Red Harvest

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett (1929) This is a crazy book—tremendously influential on other books and movies. Miller’s Crossing is the one that really comes to mind, though I think they borrowed even more from Hammett’s The Glass Key—which I still haven’t read but will soon. I saw a notice that someone is working on a film version of this book—so I’m looking forward to that and hope it’s good. I had read Continental Op stories, years ago, but no Dashiell Hammett since then, for some reason. The first-person main character here is the Continental Op (who is never named, I don’t think, otherwise)—and he is not a good person, but he’s smart, effective, pretty fearless, and funny—dry sense of humor. Kind of despicable and admirable at the same time—at least you relate to him, even if you don’t always approve. His job here is taking on a wee bit of corruption in a town called Personville (affectionally known as “Poisonville”)—ha! He lies, manipulates, is ruthless and coldblooded—but he’s up against people worse than he is. A great cast of characters—the money-grubbing Dinah Brand is the best—I actually got to like and care about her. Dan Rolff the “lunger,” “Whisper,” Lew Yard, MacSwain, and Charles Procter Dawn—ha, that guy! I feel like I’m talking about colorful nuts at a drunken party. Most vivid of all was Noonan, the police chief, just the sleaziest. My favorite is the Op, himself—because you kind of hate him as much as admire him. My reaction is like Eddie Dane’s in Miller’s Crossing (sorry to come back to that again)—“Up is down, black is white.” It’s an easy book to read, and worth a re-read, or several. Lots of great dialogue and slang of the time, yet the story feels totally contemporary.

7.11.24