#Hardboiled fiction

[bitter69uk]

Recently watched: strange and obscure neo-noir Union City (1980). Tagline: “In 1953, Russia exploded the H-bomb. Hollywood discovered Marilyn Monroe. Washington reeled under McCarthyism. While something was about to happen in … Union City!” The sole feature film directed by Mark Reichert, Union City has a bad reputation (when it’s remembered at all) but it’s of interest – especially for admirers of the band Blondie: Deborah Harry stars and Chris Stein composed the soundtrack. Having said that, I can imagine Blondie fans feeling nonplussed by Reichert’s deliberately unglamorous presentation. When we’re first introduced to Harry as frustrated housewife Lilian, she is filmed from behind, with brown hair and wearing an apron, frying pork chops and sauerkraut. Of course, she’s not truly “mousey” – it IS Harry, after all. And Lilian gets a lingerie-clad boudoir scene later and towards the end, bleaches her hair blonde. Anyway, Union City is adapted from the 1937 Cornell Woolrich short story “The Corpse Next Door”. (The action is updated here to the early fifties. The period costumes and décor have an interesting R W Fassbinder vibe). Synopsis: neurotic businessman Harlan (Dennis Lipscomb) becomes fixated on uncovering who is stealing the milk bottles from outside his front door early every morning, thus ignoring the womanly needs of wife Lilian, who begins an affair with their apartment building’s hunky superintendent Larry Longacre (heartbreakingly handsome young Everett McGill aka "Big" Ed Hurley on Twin Peaks). Union City unfolds in an alienated, deadpan way, sharing the same underground New York sensibility as the cinema of, say, Scott and Beth B. Everyone delivers their lines in a detached, benumbed manner, except for the panic-stricken Harlan and Irina Maleeva as deranged neighbour The Contessa, whose bizarre delivery is operatic. Interestingly, 1980s rock diva Pat Benatar (who was frequently dismissed in some quarters as an ersatz Deborah Harry) crops up in a small role and is surprisingly effective (in her close-ups, Benatar possesses an almost Shelley Duvall quality). Union City is weird. Claustrophobic. Alienating. Arty. All qualities I happen to like! Union City is on YouTube.

[frommybookbook]

Top 5 hardboiled books/movies/whatever?

Oh, you make this so hard! I'm going to try to keep this broad and not overthink it, as you know I'm wont to do.

The Long Goodbye: I don't care if it's the original novel by Raymond Chandler or the 1973 film adaptation, this is probably my favorite Philip Marlowe story and Marlowe is easily my favorite of the hardboiled detectives. It's such a tender story, Marlowe is at his most melancholy, the mystery is one of the most achingly human, and Chandler was just having the hardest time in his personal life as he was writing it.

Farewell, My Lovely: I promise, not everything on this list will be a Philip Marlowe story but there's a reason they're so iconic! And Farewell is one of the most iconic of all, having multiple film adaptations (Murder, My Sweet from 1946 and Farewell, My Lovely from 1973, which is my favorite Marlowe adaptation). This novel has some of Chandler's snappiest lines—my favorite is "he was about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food cake"—and his most iconic femme fatale in Helen Grayle.

The Case of the Velvet Claws: You know I had to include a Perry Mason. I mostly mean the novel in this case, but this is one of the stories that also has one of the OG movies from the '30s and an episode of the show; all of which are great in their own way. The book is the first in the Perry Mason series, it really introduces our beloved characters and sets the stage for what kind of man Perry is. This also makes it a bit of an anomaly among the books because it definitely has more of a hardboiled bent to it that most of the novels really end up having. The 1936 movie is also wild because it's the only time Perry and Della are ever actually married in any version of canon so you know I love it!

