tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post6759064139371139121..comments2024-03-25T10:29:21.161-07:00Comments on Total Dick-Head: It's Not You, It's MeRagle Gummhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13951340313214410331noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-314165319648600032010-04-13T16:49:14.391-07:002010-04-13T16:49:14.391-07:00Tony Libido: The perfect starting point for Hammet...Tony Libido: The perfect starting point for Hammett is his first novel, "Red Harvest." It has the most perfect opening paragraph of any noir novel I've read, and goes on to establish its setting and viewpoint character with utterly ruthless economy. <br /><br />Dave: Congratulations on your new arrival. As much as we both admire Hammett and Gibson (and PKD), I think the better comparison with Gibson would be Raymond Chandler. There's a vein of wounded romanticism running through "Neuromancer" that's a lot closer to "The Big Sleep" and "Farewell My Lovely" than anything in Hammett's slender portfolio.Steven Harthttp://www.stevenhartsite.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-63446222366878511772010-04-06T10:29:57.035-07:002010-04-06T10:29:57.035-07:00@ pete: totally! pull that off the back of the toi...@ pete: totally! pull that off the back of the toilet and give it a shot. i think it was a new direction for specfic, scifi etc. and there are some really great parts in that book that stay with you. the whole space dub description in orbit is still stamped on my memory. his later stuff is even better imo. it has a lot more little details about social otaku and less romantic treatment with said obsessions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-1615522106294707152010-03-18T09:52:38.191-07:002010-03-18T09:52:38.191-07:00Hammet is a great writer, too -- it's a sin to...Hammet is a great writer, too -- it's a sin to stick authors into genres and ban them from the mainstreamtuffy777https://www.blogger.com/profile/06169895128599237020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-68977681760352100252010-03-18T00:51:02.182-07:002010-03-18T00:51:02.182-07:00OK, I admit, my joking suggestion that you start a...OK, I admit, my joking suggestion that you start a "Total Hammet Head" blog was written before I'd read your whole post, indeed before having even read the next sentence (wherein you jokingly disavow such a possibility)... I commented impulsively and prematurely because I was so excited that you were also somehow trailing from Philip K. Dick to Dasheill Hammet, just as I was (plus I was checking my computer between two classes, too)... But there are indeed fruitful cross pollinations to be plumbed, and not in some stupid "genre studies" kind of way...<br /><br />As for William Gibson, I have owned a copy of Neuromancer for several years. For some reason it lives atop my toilet (a forgotten late night impulse, I imagine...) Perhaps I should rescue it from its cogent but disgraceful perch and read it soon.petenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-64329572455491036842010-03-17T19:05:51.033-07:002010-03-17T19:05:51.033-07:00That's hilarious TDH, I've just started on...That's hilarious TDH, I've just started on a hardcore Hammet kick myself! (And I swear I'm not being facetious this time...) I read "The Thin Man," about a month ago and it set me off... Probably gonna read all of him (not so prolific unfortunately.)<br /><br />How about another blog called "Total Hammet Head!"petenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-42163660781797452742010-03-17T18:07:02.575-07:002010-03-17T18:07:02.575-07:00Gibson's "Neuromancer" is a fantasti...Gibson's "Neuromancer" is a fantastic book.ct-scanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09415165623335167516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-10070294389115036912010-03-17T15:28:02.969-07:002010-03-17T15:28:02.969-07:00I've been waiting, patiently or other wise. ...I've been waiting, patiently or other wise. <br />Wm Gibson is a great writer!tuffy777https://www.blogger.com/profile/06169895128599237020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-34248067374624380212010-03-17T06:55:41.697-07:002010-03-17T06:55:41.697-07:00Hmm, yet to read any Gibson-I'm just a bit put...Hmm, yet to read any Gibson-I'm just a bit put off by cyberpunk-its too 'now' for me, not exciting enough a concept(altho it certainly would have been back in the 80s!)<br />Good luck with the kids-they certainly tie up your time!LarryShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17723096857163954170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-26133560549850685602010-03-16T20:20:57.121-07:002010-03-16T20:20:57.121-07:00great post as ever Dave. don't worry, your rea...great post as ever Dave. don't worry, your readers understand about the responsibilities of kids and detective stories. the comparison of noir to PKD's darker "proto-cyberpunk" stuff is an interesting one. I don't find Dick's prose to be all that hardboiled, except maybe his "paranoid criticism" is "hardboiled" in some sense.Mr. Handhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00308380761257083577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-61513016640715469352010-03-16T19:43:55.011-07:002010-03-16T19:43:55.011-07:00Congrats on the kiddage.Congrats on the kiddage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-84784874030763416302010-03-16T19:24:43.970-07:002010-03-16T19:24:43.970-07:00Remember that in the intro to PKD's letters fo...Remember that in the intro to PKD's letters for the year 1974, William Gibson recalls how PKD swept through the Vancouver sf community at the start of his writing career. And how it affected him ("the product of one single soul's passage through savagely lonely country" he describes the letters.)<br /><br />Elsewhere Gibson has explained that he got the idea for cyberspace (a term he coined, though not the concept)watching a kid play video games in the arcade, completely plugged in and unaware of his physical surroundings.ubikcanhttp://ubikcan.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-64984916354595421862010-03-16T19:08:50.590-07:002010-03-16T19:08:50.590-07:00Tony,
That's an easy one: The Maltese Falcon....Tony, <br />That's an easy one: The Maltese Falcon.Ragle Gummhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13951340313214410331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184123882936370131.post-15608179650126460792010-03-16T17:57:11.261-07:002010-03-16T17:57:11.261-07:00Signal received.
What's a good starting book ...Signal received.<br /><br />What's a good starting book for reading Hammett?tony libidohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14501184367189462143noreply@blogger.com