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The Thin Man

3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 · rating details · 11,215 ratings · 806 reviews

Nick and Nora Charles are Hammett's most enchanting creations, a rich, glamorous couple who solve homicides in between wisecracks and martinis. At once knowing and unabashedly romantic, The Thin Man is a murder mystery that doubles as a sophisticated comedy of manners.

Paperback, 201 pages

Published July 17th 1989 by Vintage (first published 1932)

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Jan 14, 2011 Madeline rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: detective-fiction, the-list, the-movie-is-better

Honestly? I think the awesomeness of Nick and Nora Charles got built up a little too much for me before I read this, because I was expecting 200 pages of nonstop witty banter between the two, and was mildly disappointed. Sure, Nick is funny in a dry sarcastic way, and Nora is the sassy drunken aunt you never knew you always wanted, but their banter and witticisms only caused the occasional chuckle.

But lucky for me, the book has a lot more going for it than just the banter. It's a fun, classic 3...more Honestly? I think the awesomeness of Nick and Nora Charles got built up a little too much for me before I read this, because I was expecting 200 pages of nonstop witty banter between the two, and was mildly disappointed. Sure, Nick is funny in a dry sarcastic way, and Nora is the sassy drunken aunt you never knew you always wanted, but their banter and witticisms only caused the occasional chuckle.

But lucky for me, the book has a lot more going for it than just the banter. It's a fun, classic 30's mystery full of crazy dames and shooting and goons and coppers, and the characters drink so much it made my liver hurt just reading about it. Like The Maltese Falcon, it got to a point where I had to just accept that I had no idea what any of the characters were talking about and try to go with the flow until someone explained everything at the end. They mystery itself (it includes a string of murders and a suspiciously-absent man) was engrossing, although I guessed the big twist a few pages before it happened.

Having looked up the movie version of The Thin Man on IMDB, I've added it to my Netflix queue and intend to make a comparison as soon as possible - if the IMDB quotes are any indication, the movie version looks much funnier than the book. Stand by for further information as soon as I watch it.

PS: I just noticed one of the options at the bottom of the review box, next to the spoiler button - "Does this book follow a few characters or many?" Who the fuck cares, Goodreads? If I think it's that important, I'll mention it in the actual review. Jesus.

UPDATE, AFTER WATCHING THE FILM VERSION: I'm now putting this on my "The Movie Is Better" shelf, because as I predicted, the movie is much funnier. William Powell and Myrna Loy are darling as Nick and Nora, Mimi is appropriately crazy (although in the movie there's never any doubt about whether she killed Julia, because we actually see her find the body), Gilbert is adorable, and Nora has an absolutely fabulous collection of outfits. Watch the movie, and read the book only if you're really curious about the little changes they made in the screenplay. (less)

15 likes · like · see review

Sep 10, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Okay...if you're into "hard-boiled" detective fiction or mystery fiction I'm sure you'd rate this book higher. Maybe for me it would even be a 3.5 if I could go there.

The dialogue held me here, the by play and banter between Nick, Nora, and then the entire cast of characters. It was well written and well characterized. I suppose it was also well plotted only, I just don't seem to be a mystery fan. I had to keep dragging my interest back to the book. Maybe the fact that I loved the movie and ther...more

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Feb 04, 2011 Sandy Tjan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, ebook, hardboiled, mystery-thriller

What I learned from this book (in no particular order):

1. A speakeasy is the proper place for a man to wait for his wife to finish her shopping.

2. A Schnauzer is NOT a cross between a Scottie and an Irish terrier.

3. “I hit Nora with my left hand, knocking her down across the room.” If a bad guy points a gun at you and your wife, the standard operating procedure is to knock her out to prevent her from becoming hysterical over such a potentially distressing situation.

4. Women do not really mind b...more

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Jul 20, 2011 Almeta rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Almeta by: MTgroup read

Shelves: mysterious, serial, boxall1001, my-best

I inherited Dashiell Hammett: Five Complete Novels: Red Harvest, The Dain Curse, The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key, The Thin Man. I have not read it, and it is packed away somewhere. I HAVE to dig it out!

When it came to reading The Thin Man, I borrowed from the library. I have a....well...not really a phobia...but let's say an acute awareness of the mulitudes of hands that may have touched a library book. It comes to the forefront when I turn a page and find an unidentifiable chunk stuck to the...more

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Sep 28, 2008 Nicholas Karpuk rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Hooligans!

Recommended to Nicholas by: Wikipedia

I wasn't aware of this previously, but apparently you just gotta slap a dame when they get hysterical. The things you learn when you read hard-boiled fiction.

"The Thin Man" was read as an attempt to get into the mindset of noir, since a friend of mine is asking me to write him a script in the style. It's one of my first encounters with crime fiction from that era, and I came away generally amused.