"Who Killed Bob Teal?" and "Fly Paper": I'm doing these together because they're both short stories featuring Dashiell Hammett's best character, the Continental Op. I love all of the Op stories, but these two in particular stand out in my mind. "Who Killed Bob Teal?" is as much a mystery as it is a quest for vengeance and really highlights the Op's sense of obligation and loyalty. "Fly Paper" is one of those clever stories that's hard to describe without spoiling so I won't say anymore. The Op is my favorite Hammett character because he's he most real, the one closest to Hammett in real life.

The Maltese Falcon: Some things are a classic for a reason and Hammett's novel is one of those things. The book is wonderful, it's crisp and tight and Sam Spade is what you think of when you think of a hardboiled detective (I still think Marlowe is better, but that's why he's No. 1 on this list and Spade is No. 5). And the movie is one of the most perfect film adaptations of a novel ever. I don't love Bogey's acting in it, though when he says "Mrs. Spade didn't raise no dummy", I scream every time, but the supporting cast couldn't be more perfect. Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Elisha Cook, Jr., they're all incredible. And it's one of the most true-to-the-source adaptations of the time, despite the Hays Code, which really hurt a lot of the early Chandler adaptations.

Honorable mention: "The Big Goodbye", Star Trek: The Next Generation: This is one of the most loving pastiches of any genre ever made. It hits all the right notes of the reluctant hope and resignation and attempts to follow a moral code against all odds of the genre in 42 minutes of a sci-fi television show. If "Our Man Bashir" is the best James Bond film ever made, this is definitely one of the best hardboiled films ever made.

[booksofdelight]

The 20 Best Hardboiled Fiction Books of All Time 

Hardboiled fiction books tend to be graphic and include a lot of violence. But they are also great detective novels that have more plot twists than most books. That is why we decided to list the 20 best hardboiled fiction books of all time.  The 20 Best Hardboiled Fiction Books of All Time The golden age of hardboiled fiction may have come and gone but the genre is still thriving. As more and…

[screamingeyepress]

It’s Noirvember, and there’s no better way to celebrate than with a great noir story! How to Stihl Rubies by Dr. Richard A. Olson is out now. Dive in if you’re a fan of dark and gritty tales.

[wahbegan]

Something something Batman is a billionaire fascist discourse ignores the fact that Batman has his roots in the hardboiled detective story, which thematically was written at a time when trust in the police was at a catastrophic low and as such mainly deals with private detectives kinda extralegally cracking cases that the cops are either not solving or actively obstructing and his conflict with the police has remained a fairly consistent point in most of his stories outside the Golden Age of Comics, Commissioner Gordon is the exception not the rule something something

[ellestra]

All according to plan

This episode of What If...? had three of my favourite things - Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell and Nebula. And a redemption story.

This cyberpunk film noir story was perfect for Nebula.

I loved the story but it's the visuals was what really got me. I think I was supposed to be excited about the cameos and forgotten Marvel characters getting new spin but all I could think was the visual references.

The flying cars over illuminated cityscape in perpetual darkness and rain. The neon signs and crowded streets. This whole thing is Blade Runner and Nebula's coat is as much a tribute to Deckard as it is to Yondu. But, of course, here there is no question about her bing artificial and just like with K the people who use her turn on her.

The woman turned into machine connecting to mainframe. The cyberpunk part of the story. Replicants were organic and could not do this but Nebula is all cyborg like a certain protagonist of Ghost in the Shell. GotS and Blade Runner have always been thematically and visually connected and having this together was such a perfect moment. Nebula was made for this.

And I loved how in the end we got the reference to her Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 ending but reversed. This time she is the hero extending the hand to the other woman but just like then it is rejected.

But as always I loved the most that she is the big, damn hero of this story. She took the redemption thing seriously and to the end just like she did in the main MCU. But she also survivor of way too many bad people to not see this betrayal coming. She came with a plan and she save Zandar and avenged her sister. And it was beautiful.

Even this series reminds me why Guardians is still the best of MCU.

[laku-incarnate]

James M. Cain (1892-1977)

[arrlpdma]

Public Domain Continental Op stories

Two months from now on Public Domain Day 2025, Dashiell Hammett's gritty hardboiled detective novel Red Harvest (1929) goes into the public domain, so why not enjoy some Continental Op stories that are already public domain.

