Dashiell Hammett
Paperback | Pages: 201 pages Rating: 3.95 | 25898 Users | 1947 Reviews
Itemize Books To The Thin Man
| Original Title: | The Thin Man |
| ISBN: | 0679722637 (ISBN13: 9780679722632) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Nick Charles, Nora Charles |
| Setting: | New York State,1934(United States) |
Explanation Toward Books The Thin Man
We found a table. Nora said: "She's pretty." "If you like them like that." She grinned at me. "You got types?" "Only you, darling - lanky brunettes with wicked jaws." "And how about the red-head you wandered off with at Quinns' last night?" "That's silly," I said. "She just wanted to show me some French etchings.”
It is almost impossible for me to separate the book from the movies. When I decided to reread this classic that spawned six great movies, Nick Charles was of course William Powell, and Nora Charles was of course Myrna Loy. Those actors are forever Nick and Nora for me. The book is famous for the witty exchanges between Nora and Nick, but the book is somewhat overshadowed by the wonderful repartee between Powell and Loy over the course of the six movies. The scintillating, amusing conversations are punctuated by Loy’s uptilted nose and impish smile and Powell’s infectious grin as he takes pleasure in toying with his wife’s state of mind.
We must not forget the Charles’s dog Asta. ”That afternoon I took Asta for a walk, explained to two people that she was a Schnauzer and not a cross between a Scottie and an Irish terrier….” The dog, Skippy, who was cast in the movie was a Wire Fox Terrier. I have a six month old Scottish Terrier, whose name is Astra after the state motto of Kansas, ad astra per aspera. Astra in Latin means stars. For those who know us and how much we love The Thin Man movies, they always assume that it is also a nod to Asta...and they would be right. Asta doesn’t provide the comic relief in the book that he does in the movie, but he is a presence for most of the book. There are usually some light hearted moments with Asta in every movie where they are chasing him around the room trying to retrieve a vital clue from between his jaws or other scenes where he is just doing something terminally adorable that brings a bit more lightheartedness to the script.
Dashiell Hammett based the Charles’s off his own tempestuous on-again and off-again relationship with Lillian Hellman. From what I’ve read, he definitely must have focused on the sunnier side of the relationship because one of the most enjoyable things about this dynamic couple is their friendly, jocular interactions, highlighted with the rich overtones of how much they admire and like one another. Hellman and Hammett fought like Siamese Fighting Fish. The fights that Nick and Nora get into are playful, funny, and foreplay that provides Nick with an opportunity to grab Nora and plant a kiss on her that will shake her fillings.
There really aren’t a lot of happy married couples in noir literature. Hardboiled mystery writers seem to focus on characters as singular individuals. They are usually divorced or single, and if they are married, they certainly aren’t happily married. Nick and Nora are best together, and as the investigation in the story moves forward, they seem a bit unmoored when they are apart. They drink heavily, mirroring the Hellman and Hammett relationship in that aspect.
”She sat on the sofa beside me. ‘Now out with it. If you skip a single word, I’ll---’
‘I’d have to have a drink before I could do any talking.’
She cursed me and brought me a drink.”
Nick doesn’t want to investigate crime. He is perfectly happy spending his days drinking martinis and looking after Nora’s money, but Nora is obsessed with his previous life as a private investigator and certainly has a rosy, unrealistic view of the profession. So the way the stories go in the book and the movies is that invariably Nora drags Nick into an investigation. He reluctantly agrees to see what he can do, which is to cleverly solve the crime and wrap up the criminals for the bungling cops to haul off to jail. In this book, he is investigating the murder of a mistress of the mad scientist Clyde Wynant, and in the course of his investigation, he and Nora have to contend with the whole Wynant clan, each as loony as the next. The ex-wife Mimi is a real piece of work, a combination of curves and cunning. She tries to use both assets on Nick, and needless to say, things get out of hand.
”’Tell me something, Nick. Tell me the truth: when you were wrestling with Mimi, didn’t you have an erection?’
‘Oh, a little.’
She laughed and got up from the floor. ‘If you aren’t a disgusting old lecher,’ she said.”
Did she just say erection? My, my goodness sakes, Nora. Do you kiss Nick with that mouth? Why yes, she does.