Nick Charles is on vacation with his wife Nora. He doesn't want to solve a mystery. He wants to drin...more I wasn't aware of this previously, but apparently you just gotta slap a dame when they get hysterical. The things you learn when you read hard-boiled fiction.

"The Thin Man" was read as an attempt to get into the mindset of noir, since a friend of mine is asking me to write him a script in the style. It's one of my first encounters with crime fiction from that era, and I came away generally amused.

Nick Charles is on vacation with his wife Nora. He doesn't want to solve a mystery. He wants to drink, and have fun, and quite specifically not get answers. The trouble is that people he's acquainted with keep showing up, because apparently he's the right man for the job when a woman shows up dead.

Dashiel Hammet is a good man to read if you want to study fun dialogue. Nick and Nora engage in the sort of banter that we normal people wish we were having. His stalwart refusal to tell anyone exactly what he may or may not know leads to lots of enjoyable circuitous dialogue in which people keep pressing him for information.

There are some real hallmarks of the era in this book. For starters, the aforementioned sexism, which fortunately is counter-balanced by Nora, who's actually a surprisingly progressive character. She tags along through most of the investigation providing sass and observations, and it made me wish more detectives had such classy accompaniment.

What really took me by surprise was the odd sophistication of it. Most of the story is about conversations, and it really is a study of manners and class as Charles goes between well-off families in nice rooms to thugs and goons in run down apartments and speakeasies. It's a well rounded perspective on the city life of the area.

The drinking is also amusing. By any normal standard most of the characters would be drunk through most of the story. I think it may have been fantasy at the time, since the book was released not long before prohibition was ended, and people wanted to read about rich people getting plastered in nice hotel rooms.

Here's a game you can play at home while reading: Take a shot every time a character in the book takes a drink. See how long it takes you before you experience alcohol poisoning.
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Oct 10, 2007 Willis Markuske rated it 5 of 5 stars

My favorite Hammett book. Written with the same economical and sparse style of his other novels, the tone couldn't be more different. Nick & Nora Charles are fun characters who come off much more 3 dimensional - as opposed to archetypcal - than either Sam Spade or the Continental Op.

Plot is almost a secondary concern here which is rare for a mystery. Instead the almost constant drinking and flirting the two main characters engage in (with each other and whomever else is around) get top bill...more My favorite Hammett book. Written with the same economical and sparse style of his other novels, the tone couldn't be more different. Nick & Nora Charles are fun characters who come off much more 3 dimensional - as opposed to archetypcal - than either Sam Spade or the Continental Op.

Plot is almost a secondary concern here which is rare for a mystery. Instead the almost constant drinking and flirting the two main characters engage in (with each other and whomever else is around) get top billing over the central mystery.

Nick is a former detective who wants no part of crime solving but would rather enjoy some heavy drinking in prohibition era NY. But because of his past everyone from the police to the criminals assumes he's on the case until eventually he is.

What's really interesting is that even though he's trying to stay out of the whole affair and is downplaying his past to anyone who will listen, you do get a few glimpses and hints that he was probably a very formidable detective.

Also interesting is his lack of an obvious "code", something that most other dectives in this era seem to place a large emphasis on. The above mentioned Sam Spade and Continental Op, as well as Phillip Marlowe and Mike Hammer... they all can be counted on to make sure the reader knows they have code of honor.

Nick on the other hand is a good detective and good guy who would be more than content to avoid any sleuthing and have several drinks if everyone would just leave him alone. When he finally does decide to take a more active part in the mystery it's with a nicely cynical edge. Not because he is weary or burned out - no this is a fun book. He's just an extremely good detective who knows better than to think it's exciting.

One criticism of the book is that Nora (his wife) could probably be fleshed out a bit more. Her main jobs are to alternately prod Nick and tease him while getting him drinks. She also helps to show how cool Nick must be as every man who lays eyes on her is noticably impressed. Add that to the fact that she's over a decade younger than him as well as incredibly rich and she's almost a fantasy figure.

At least she doesn't fall into the damsel in distress cliche. And while she isn't a detective by any means, when it comes to wit and personality she's her husbands equal by any measure.

Overall it's a great book and very different type of approach to the mystery novel. (less)

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Sep 11, 2007 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: detectives, alcoholics

Somehow I never saw this movie or read this book during my six-month crime noir kick in ninth grade (though I did read Hammett's The Maltese Falcon and The Glass Key aroud that time). But, boy, I'm glad that I've read it now.

The Thin Man is the last novel Hammett completed (though he started or pretended to start a half-dozen others) and it has the feel of being a parady of his other novellas and the 1930s crime genre in general. It is fabulously funny - as in, I couldn't go two pages without t...more Somehow I never saw this movie or read this book during my six-month crime noir kick in ninth grade (though I did read Hammett's The Maltese Falcon and The Glass Key aroud that time). But, boy, I'm glad that I've read it now.

