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Read Woman In The Dark (1989)

Woman in the Dark (1989)

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Rating
3.03 of 5 Votes: 6
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ISBN
0679722653 (ISBN13: 9780679722656)
Language
English
Publisher
vintage

Woman In The Dark (1989) - Plot & Excerpts

I actually had never heard of this "novel" until I saw it at the library while contemplating whether or not to grab "The Big Knockover". A tiny little book with the words "A Novel" on the cover. I am pretty sure there is no way this qualifies as a novel. It is about 76 pages which makes it something in the neighborhood of 25,000 words.This...story was first published in installments in a pulp magazine in 1933. The next novel Hammett published was "The Thin Man" and he never published another novel after that, to the detriment of us all.This is a bit of a thin story. There's not much going on and certainly not the twisty plots Hammett is known for. The dialog sparkles, as always, with lots of 30's slang and humorous bon mots. The protagonist, "Brazil" (not the country) is a nice character but a familiar one. The people with money are corrupt and corrupting, the cops are as callous as ever and the system is stacked against our hero Brazil, as usual. The book ends on a more hopeful note than I would have expected, but is a touch ambiguous I suppose. I am a Hammett fanboy so I suppose I am rating this book higher than I would have if I had not thought I had already read all the Hammett there was to read. This isn't his greatest by any stretch but it is Hammett and it is pretty good. This one is for completists. I would point those curious about the great Dashiell Hammett to "Red Harvest", which has always been my favorite. 4/5

I find it baffling when a book has an introduction that makes said book sound mediocre. "Here's a book by Hammett," Parker seems to say in the introduction here. "It's not his best, but it's not his worst. It's okay. Meh." Such true-minded introductions are certainly all fine and good, but I wish they came after the book so the reader doesn't go into it thinking, What's the point?And you know what? Parker is right about this book. It's short and breezy and fast paced but ultimately hits a brick wall of inadequacy in the last 2 pages. There's a fun sort of fast-paceness and time incongruity in the first section that reminds me of that one extended long and dramatic opening to the western Johnny Guitar, but as things get settled and the story enters a sort of fugitive procedural and the pages start thinning out and things are explained and we know who everybody is you can sort of tell there's not enough pages left to lead to a proper and satisfying conclusion and Hammett picked up his check and left the whole thing sort of hanging.Fun fact: I imagined main character Brazil as being played by world-weary John Belushi

What do You think about Woman In The Dark (1989)?

WOMAN IN THE DARK. (1933). Dashiell Hammett. **.Although written and published in three consecutive issues of a pulp magazine, this novella was later published in hard cover by Knopf. This edition also contains an appreciation by Robert Parker – an appreciation I think he had a hard time coming up with. The story indeed should have been published in a pulp format. The plot was simplistic, and the motivations of the characters were at a primal level. It is essentially the story of a woman who was turned into a white slave by a wealthy businessman in America after he met her in Europe. Sje was then rescued from her plight by the hero, Brazil. Hammett attempted to gtive the story some meat by infusing Brazil with a miscellany of traits, but those couldn’t carry the whole story. Anyway, it is a good example of Hammett’s early writing attempts, probably of interest mainly to Hammettophiles.
—Tony

John Bradbury (Ralph Bellamy) has just been released from prison for manslaughter while in a fit of rage. He moves into a cabin away from society to prevent a situation where his temper could, once again, get the best of him. One night a beautiful woman (Fay Wray) runs through the woods to his cabin seeking refuge from her lover (Melvyn Douglas). Jealousy, arguments, a shot...and then a punch is thrown, and once again Bradbury is in jeopardy, much to the town's satisfaction.In pre-code days, it is fun to see what the writer and film studio could get away with. The long gown strap casually falling off Wray's shoulder at the most opportune times, the smoldering sexual inuendo between Bellamy and Wray, and the verbage (Do you want me to turn my back while you dress?) may be mild today, but it is noteworthy for that era.Even though the film was made on "poverty-row" in New York at Biograph Studios, the three stars and story by Dashiell Hammett make it worth your time.Recommended
—none

Perhaps it's the passage of time, some of the colloquialisms were so outdated that I couldn't readily understand them. Or perhaps this one isn't the finest example of Hammett's work, but this book failed to connect on many levels for me. In these 75 pages, Hammett manages to convey the most basic character development. Motivations are clear and easy to grasp, but I can see why this was the only "Dangerous Romance" he ever tried writing. Hammett fans probably loved it. As a fan of his screenplays, I feel unfulfilled by this effort.Is there another Dashiell Hammett out there I plan to read, who knows? I wasn't exactly planning to read this one.
—Kia

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