Ned Beaumont, right hand man of corrupt kingmaker Paul Madvig, discovers
the body of a senator’s son. Paul was backing the senator and loved his
daughter, but there becomes reason to believe that he may have killed
the son. At first using the death to avenge himself against a bookie who
skipped town, Ned then gets truly embroiled in finding the truth,
especially after Paul’s rival captures and beats Ned for information
about the murder.
This thriller doesn’t have the long line of dead men that The Dain Curse
does – only five, if I’m counting correctly – but it’s just as tough
and gritty in tone. Ned moves through the city like a force of nature,
drinking heavily, finally breaking with his long-time friend Paul for no
other reason that, like seemingly all of Hammett’s heroes, he cannot
stand being used as he uses others, or talked to as he talks to others. A
tough guy, who attracts Paul’s girl by being indifferent and
inscrutable and tough. The characterization probably counts more than
plot here.
Monday, July 20, 2009
The Glass Key
by Dashiell Hammett
1931
Friday, July 17, 2009
A High Wind In Jamaica
by Richard Hughes
1929
Five English children, born in Jamaica, are sent by ship to England when their house is leveled by a storm. On the voyage, their ship is attacked by less than bloodthirsty pirates. Reported dead by the lying ship’s captain, the children actually become sort of pets among the not very active pirates. Though horrible things happen – the eldest boy dies in a fall, a female cousin of thirteen is apparently taken as a mistress by the mate, and Emily, the ten year old main character, kills a prisoner in blind panic – the prose is mostly dreamlike, dark and yet almost screwball in its comedy (the pirate captain is an ineffectual figure, full of rage and bluster).
Hughes makes much of the difference between children’s minds and the adult mind, likening babies to insects and children to insane humans. It’s far less a ripping yarn than an extraordinary reckoning with the secret reasons and otherworldly realities of childhood. Hughes is quite perspicacious in his depiction of the way the children accept changes on faith, don't think too deeply about some matters, accept the word of authority figures even if it belies their won experiences, and fall into affection easily. But in other things he’s possibly off the mark; for example he has the children utterly unaware of danger, either during the storm or being shot at or being put in the hold – a total blitheness that’s certainly not likely. It’s a book that swerves from philosophical rumination to adventure to silliness to danger to its chilling finale. The book leaves the reader with some unanswered implications – is Emily just a regular child with a regular child’s amorality, or did she become corrupt, and can she become an innocent again? – and that makes it a better read.
1929
Five English children, born in Jamaica, are sent by ship to England when their house is leveled by a storm. On the voyage, their ship is attacked by less than bloodthirsty pirates. Reported dead by the lying ship’s captain, the children actually become sort of pets among the not very active pirates. Though horrible things happen – the eldest boy dies in a fall, a female cousin of thirteen is apparently taken as a mistress by the mate, and Emily, the ten year old main character, kills a prisoner in blind panic – the prose is mostly dreamlike, dark and yet almost screwball in its comedy (the pirate captain is an ineffectual figure, full of rage and bluster).
Hughes makes much of the difference between children’s minds and the adult mind, likening babies to insects and children to insane humans. It’s far less a ripping yarn than an extraordinary reckoning with the secret reasons and otherworldly realities of childhood. Hughes is quite perspicacious in his depiction of the way the children accept changes on faith, don't think too deeply about some matters, accept the word of authority figures even if it belies their won experiences, and fall into affection easily. But in other things he’s possibly off the mark; for example he has the children utterly unaware of danger, either during the storm or being shot at or being put in the hold – a total blitheness that’s certainly not likely. It’s a book that swerves from philosophical rumination to adventure to silliness to danger to its chilling finale. The book leaves the reader with some unanswered implications – is Emily just a regular child with a regular child’s amorality, or did she become corrupt, and can she become an innocent again? – and that makes it a better read.
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