The Thin Man is the last novel Hammett completed (though he started or pretended to start a half-dozen others) and it has the feel of being a parady of his other novellas and the 1930s crime genre in general. It is fabulously funny - as in, I couldn't go two pages without trying to read something outloud to Ben. As in the protagonists, Nick and Nora Charles, have the most wonderful, fun, and loving time ever while they solve murders together. I'm talking about more drinking, more intrigue, more mysertious dames, and more witty dialogue than all of his other works put together.

Of course, these were my thoughts before reading the detailed chronology/short biography of Hammett in the back of the book. Surely, I thought while reading the novel, much of the humor comes from the ABSURD number of martinis, affairs, suspects, and drama that clutters every page. But after reading about Dashiell Hammett's life, it seems like this might have been his most realistic novel.

His chronology includes, in between novel releases and movie adaptations, such phrases as "1931: drinks heavily and has many affairs." "1920: serves as Pinkerton Operative." "1947: moves in with daughter Mary Jane; both drink heavily." "1953: Questioned by Senator McCarthy about donating royalties to the Communist Party." "1932: Found guilty of battery and rape of actress Elise De Vianne." "1934: Signs contract with MGM in october for a second movie in the Thin Man series. Drinks heavily."

This chronology goes on for TEN PAGES and includes more affairs, benders, posh apartments, debt collectors, trials, political intrigue, and detective work than in an entire season of Law & Order.

It made me see the book a bit differently - to appreciate it even more, really. For Hammett to treat these subjects lightly - subjects that were at the very time tearing his life and career apart - give the book the feeling of a fantasy - a sort of fairy tale noir. As if Nick and Nora Charles live in a parallel universe where "cutting the phlegm" with a few whiskys in the morning is okay, where smooth talking can get you out of trouble with creditors and the law, and where bullets always only manage to graze and annoy you.

I like to imagine Hammett - with all of the drama of his life swirling around him - smiling and laughing as he wrote his novel. Just really having a good time. I don't know if that's true or not, but I had a good time reading it. (less)

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May 29, 2012 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, detective, noir

How Nick and Nora Charles start their day

Nick: "How 'bout a drop of something to cut the phlegm?"
Nora: "Why don't you stay sober today?"
Nick: "We didn't come to New York to stay sober"

I like their style. Want to hear a story? Well fix me a drink and I'll tell you.

Nick and Nora are in town from San Francisco to celebrate Christmas and New Years in high society style. Between cocktails and during more sober moments Nick helps the New York police solve the mystery of the murder of Julia Wolf, secre...more How Nick and Nora Charles start their day

Nick: "How 'bout a drop of something to cut the phlegm?"
Nora: "Why don't you stay sober today?"
Nick: "We didn't come to New York to stay sober"

I like their style. Want to hear a story? Well fix me a drink and I'll tell you.

Nick and Nora are in town from San Francisco to celebrate Christmas and New Years in high society style. Between cocktails and during more sober moments Nick helps the New York police solve the mystery of the murder of Julia Wolf, secretary to Clyde Wynant a rich inventor. Nick knew Wynant and his wacky family. Mimi, his money loving ex-wife, Dorothy the little girl he use to bounce on his knee. Now at eighteen, Nora will be watching Nick's knee around Dorothy. And there is the wimpy son Gilbert Wynant who tries morphine and cocaine only to have it stolen by his sister Dorothy. Now Clyde Wynant has mysteriously disappeared after the murder of his secretary.

Nick had been retired from the detective business since marrying the wealthy Nora, telling Nora, I married you for your money. Grins and smirks all around. But the police are clueless with the society murders and the bodies are piling up. So Nick gets to work questioning the lying ex-wife of Clyde Wynant Mimi. Mimi spins more tales than Scheherazade. Crying and whining but Nick can see straight through all of it. Mimi's eighteen year old daughter Dorothy claims that her mother and brother are beating her so with a sympathetic but cynical heart, Nick and Nora allow Dorothy to stay with them. Of course the apple does not fall far from the tree as she also has some lies up her sleeve. This is Dashiell Hammett and all the "dames" lie and get hysterical when you catch them in a lie only to tell another lie. What fun would it be if they told the truth?

Well it is all fun and games until Nick gets shot, just a flesh wound. He'll be fine. Then the party gets into full swing. Fun mystery with style, humor and lots of drinks. I have seen the movie ten times. And now thankfully after reading the book, I know who the "Thin Man" of the title is. And, no it is not Nick. Now pass the gin please.

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Jul 26, 2011 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fiction

This is the first Hammett novel I've read. I don't know why I haven't made the effort to read such an iconic writer before, particularly as I am a long-time crime fiction reader and a fan of "classic" mysteries. It may be my first Hammett, but I'm pretty sure it won't be my last.

