Forum Overview :: Dead Trees :: Been reading the Novels of Dashiell Hammett, lately

[quote name="Mischief Maker"]Fun fact about Hammett's books, and the "hard boiled detective" genre: Most copycats feature a hard-drinking private eye as the protagonist, even if it's set in present day. Those copycats are missing the point entirely. Hammett was a member of the communist party and his books often have an anti-authoritarian subversive bent that is lost on the modern reader. To whit: Hammett wrote his books during Prohibition. When Sam Spade shares a drink with the cops who just told him he's a murder suspect and says "success to crime" as his toast, or when the Continental Op wants to buy some booze and he goes to the police to hook him up, it's equivalent to a private eye in modern times passing a joint with on-duty cops. Arguably, "The Big Lebowski" is one of the most faithful adaptations of Hammett's work, at least in the subversive facet.[/quote]