Sam Spade, a hard-driving detective in San Francisco in the late 1920’s, is approached by a beautiful young woman, appearing deathly afraid of men pursuing her. She begged for either Sam or his associate to shadow her, and within hours Sam’s associate was murdered. Thus begins Sam’s journey through a maze of shady characters, suspicious dealings and double crossings, all over a valuable statuette.
This novel, made into a well-known movie with Humphrey Bogart, was likely considered good in its time, but has not aged well. The careless treatment of the women and the stereotypical homophobic comments by the obnoxiously “macho” men in the story were impossible to dismiss. Moreover, the story itself was as melodromatic and corny as they come.
I often like to include some of the older classics in my reading – just wondering how this rose to being considered among those!
kindread spirits 