I've just finished re-reading all of the novels of Dorothy L Sayers, who is without doubt my favourite writer of "Golden Age" mysteries. It was interesting to compare The Thin Man with Sayers' novels. It's certainly less...more

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Mar 30, 2010 Mahlon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who likes mysteries or noir movies

Recommended to Mahlon by: Liked the movie

Dashiell Hammett has been called a master of the genre, I'm not sure about that. What I do know is that The Thin Man was short, entertaining, and kept me reading (and guessing) until the very end.

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Jan 13, 2008 Chaz rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: crime fiction readers

Nick and Nora Charles are debonair couple who bring the reader through a maze of speakeasies, dark alleyways and meetings with well chiseled characters. I have been recently on a Hammett kick and the last two novels I felt like I had a good idea how the crimes were committed and who they were committed by -- this one I was lost kind of like that 'haze' in a dream. I couldn't quite pinpoint where things were going or why... and let the story and the author tell me for once and I gave up guessing....more

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Jan 07, 2008 Alison rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of noir, alcoholics, Manhattanites

"I was leaning against the bar in a speakeasy on Fifty-second Street, waiting for Nora to finish her Christmas shopping, when a girl got up from the table where she had been sitting with three other people and came over to me. She was small and blonde, and whether you looked at her face or at her body in powder-blue sports clothes, the result was satisfactory. "Aren't you Nick Charles?" she asked."

The Thin Man by Dashielle Hammett was the only book containing the characters of Nick and Nora Char...more "I was leaning against the bar in a speakeasy on Fifty-second Street, waiting for Nora to finish her Christmas shopping, when a girl got up from the table where she had been sitting with three other people and came over to me. She was small and blonde, and whether you looked at her face or at her body in powder-blue sports clothes, the result was satisfactory. "Aren't you Nick Charles?" she asked."

The Thin Man by Dashielle Hammett was the only book containing the characters of Nick and Nora Charles, despite the fact that there were several movies made as sequels to the original "The Thin Man" movie with William Powell/Myrna Loy. Nick and Nora are a married couple living in San Fransisco, but visiting New York during the duration of this novel. Nick is 41, I think. He is a reformed bachelor and playboy, a retired private detective, and a lush. Nora is in her late twenties, and when she married the Greek American Nick, he became the overseer of her father's lucrative business affairs.

While staying in a hotel in New York for an extended holiday, Nick & Nora become embroiled in a murder mystery surrounding the assistant of one of Nick's previous clients. More murder and double-crosses ensue, and Nick is pulled into the case against his will, as Nora relishes in the excitement. The case causes them to become involved with a nutty family--the ex-wife and two grown children of Nick's ex-client--a missing inventor. Dorothy, the daughter, is a looker, and has a hard time keeping her paws off Nick.

What separates this novel from your run of the mill crime fiction is the writing, obviously, but the characters of Nick and Nora are classic literary heros. The way they address each other sharply and cleverly...their lifestyles. It is within the norm for the two of them to be up all night socializing, order out a hot breakfast, wash it down with cocktails around 5 am, and retire to bed until noon or so the next day...waking up to more, and more cocktails. The couple is said to be modeled after Hammett and playwright Lillian Hellman. Their circumstances and lifestyles are entertaining and jealousy-inducing.

After reading two of Hammett's novels, I find that after a while I get a little bored with the detail-oriented plotlines. I'm wondering if this is because they may have been published in serialized form. They're a little tedious to digest in one or two sittings.(less)

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Jan 12, 2009 Nora Dillonovich rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mysterioso

I have been on a bit of a noir/ crime kick lately... Perhaps it's a longing to be a femme fatale, or maybe I just covet their clothes and the furniture? Maybe both. Anyhow, this is where my kick led me, to Hammett, bien sur, and soon, Chandler. The dialogue is fantastic, the pace is perfect, and the MOVIE! Such fun, I was practically foaming for a martini while watching it, much like my experience with Mad Men episodes and my strong urge for the drink. I only wish themes from The Thin Man were i...more

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Mar 25, 2009 Vicki rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: audible

This was a big disappointment after having read The Maltese Falcon, in all its stark, atmospheric glory. If this is all Hammett had left to give in his later writing life, it's probably for the best that he gave it up. The main characters are so shallow and have such drunken and meaningless lives, I kept wanting to slap them upside the heads. But next to the completely dysfunctional family of the title character, they come off like Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa.

On the plus side, Nick and...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Holger Haase rated it 4 of 5 stars

THE THIN MAN is the last of Hammett's novels as well as the last of his novels I had not yet read. His short stories are still awaiting me but over the years I had read all of the small number of novels that he had written but this one.

