The Big Book of the Continental Op Dashiell Hammett Edited by Richard Layman Julie M. Rivett
Пікірлер: 32
@art.and.lit.matters Жыл бұрын
Hi Michael, You do a wonderful job of bringing the Continental Op alive as a character. That "Black Mask" cover with "Poisonville" and a pre-Mason Erle Stanley Gardner story at (6:30) is fabulous. Reading the stories as they appeared in the 1920s adds such a fascinating "time-capsule" dimension to the stories. I've loved "Red Harvest" as a novel for decades but reading it in its original "Black Mask" installments is thrilling. "The Scorched Face" which appeared in the May 1925 issue of "Black Mask" is one of my favorite short stories ever. I love how the stories, first appearing in a pulp, wound up influencing almost all the detective fiction that came after and had a huge impact on other genres as well. Pulp becomes "literature" is a fun trajectory. Nicely done Michael.
@michaelk.vaughan8617 Жыл бұрын
Thanks Thomas!
@timmeyer9191 Жыл бұрын
Hammett is one of my favorite authors. I've read Red Harvest, and it is one of the best things I've seen put to paper.
@kenward1310 Жыл бұрын
I have Red Harvest on my nightstand, and I'm looking forward to reading it.
@saintdonoghue Жыл бұрын
How I wish “The Big Book of the Continental Op” had used pretty much ANY of those old Dell covers instead of the boring one the editors chose for this book!
@michaelk.vaughan8617 Жыл бұрын
That cover photo is about as dull as they come.
@laurels7892 Жыл бұрын
I am currently reading The Casebook of Stanley Zoom from that same era.
@AndrewBuckleBookReviews Жыл бұрын
A superb book !! Wonderful video as ever.
@michaelk.vaughan8617 Жыл бұрын
Thanks Andrew!
@paulmonahawk4921 Жыл бұрын
Fascinating great video michael 👍
@michaelk.vaughan8617 Жыл бұрын
Thanks Paul!
@jeremyfee Жыл бұрын
I love how, in my own life, I knew of the Pinkerton Detective Agency through westerns, novels and films, before I got around to reading Dashiell Hammett's work. I was impressed when I found out he was inspired by his own work as a detective, though that makes some of his own stories and novels all the more bizarre when you realize he may have actually investigated scenarios like those (weird cults and such), or knew other people who had done that. Side note, I had thought my total number of "books by Dashiell Hammett" would be stuck at 5, but if I read this collection, I suppose that would bring it up to 6.
@evanames5940 Жыл бұрын
Another must read. I actually read the Dane Curse, but not the other stories. Good Video.
@michaelk.vaughan8617 Жыл бұрын
Thanks Evan!
@Kikilang60 Жыл бұрын
Thanks. Have to seriously look into this.
@CriminOllyBlog Жыл бұрын
Great review! I’m looking forward to reading this soon!
@michaelk.vaughan8617 Жыл бұрын
It’s great. It starts of good and gets better as it goes on.
@DoUnicornsRead Жыл бұрын
Wonderful video bringing some rather underrated stories to life! Also, great edition of the Continental Op. I've only read a selection if the stories because that was the only edition I could get at the time with just a few of the stories. Hope the fencing went well.
@michaelk.vaughan8617 Жыл бұрын
I need to back up and do even more fencing!
@BookishChas Жыл бұрын
This character sounds really fascinating!
@michaelk.vaughan8617 Жыл бұрын
He is.
@danielmarlett1421 Жыл бұрын
I grabbed the collection recently because you were seductively waving it around and I had to have it. I can't wait to dive in but it will likely have to wait until next year.
@denisadellinger4543 Жыл бұрын
This guy sounds like the archetype for every other spy detective story, movie that has been written. It sounds like Dashell Hammet was ahead of his time. I think that the early writers of mystery, crime and detective works are the ones who have the influence. The continental op sounds like a crime solver that has moved into the more modern times. not quite what we have today with the technical and medical capabilities but the grit and grime detective. I was rapt up in your retelling just as I always am. I need to go back and watch the movies that were adapted from his stories.
@art.and.lit.matters Жыл бұрын
"Archetype" is the perfect word for the Continental Op. Those stories appearing in "Black Mask" in the twenties permanently transformed detective fiction and also had a huge impact on non detective writing. "The Scorched Face" is almost a hundred years old and yet has an urgently contemporary feel. Great comment.
@bard5865 Жыл бұрын
Mr. Vaughan, I love these big books series which you are doing. I was wondering if there was a big book for fantasy or science fiction stories?
@michaelk.vaughan8617 Жыл бұрын
Yes, both edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Ann Vandermeer.
@freelivefree7221 Жыл бұрын
As you said The Continental Op is essential. Mystery fiction would look a whole lot different with out him. Joe Gores is another detective novelist who was a detective. His Dan Kearney and Associates stories were based on his employment at a detective agency/repo agency combination. One of the stories actually crossover with the Op.
@michaelk.vaughan8617 Жыл бұрын
Thanks for letting me know about Joe Gores!
@drumbaugh7444 Жыл бұрын
Makes me want to light up a Fatima.
@DDB168 Жыл бұрын
Short and fat, he clearly wasn't thinking of the tv and movie rights 😉