The best crime/mystery novel of the Twentieth Century

[crisp]

It is a great box but it often sells for much less than that on Amazon. If you can, bide your time.

[johnlitweiler]

One of the things I like most about "The Long Goodbye" is that in it Chandler more or less painfully confronted many of those "unpleasant personal quirks," if I understand what you mean by that (e.g. the character's implicit prissiness?). In any case, the Marlowe of that book is a Marlowe who has absorbed all the experiences of the previous books, like an aging boxer who has taken too many punches.

[Larry Kart]

Nobody's Angel by Jack Clark not only has the immediacy and tension of Chandler and Hammett, it gives a terrific sense of the smells and feels and sights of Chicago. (Not to be confused with Nobody's Angel by Thomas McGuane, a much inferior book.) Clark is quite a writer. He's a 21-century writer. His other noir novel is Westerfield's Chain and is almost as good - presently out of print, but I bought a copy from Clark's web site.

You're right on about Clark's "Nobody's Angel" and "Westerfield's Chain." About the meticulous but unfussy sense of Chicago reality, while I was reading "Nobody's Angel" I happened to drive by one of its key locations, a 24-hour convenience store on Ridge Ave. on the North Side where cab drivers often congregate late at night. Gave me a bit of a jolt to realize that that was the place I'd been reading about.

About the Marlowe of "The Long Goodbye" not always having learned from his prior battles, probably I should read the book again, but I recall that as something of a positive. A Marlowe who knows himself too well might not be able to function at all. Also, his whole involvement with Terry Lennox is more than a little strange, as is his eventual connection with the heiress he will marry in "Playback." Perhaps it's the impossibility of the earlier incarnations of Marlowe breathing the air of the post-war world of "The Long Goodbye" that is one of the book's subjects.

I agree about the chapters at the hack writer's residence. Self-flagellation?

[BillF]

Don't miss A Coffin for Dimitrios (The Mask of Dimitrios) and Journey into Fear by Eric Ambler.

I just purchased a 60s copy of Journey into Fear at a library book sale. I've found it a little dry at the beginning, but I think that it has potential and I plan on finishing it. I love the cover of this particular edition, which seems to have been abandoned in favor of less striking artwork:

Like both those Amblers, but my favourite is The Light of Day, which reads like a Hitchcock movie!

[BruceH]

What's cool about Maltese Falcon is that so much of the film (including much of the dialogue) is lifted directly from the novel.

Indeed.

[jazzbo]

What's cool about Maltese Falcon is that so much of the film (including much of the dialogue) is lifted directly from the novel.

Indeed.

One of the movies I've seen most like that is "The Grifters", not just dialog but even other passages directly from Jim Thompson's novel.

[Christiern]

I am still surprised that nobody here seems to have read or heard of my favorite childhood mystery writer, Edgar Wallace. He was so prolific that when he told a caller, "I'm working on a novel," the caller replied, "Go ahead, I'll wait,"

Probably not a true story, but he did churn out text, mysteries only being a part of it, as well as the original "King Kong" script. As a kid, I was intrigued by his settings, which tended to include dark docks in London's Limehouse district, complete with up-to-no-good Chinese crooks.

[mikeweil]

Re: Edgar Wallace - I even had one of his novels in English, but was spoiled by the rather bland films made for German TV after his novels, which lacked the subtlety of Chandler's or Hammet's.

[mjazzg]

What's cool about Maltese Falcon is that so much of the film (including much of the dialogue) is lifted directly from the novel.

Indeed.

One of the movies I've seen most like that is "The Grifters", not just dialog but even other passages directly from Jim Thompson's novel.

Coincidentally only just read the Grifters having seen the film years ago. Thoroughly enjoyed it and as my first Thompson I know I'll be back for more.

This is a great thread - my 'to read' list is going through the roof Particularly like the sound of Nobody's Angels

Someone not mentioned yet is Richard Price. Clockers really made me sit up and notice and i also enjoyed Samaritan

Edit to add: What about Walter Mosley? Loved the Easy Rawlins series

Edited June 30, 2011 by mjazzg