Must admit that he is an author that I always felt I should like but who I never really could warm up to that much. I often preferred the cinematic adaptations and the motifs that he represented but the stories as such never really seemed to hook me all that much...more THE THIN MAN is the last of Hammett's novels as well as the last of his novels I had not yet read. His short stories are still awaiting me but over the years I had read all of the small number of novels that he had written but this one.

Must admit that he is an author that I always felt I should like but who I never really could warm up to that much. I often preferred the cinematic adaptations and the motifs that he represented but the stories as such never really seemed to hook me all that much and certainly never really lingered too long in my mind.

For various reasons I never got around to THE THIN MAN. Whenever I thought of getting it, it just so happened that it wasn't available in the book stores. I also never bothered too much in venturing out to get a copy as I liked the films - lighthearted screwball mysteries - but never really thought that Hammett would be the kind of author to to do lighthearted writing justice.

These days of course with the availability of the Kindle there are less and less excuses not to get a hold of a copy so when I finally managed some free time this weekend I quickly downloaded a copy and started reading.

And of course the novel is nothing like the films and contrary to my expectations this actually became my favourite Hammett novel.

Yes, it outwardly reflects the movie's initial character setup with Nick and Nora Charles, a rich socialite non-stop drinking married couple, solving a murder mystery, but that's where the similarities end. The mood in the book is definitely Noir and hardboiled with Nick being an ex-detective who has no intention of ever going back to crime solving again yet is constantly being dragged into a murder mystery he initially couldn't care less about. In actual fact much of the detecting from his side is often purely random by just being around when stuff happens.

In terms of cinematic history this would be considered "pre-code". I was totally gobsmacked at some of the scenes that very openly discussed Nick's philandering sex life pre-marriage as well as the errant ways of those of the other protagonists. One character, a disturbed young teenager is fascinated by psychoanalysis and constantly discusses topics such as incest or cannibalism as well as the desire to experiment with cocaine. Definitely an adult crime book that again shows that life in the 1920s and very early 30s in some respects may have been far more free wheeling than one would generally consider these days.

And did I mention the drinking? Noir characters are often described as hard drinking but none more so than Nick and Nora who seem to start their day with liquid breakfasts and then proceed with more. There are probably at least as many drinks consumed as this novel has pages.(less)

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Feb 24, 2013 Χρήστος Καψάλης rated it 5 of 5 stars

Τέλη του 1932 ο Hammett γράφει το πέμπτο και τελευταίο μυθιστόρημά του. Μετά θα μπλέξει με τις γυναίκες και τα πολιτικά, θα ξαναπάει στρατό στα πενήντα του και θα τον κυνηγάει η εφορία μέχρι θανάτου.

Στον Αδύνατο Άντρα μας συστήνει τον Ελληνοαμερικανό ντετέκτιβ Νικ Τσαρλς (πρώην Χαραλαμπίδης) και τη σύζυγό του Νόρα. Ο Hammett στις “Αναμνήσεις ενός ιδιωτικού ντετέκτιβ” γράφει σχετικά με την περήφανη φυλή μας:

Από όλες τις εθνικότητες που τραβιούνται στα δικαστήρια, αυτοί που είναι πιο δύσκολο να κα...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Aspen Junge rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ripping-good-yarns

This is a classic of the noir mystery genre, and I can see why. Hammett's Nick Charles neatly solves the crime, basically on his day off, despite all the road blocks set in his way by schemers and femme fatales. The flavor of early-1930s New York is there.

The only downside was that between the vast changes in male-female relations in the last 80 years and due to Hammett's spare style, I had trouble picking up on tone of voice, particularly in dialogues between Nick Charles and the women he suspe...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Nancy Oakes rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-crime-fiction

Ah, the 30s, New York. Prohibition hasn't slowed down the cocktail set, who party until the sun rises. Speakeasies abound, thugs have names like Studsy, cocaine and morphine are the contemporary drugs of choice, and cops are allowed to beat the truth out of their suspects. This is the world of Nick and Nora Charles, at least temporarily while they're staying in the city over the Christmas holidays. Nick used to be a detective, but these days Nick is no longer pounding the streets in his trench c...more Ah, the 30s, New York. Prohibition hasn't slowed down the cocktail set, who party until the sun rises. Speakeasies abound, thugs have names like Studsy, cocaine and morphine are the contemporary drugs of choice, and cops are allowed to beat the truth out of their suspects. This is the world of Nick and Nora Charles, at least temporarily while they're staying in the city over the Christmas holidays. Nick used to be a detective, but these days Nick is no longer pounding the streets in his trench coat -- he gave up his career to "look after" some business interests -- a lumber mill, a railroad, "and some other things" -- left to Nora after her father died. The two aren't in New York long when Nick gets dragged reluctantly into helping to solve the murder of Julia Wolf, the secretary and former mistress of an old client named Claude Wynant, described to Nora as "a good guy, but screwy," and "batty as hell." Wynant is incommunicado at the moment except for various communications through his lawyer; the police want to talk to him, as does ex-wife Mimi who's running out of cash and stands to lose her current husband without more of Wynant's money. Trying to weed through the ever-increasing layers of deceit surrounding the truth of Wolf's murder won't be easy (either for Nick or for the reader, for that matter), but through it all the drinks keep flowing and Nick and Nora entertain each other with their back-and-forth witty banter.