If you take a drink every time Nick orders an alcoholic beverage, you will be plowed by the time you get 30 pages into the book or thirty minutes into the movie. The heavy drinking in this book and the movies might be more than a hint to Dashiell Hammett’s own struggle with alcohol. It might also be the key to why he stuck with Hellman so long. She was a heavy drinker too, and as happens sometimes, couples bond over drinking. Their drinking escalates with dual encouragement, and they become caught in a cycle of maladaptive drinking. I certainly can feel jealous of Nick and Nora’s lifestyle. They can leave a city at the drop of the hat and go to any other city in the world. Money is not an issue, and time is something they have in abundance. They are about as free as two people can ever hope to be. Oh, and they are hopelessly, head over heels in love with one another. Freedom, plenty of money, and someone who loves us, what more could anyone wish for? I highly recommend the book and the movies paired with a few vodka martinis shaken not stirred.
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I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeetenDetails Containing Books The Thin Man
| Title | : | The Thin Man |
| Author | : | Dashiell Hammett |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 201 pages |
| Published | : | July 17th 1989 by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard (first published 1934) |
| Categories | : | Mystery. Fiction. Classics. Crime. Noir |
Rating Containing Books The Thin Man
Ratings: 3.95 From 25898 Users | 1947 ReviewsDiscuss Containing Books The Thin Man
The Thin Man is a (sort of) noir comic by one of the greats of noir crime history, Dashiell Hammett, who is best known for creating Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon. But The Thin Man was also a well known and much read series, and maybe still is. This one features the lush drinking duo Nick and Nora Charles and opens very much like a screwball comedy. The movie version is a classic, and maybe better than the book in some ways. Nora: "How do you feel?" Nick: "Terrible. I must've gone to bed sober.In Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man, the relationship of Nick Charles and his wife Nora makes this stand out from other traditional noire-detective novels. While Nick has many of the same Sam Spadish qualities as other detectives in the genre, he actually listens to and values the opinion of his wife (even if his language is sometimes patronizing). Their banter also shows the tough guy personae on display when he interrogates suspects is not how he really lives, but how he does his job. I'm not
Captain Renault : What in heavens name brought you to Casablanca?Rick : My health I came to Casablanca for the waters.Captain Renault : Waters? What waters? Were in the desert.Rick : I was misinformed.*Thinking Dashiell Hammett would be the go-to guy now that I have run out of Chandlers, I thought : lets read the very famous The Thin Man. The movie is great, what could possibly go wrong?*Well, for starters, Chandlers prose is graced with genius where Hammetts prose is graced with deadlines. *
I cant believe its been two years since I read Chandlers The Big Sleep which I really enjoyed. I was expecting something similar but of course The Thin Man is its own creation with marvellous, witty dialogue between husband and wife, Nick and Nora Charles. I love the dryness of Nick:Do you suppose he killed her? Nora asked when I put the paper down again.Wynant? I wouldnt be surprised. Hes batty as hell.Did you know her?Yes. How about a drop of something to cut the phlegm?What was she like?Not
My favorite Hammett book. Written with the same economical and sparse style of his other novels, the tone couldn't be more different. Nick & Nora Charles are fun characters who come off much more 3 dimensional - as opposed to archetypcal - than either Sam Spade or the Continental Op. Plot is almost a secondary concern here which is rare for a mystery. Instead the almost constant drinking and flirting the two main characters engage in (with each other and whomever else is around) get top
Honestly? I think the awesomeness of Nick and Nora Charles got built up a little too much for me before I read this, because I was expecting 200 pages of nonstop witty banter between the two, and was mildly disappointed. Sure, Nick is funny in a dry sarcastic way, and Nora is the sassy drunken aunt you never knew you always wanted, but their banter and witticisms only caused the occasional chuckle. But lucky for me, the book has a lot more going for it than just the banter. It's a fun, classic
If I weren't the mean teacher I am I'd cut Hammett slack and round up to four stars because this---the last of his novels---is a solid 3-1/2. And that's only because it pales in comparison to every one of his other novels except THE DAIN CURSE, which is the true 3-star. The main knock on THIN is that Hammett was pretty much bored with fiction by this point in his career, having lost his bearings to booze, broads, and just about any other indulgence that began with a B except Billy Barty (too
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