Two months from now on January 1, 2025 (known informally as Public Domain Day), Dashiell Hammett’s gritty hardboiled detective novel Red Harvest (1929) goes into the public domain. Originally serialized in four parts in the pulp magazine Black Mask in 1927-28, the story follows the Continental Op, an operative of the Continental Detective Agency, investigates several murders amid a labor dispute…

[checkoutmybookshelf]

The Hint That The World Gets Bigger

Ok, so a lot of reviewers and Dresden Files fans say that you have to wait a while for the series to go from small, contained cases to a massive urban fantasy world that encompasses as much as a lot of the epic fantasies in terms of worldbuilding. And while it would be entirely disingenuous to say that this is the book where the massive expansion actually takes place, this is very much the first book where you get a clear view that the world of the Dresden Files is bigger than Chicago's underbelly. It's also where the subgenres that I'm sure this series was sold on--noir, hardboiled detective fiction--start to really clash with the fantasy elements. It's also where I really had to bite my tongue and make a decision about whether I was willing to let violence against women slide in favor of what is good about the series. I let it go way too long, probably. But let's talk Grave Peril.

*As always, SPOILERS ABOUND below the break*

The TLDR of this book is that thanks to his chivalristic dick thinking, Harry kicks off a massive war between the Red Court Vampires and the White Council that will remain a massive plot point in the series until Changes. But the centerpeice of this book that really tells the canny reader that the world is going to exponentially grow is Bianca St. Claire's ball. I am low-key reminded of Robert Jordan's famous Darkfriend Social, because this thing has a dress code (Harry also decides to be a smartass about the dress code and shows up dressed as a cheesy vampire, which...goddammit Harry), it has archaic hospitality rules, it has a very uncomfortable passive aggressive gift section, and it also has significant repercussions throughout the rest of the series.

This is where we really get introduced to the three Vampire Courts--Red, White, and Black--and we also get hints of other organizations, groups, and players. In no particular order, we get the Knights of the Cross, Ferrovax, Mavra (who technically falls under Blampire but is an antagonist in her own right), The Nightmare/Leonid Kravos, and Auntie Lea (we get more of the Sidhe courts in the next book, but the Leanansidhe being here nods to that expansion).

This party really shows us the beginnings of what will be a common structure of the different world in the fantasy parts of this urban fantasy. There are three vampire courts, we will get to see that each Sidhe court has three layers, and there are eventually three wizarding councils running around. There are also always three knights of the cross, and thirty potential Denarians. The structures are very similar with varied set dressing, and this book really primes readers to understand what the wider world is going to look like and how the threads cross. For such an early book, that level of prep and education about the world is pretty impressive, and the different courts and factions are creatively and engagingly written.

Then we come back to the noirish/hardboiled genre roots of the book, because quite literally this book victimizes like six different women. We have Lydia (who is functionally not gonna matter beyond this book) who is handed off to be sacrified to unmake Amoracchius, we have Justine (who is going to be important) who is full-on brutalized by the red court, we have Kravos sticking his fingers in Murphy's brain, we have Susan who is tricked by Auntie Lea and half-turned into a vampire, and we have Charity freaking Carpenter who is kindapped and attempted murdered WHILE NINE MONTHS PREGNANT. We're really not at fridging levels for most of these (although I'd argue that Lydia and Justine get more or less fridged), but it's a real clear escalation from the previous two books, and you really have to make a conscious decision about whether or not you're cool with this level of violence against women if you're going to keep going with the books. I justified it with the noir and hardboiled roots, plus I was pulled in by the world and the intrigue, but honestly, there are books that do that well without these levels of chivalry and chauvanism.