The crime is twisty and Hammett never tires of throwing the occasional monkey wrench into the works. Interestingly enough, a fair amount of the deception and deceit in this novel comes from the machinations of the women, except, of course, for Nora. She's sophisticated, witty, fashionable, compassionate and on the home front pretty much Nick's equal. Her trust in her husband is beyond question and she's there to support him, no questions asked. At the same time, while trusting and supportive, it's clear that Nora is to leave the detecting to Nick:

"Listen darling, tomorrow I'll buy you a whole lot of detective stories, but don't worry your pretty little head over mysteries tonight."

Hmm. Well, that may be a tad chauvinistic for modern-day readers, but with Nora clearly the exception, the women in this novel are either needy, manipulative, hysterical, liars or cheats or a combination of all of these qualities. But that's to be expected -- misogyny is prevalent in the two other novels by Hammett I've read -- The Maltese Falcon and Red Harvest-- and while those stories are much darker in tone, Hammett's scornful assessment of women (again, except for Nora) is the same here. Mimi, for example, is a sordid, money-grubbing and conniving female who, when she fails to get her way, has no qualms about flexing her figurative and literal muscle. Lying is her forte, but luckily Nick (obviously much superior to Mimi) has her number:

"When you catch her in a lie, she admits it and gives you another lie to take its place and, when you catch her in that one, she admits it and gives you still another, and so on. Most people -- even women -- get discouraged after you've caught them in the third or fourth straight lie and fall back on either the truth or silence, but not Mimi. She keeps trying and you've got to be careful or you'll find yourself believing her, not because she seems to be telling the truth, but simply because you're tired of disbelieving her."

Her daughter Dorothy is whiny and needy, prone to exaggeration, histrionics and like her mother, capable of distorting the truth if she thinks it will help her. Even the now-dead secretary, Julia Wolf, was no stranger to greed and lies.

The core mystery is entertaining, and despite the twists and turns in the story, Hammett's writing is direct, witty and to the point. His characters are understood largely through their actions and interactions rather than through descriptive sketches, so it takes little time to become fully involved or acquainted with them. And as far as the misogynist subtext, the novel was written in the 30s, so it is very much a product of its time.

Unlike the series of movies that followed the original "The Thin Man," with Myrna Loy and William Powell, Hammett's Thin Man was not written as a first novel in a continuing line of stories featuring Nick and Nora Charles. It is also much lighter in tone than the other works of Hammett's I've read: both Red Harvest and Maltese Falcon are much higher up the noir ladder and both are much more pessimistic than this one. At the same time, while it doesn't have quite the same edge to it as the others, The Thin Man is still able to deliver the goods. Highly and definitely recommended.(less)

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Oct 12, 2012 Amber N rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed

One of my favorite detective's infamous start in fiction! Nick and Nora Charles (in the series, not in the book...) have always been my favorite couple, ever since I watched the Thin Man series as a child. Reading Dashiell Hammett's original novel which launched the series was like travelling back in time to that first watching. Hammett's characterization, writing techniques and quick wit bring this book from another regular old detective novel to a sophisticated romp through New York in the '30...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Thin Man is as much a comedy of manners as a detective mystery, lushly recreating the lives and routines of America's moneyed classes in the 1930s—Mad Men avant la lettre. Written primarily as dialogue and stage direction, this is a novel made for the theatre, and I was little surprised to learn that it had been adapted for film soon after its publication.

There is a pleasant realism to the dialogue, which attempts to mimic the rhythms of quotidian speech by including the pauses, stutters, an...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Smcleish rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

Originally published on my blog here in September 2000.

The last of Dashiell Hammett's five novels, The Thin Man is rather different from the others. Its hero is a slightly older, married version of Sam Spade or Ned Beaumont; Nick Charles has had some of his faith in humanity restored by his wife, Nora. He has even given up being a private detective, as Hammett was about to give up novel writing - and the novel is dedicated to the woman he himself married, Lilian Hellman.

One of Charles' past jobs...more

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Jul 17, 2012 James rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fiction

This was my first Dashiell Hammett, hard-boiled detective novel, and a pretty enjoyable one. In fact, I basically spent the better part of the day yesterday reading it while hanging out somewhere in Hertfordshire. Fortunately, there was a Waterstone’s nearby!

