and tells him about the Maltese Falcon a priceless blackbird statuette, from the Middle Ages with a bloody past, numerous deaths induced by those wanting possession of the item. Joel offers him a lot of money for its recovery, a proposition the detective can't refuse.
Casper Gutman, for once a name which describes him perfectly the leader of a gang of greedy thieves with a small weight problem, is Cairo's secret boss. In addition there's the unimpressive Wilmer Cook the murderous kid gunman, he enjoys his vocation the weapon makes him feel big After La Paloma a ship from Hong Kong docks in San Francisco, Jacobi the captain goes to Sam's office an unusually busy place and expires on the floor, with four bullet holes in him the understandable reason.
But not before giving the shamus a package This superb mystery from long ago still brings in the readers and will always do that. View all 9 comments. Sam Spade's partner is murdered and Sam is determined to find his killer. But what does Miles Archer's murder have to do with the client he was working for or the mysterious Maltese Falcon?
Well, let's see The Maltese Falcon embodies a lot of what made pulp detective fiction great, leading to hordes of imitators. You've got the wise-cracking detective who has a way with the ladies, gunpl re-read You've got the wise-cracking detective who has a way with the ladies, gunplay, deceit, sex, and murder. Throw in an elusive macguffin and you have a blueprint a lot of writers have been following for over three quarters of a century. Sam Spade, that blonde Satan, is the father of many detectives that came him.
In fact, it would be interesting to see whether he or Raymond Chandler has more bastard detective descendents. The plot the Maltese Falcon is fairly simple. Somebody has the Maltese Falcon and everyone seems to think Sam Spade knows where it is.
Miles Archer's murder complicates things a bit but really isn't much more than a bump in the road until his killer is revealed. The bad guys and supporting cast are an interesting bunch. Brigid O'Shaughnessy lays the groundwork for a lot of femme fatales to come. When Spade returns to the office in the last scene, Effie does not greet him with her usual verve.
What has happened to the breezily affectionate bond between them? Will Effie forgive Spade, or do we not know enough about her to make predictions? Comparing Hammett, Chandler, and Thompson: 1. To what extent is this the result of their individual writing styles?
How important is setting in each of these novels? Although they were brilliant innovators and stylists, Hammett and Chandler were writing for a genre that dictated resolution of the plot. Thompson, on the other hand, in The Killer Inside Me creates a plot rife with ambiguity. Thompson inverts traditional crime fiction by writing from the viewpoint of the criminal instead of the detective.
In the novels of Hammett and Chandler, how different is the criminal from the detective? Where do Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe fall in their respective, or mutual, attitudes toward authority and law? Is Effie Perine the equivalent of Linda Loring? What do the differences in these characters tell you about the hard-boiled style?
About the authors? Chandler and Thompson write in the first person, and Hammett uses the third person in The Maltese Falcon.
How would each of these novels have been affected—for better or worse—if the voice had been reversed? Start earning points for buying books!
Uplift Native American Stories. Share: Share on Facebook. Add to Cart. We hope that it will provide you with new ways of looking at—and talking about—the nature of detective fiction, as well as give you insight into how the hard-boiled style of writing emerged in the genre; how the style was shaped by twentieth-century American culture and by the lives of the men who created it; and how this form of writing has subsequently affected the way we view ourselves as Americans.
Here he creates a new detective, Sam Spade. When the intriguing Miss Wonderly appears in his office and asks him to tail a fellow named Floyd Thursby, Spade puts his partner, Miles Archer, on the case. Spade relents, though not before extracting a hefty retainer—almost all her money. Then a "small-boned man" named Joel Cairo calls on Spade. Cairo makes the mistake of pulling a gun on Spade, who easily knocks him out.
The encounter leads the detective, all the while clumsily trailed by the young gunsel Wilmer, to the third main character, Casper Gutman.
The fat man reveals the value of the Maltese falcon, and the treasure hunt is on. This greedy and ruthless trio of characters bent on finding the statuette meet their match in Sam Spade. The plot, characters, and dialogue in The Maltese Falcon are perfectly controlled by Hammett, incorporating a vigor and style that became the paradigm for hard-boiled crime fiction.
Questions and Topics for Discussion 1. In , World War I interrupted his sleuthing, although he was discharged from the army in less than a year with tuberculosis. Settling in San Francisco, he resumed detective work, and began to write. In he sold his first story, to H. What pulls us into such capers? What sort of jeweled bird of a story are we after? Whatever our finished books prove to be in the end, they are different than we initially envisioned.
The black bird is many things, but it is not what we originally sought. Our dedication to the quasi-mythical object our novel-in-progress , the loneliness and discipline of the work, the darkness visited upon the writer in quiet moments of doubt, and the wonders that arise unpredictably, move us daily from the world we share with family and friends into our writing chairs.
Our fingers flash on the keyboard. It is never quite as we envisioned. In happy instances, the finished product exceeds in quality the original concept. A fine result but irrelevant to the fact that the finished book no longer belongs to the author. It is its own entity, to be adopted by readers who make it theirs for a short time before moving on.
Make no mistake.
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