This book and the next are really setup books for how much the word will continue to expand, and it sets the first long-term conflict we see in the series, and the war against the Red Court is pretty significant. It also sets up the long-term tension with Harry and Susan, which will also weave in through the next like, eight books. The setups are really what stick in my head with this book, because the plot is often a bit convoluted and doesn't tend to stick in my head on its own; it really falls into the amorphous mass of the early Dresden Books. I think it literally takes until somewhere in Death Masks and Blood Rites for the books to start standing on their own in my head. But the world is well done enough that I was hooked and kept on reading.

[jessepinwheel]

since I actually have time this year I think I'm going to do nanowrimo. it would be nice to actually finish my novel so I can get that off my list of things to do

[loki-zen]

tere are lots of mysteries where the audience knows ewho did it from the beginning. most columbo episodes worjk this way

so i have literally written whole paragraphs at this point about how:

a) discussions of genre will often use words in a very specific way, but not everyone will adhere to this usage.

b) genre itself is a fiddly thing - in my last post or two I've been discussing the formation and formalisation of the Detective Mystery in the 20th century as a format for written fiction.

It shouldn't be surprising if, over 50 years later, modern examples of/homages to the genre are innovating and drawing from other (sub)genres (in this case, imo, Noir).

You would expect that, but it doesn't change that (i) the archetypical Cosy Detective Story is something you can point to, that has a given structure, or that (ii) in discussion of Crime subgenres, 'Mystery' often specifically refers to stories that have a specific structure. I've outlined this usage in detail by now I think. It's a 'Mystery' because you are supposed to be trying to figure out the answer. In this context, it doesn't make sense to say "ah, but Columbo is a Mystery, and it doesn't have that format!" because what you are saying, tautologically, is that (that episode of) Columbo is not a Mystery.

Some people might describe Columbo as a "mystery" because (as I understand it; I don't watch it myself) it shares a lot of thematic ground with Detective Mystery/Murder Mystery/Cosy crime fiction. Sharing a lot of thematic ground with and appealing to fans of Cosy detective stories while not precisely replicating the Detective Mystery format in every single episode is a pretty common way to be for a crime procedural. My understanding via osmosis of Columbo suggests that 'crime procedural' is the correct classification of Columbo.

[captainfreelance1]

I made this drawing of Philip Marlowe about two years ago, I don't know if did a good job but it lot of fun draw.

[frommybookbook]

have you done the glass key novel/movie/miller's crossing journey? that's such an interesting walk if you're into hammet stuff

I've read The Glass Key and really enjoyed it. I do think it's some of Hammett's best writing (I don't know that it's hardboiled for me, but that's an issue of my own interpretation of the genre). I haven't seen any adaptation yet but I've been keeping an eye out for them.

[booksofdelight]

The Long Goodbye Book Review

Read our book review for The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

Today, we will be reviewing the classic hardboiled detective novel The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler. Keep reading to find out what we thought of this novel if you should add it to your to-read list! The Long Goodbye Summary Outside a club in Los Angeles, Philip Marlowe meets Terry Lennox, who is drunk and they become friends. Terry has scars on one side of his face and turns to Philip…

[screamingeyepress]

Ever felt the pull of a shadowy city street? Noir fiction wraps readers in mystery and moral complexity. Check out this piece to learn why these tales still captivate:

Unmasking the Secrets of Noir and Hardboiled Fiction

By Lothar Tuppan

It’s Noirvember! Time to enjoy all things Film Noir, Roman Noir, Chocolat Noir, and Pinot Noir. Silly as that last sentence was, it does make plain that the French word “noir” just translates into English as “black.” So what exactly is “noir” in relation to cinematic (“Film Noir”) and literary (“Roman Noir”) fiction? What is its relationship with the, often associated, term “Hardboiled,” and what is its connections and relationship to Existentialism, Nihilism, and Philosophical Pessimism? This short essay is just a very brief introduction to a, surprisingly, complex topic. Whole books have been written on the subject (see bibliography below for some examples) and I encourage those who find the topic as fascinating as I do to pick them up.

[domjordanillustration]

pulp hero