Oddly enough, the least interesting characters for me were Nick and Nora Charles. Nick is a very Humphrey-Bogart-esque figure, a WWI veteran and former Detective who only speaks in ironic, methodically short sentences, sentences which someho...more This was my first Dashiell Hammett, hard-boiled detective novel, and a pretty enjoyable one. In fact, I basically spent the better part of the day yesterday reading it while hanging out somewhere in Hertfordshire. Fortunately, there was a Waterstone’s nearby!

Oddly enough, the least interesting characters for me were Nick and Nora Charles. Nick is a very Humphrey-Bogart-esque figure, a WWI veteran and former Detective who only speaks in ironic, methodically short sentences, sentences which somehow convince everyone of his secret genius. He’s also an incorrigible alcoholic; half his comments involve asking for a drink from someone. He is also supposedly, at the bright age of 41, already a retired detective, having married Nora, a wealthy young woman much younger than himself, whose wealth he now basically oversees. It’s a weird backdrop to the detective story that’s to follow because it makes Nick slightly annoying and decadent.

And I suppose that was one of the main things that fascinated me about this novel: Nick’s hard-boiled toughness, and the tiny finger-print of a personality it leaves behind for the reader to piece together. That tiny finger-print is what helps to turn him into a somewhat believable mythical figure, a tough-buy archetype that was a necessary corrective, I gather, for 1920/30’s American society, as people were expected to pick themselves up by the metaphorical bootstraps and take responsibility for their lives, all while a vicious Depression was under way, undermining the whole practice of self-determination. Nick couldn’t exist plausibly in fiction today. We want our leading characters to be flawed and poignantly so. Nick isn’t flawed; even his excessive drinking makes him more charming. And the fact that all women like him and all men envy him but because he’s so cool also defer to him—it all just gets a little too unctuous after a while.

But that’s why it’s a detective story. The story itself is carried out quite artistically and meticulously. Hammett has a strong sense of narrative pace and writes spectacular dialogue. I was bowled over by his depiction of Mimi, whose incessant lying and annoying grasps at attention were ridiculously life-like and, yes, annoying! The mystery builds very gradually and believably, and delivers an excellent denouement: one that seems to highlight humanity’s spectacular capacity for lying and duplicity.

This book has its topical elements but also a wonderful story to keep your attention firmly fixed. Strongly recommended for a weekend escape when you want to zone out!
(less)

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May 13, 2012 Tpouliot rated it 5 of 5 stars

The final and perhaps best book, certainly the funniest, from Dashiel Hammet. His previous books were violent hard boiled tales, with a sprinkling of humor; this book is full-out humor with just a touch of the violence. The Thin Man takes place on Christmas, but it could as easily be New Year's Eve, as the holiday is used only to establish a party ambience. And this book is, essentially, a party.

The movie, especially the first one, is as good. Picture Nick Charles laying on the couch, popping aw...more

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May 13, 2012 notgettingenough rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humour, modern-lit, crime-fiction

You know those washing powder tests on TV? You do something impossibly disgusting to a little white affair, pop it in the machine with Brand X and - hey presto, it comes out better than new.

I felt really guilty about starting this book. I'd just finished Perlman's Seven Types of Ambiguity which so moved me in every way as a reader that I wanted to turn next to something that Perlman could spoil without my caring. Sure enough, I was disappointed by this to the extent it almost got the flick. But...more

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May 11, 2012 Ensiform rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mystery, saw-the-movie

Hard-drinking retired detective Nick Charles is pulled reluctantly into a case involving an old client, eccentric inventor Clyde Wynant who appears to have shot his assistant Julia. Despite wanting nothing to do with it, he uncovers a tangled web of deception and connections, including the fact that Wynant’s ex-wife’s new husband is actually Wynant’s bitter ex-partner in disguise, out to get Wynant’s money, and that Julia seems to have had a number of boyfriends in the underworld, as well as bei...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Nikki rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, crime

Don't read Dashiell Hammett, or even the reviews of Dashiell Hammett's work, if you're particularly sensitive to misogyny, violence, and all that stuff. There's a good bit somewhere in the middle where Nora Charles tells her husband that she doesn't have the least understanding of anything people said or did while they were in a certain speakeasy, and trust me, I know the feeling. I love reading noir detective stories, though. There's just some amazing lines and even though they represent a worl...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Patrick McLean rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have a lasting love of this book for several reasons. The relationship between Nick and Nora is wonderful, yes, the dialog sings, but there is a relationship there. This is a guy solving a murder with his wife. Hammett has unlimited tough-guy noir cred (try his Red Harvest) but this is one of the only books that I know of that manages captures a relationship in this way. (and if you know of some more, please message me.)

