it has no interiority whatsoever

Yes, you've got the right book in mind. Totally surprised me, when I read it. I would venture it's almost the sole source of suspense, not not-knowing how to get the falcon, but not-knowing how to feel about the viewpoint character.

I understand what Erika's about, too. When you compare Spade to Chandler's Philip Marlowe, you'll definitely like Marlowe more as a character. Because you can know him, and he's entertaining (and, rarely, moving), and because you can reasonably expect he's a right guy. Spade, you can't ever really be sure, and that's fascinating, but it's also very uncomfortable.

Spade, you can't ever really be sure, and that's fascinating, but it's also very uncomfortable.

True that. I spent most of my read of TMF really disliking Spade.

They didn't list Jack Vance's The Moon Moth, so I refuse to vote.

They didn't list Jack Vance's The Moon Moth, so I refuse to vote.

They had several Dying Earth stories, though.

Chandler is so not better than Hammett. He's more fun, but Hammet's flinty coldness is amazing.

I concur with this. I remember Wm. Gibson plumping for Hammett over Chandler too. I like Chandler - the similes, the snarky descriptions and snarky dialogue - all juicy fun. Hammett's very evocative but hard. It's especially notable with him when he backs off the hardness just a little - the effect is big. Like the famous last line of Red Harvest.

I was just thrilled that they included both Peter Beagle's "Come Lady Death" and the best of C.L. Moore's Jirel stories. There were enough really good stories I remember from my youth that LeGuin and Lovecraft didn't make the cut.

Heh. Since returning to Australia, my reading matter has been almost entirely Doctor Who novels. About thirty of them, I think.

No, really, I can quit anytime I want.

Hey, y'all, this week's This American Life has a segment at the Romance Writers of America conference.

I've been rereading all the Narnia books. Sometimes it nice to go back to the classics. Plus, how often do you get to read a seven-book series in a week?

I just started reading Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely, and it's so fun! I'm not sure this is the right word, but it feels baroque to me, the amount of time he takes with everything -- I mean, it took four pages to park and get out of the car, practically! So evocative and detailed. And it actually kind of reminds me of this Pelecanos I just read, Shoedog. The first forty pages just talk about the main character's life up until now -- little bits of him traveling the world, jobs he had, women he slept with. Totally unnecessary for the story per se, but just fabulous. It's not about any of Pelecanos's other characters, but someone does go by Derek Strange's office, and of course the "good guys" are big tippers. Good stuff.

Wrod.(Who knew shoe salesmen got so much play? What was wrong with Al Bundy then?) I kind of like following the same people, though.(And Strange and my mom? Same albums. So I can usually place the "jams"...I just bought "Soul Circus" and "Hard Revolution" this very morning...my Evil Corporate bookstore seems to prefer StrangeNQuinn to the Greeks.) "The Long Goodbye" was my favorite Chandler so far. His language is so beautiful. Fucked-up too. Jesse, have you read Lethem's "Motherless Brooklyn"? It's like Chandler meets Oliver Sacks. Very awesome. But somebody got to "crip noir" a little ahead of me.