The second thing I love about this book is how Nick operates a social anim...more

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Nov 10, 2011 Kirk rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If I weren't the mean teacher I am I'd cut Hammett slack and round up to four stars because this---the last of his novels---is a solid 3-1/2. And that's only because it pales in comparison to every one of his other novels except THE DAIN CURSE, which is the true 3-star.

The main knock on THIN is that Hammett was pretty much bored with fiction by this point in his career, having lost his bearings to booze, broads, and just about any other indulgence that began with a B except Billy Barty (too sho...more If I weren't the mean teacher I am I'd cut Hammett slack and round up to four stars because this---the last of his novels---is a solid 3-1/2. And that's only because it pales in comparison to every one of his other novels except THE DAIN CURSE, which is the true 3-star.

The main knock on THIN is that Hammett was pretty much bored with fiction by this point in his career, having lost his bearings to booze, broads, and just about any other indulgence that began with a B except Billy Barty (too short for him). And those lost bearings are evident pretty much on every page. For starters, the plot isn't all that thrillsville, especially not compared to RED HARVEST or THE GLASS KEY. For a guy who made it a point to do away with the Sherlock Holmes/drawing room villain-unveiling that was a mainstay of the British Golden Era (as well as S.S. Van Dine, etc), Nick and Nora's final dinner party seems snipped straight from Agatha Christie. Also the book isn't anywhere near as hardboiled as the other novels, probably because Hammett was writing about a happily married man with a rich wife and therefore nothing to be disillusioned about. But that lack of beefstake points to a major flaw: Hammett doesn't really know what to do with Nora in here, except to have her take the dog Asta for a walk. She's pretty much a cipher, nowhere as near as lively or vivacious as Myrna Loy.

The real sogginess here, though, is the booze. As many critics have noted, you'd be hard-pressed to find a "classic" novel where the drinks flow this constantly. Seriously, by page 20 my blood alcohol was edging toward Rick Perry territory. My wife took my keys away from me by Chapter 8. By the denouement I was so blotto I not only let Snooki take me home but found her sorta cute, too. This isn't a Lost Territory sort of drunkenness, either. No Jake Barnes lamenting the loss of moral rigor while surrounded by rummies, no Geoffrey Firmin going off all Vesuvius-like in great bursts of dipsomania grandiloquence. This is pure being-drunky-skunky-is-fun drunkenness. Dean Martin might have commended the verisimilitude, but for readers who can't pop a second beer without warnings about alcoholism flashing in the distillery of their minds, it's probably presented a little too glibly to take comfortably.

That said, Hammett hits a home run in at least one influential way. With Nick and Nora he created the prototype of the wisecracking husband-and-wife detective team, one that will be ripped off endlessly in years to come in Hart to Hart, etc etc. The charm of the book is how un-threatened the Charles's marriage is by the venality of modern life. Hell, Nick can even wrestle a femme fatale to the ground and his wife's first response will be to ask if the tussle gave him a stiffie. (His answer: "Oh, a little"---come on, man! have confidence!). Even if Nora is only around to solve the mystery of her husband's tumescence, the repartee is the book's genius, and the tale is best enjoyed for it rather than any thrill or hardboiled sting.

The original cover of the book featured a picture of Hammett in his usual natty attire:
description

It's a pretty good indicative of his fame at the time but also how trapped he was in the image he'd created for his writing. Most folks who read the book for the first time are surprised Nick isn't the titular character in all his svelte fashion stylin'. Instead, the thin man is a rather soupy victim we never really care about. And the book lacks for a major villain as interesting as Joel Cairo or that fat bastard Gutman (!) in THE MALTESE FALCON. The movie follows the plot and actually to my thinking works better. Still, THIN is an entertaining diversion if you can keep sober til the end. Hammett certainly couldn't.(less)

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Sep 08, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book didn’t get a fair chance with me, I’ll be honest. I love the movie version of this book so much that it’d be nearly impossible for it to match up. In defense of the book, however, there are scenes and dialogue taken directly from the book and put into the movie. Nick’s spirit is captured wonderfully on the screen, although the book makes him out to be a little harder of a character than the movie. Nick, Nora, Mimi, and Guild are pretty much the only characters exactly realized from the...more

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Aug 20, 2011 Margaret added it

Shelves: 2006

Reading this book made me want to see the old movies with Myrna Loy and ?? (can't remember the leading man) ... it's written in a 1930's film noir first person style - for example:
"She asked me if I was asleep. I said that I was."

I think I was more taken with the time-period of the story than the actual mystery itself (which turned out to be a little complicated in the end). It must have been written just after prohibition because everyone constantly drinks (Nick & Nora usually started the s...more

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About Dashiell Hammett

Also wrote as Peter Collinson, Daghull Hammett, Samuel Dashiell, Mary Jane Hammett

Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hardboiled detective novels and short stories. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon), Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man), and the Continental Op (Red Harvest and The Dain Curse). In addition to the significant influence his nove...more

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