350. The Thin Man

The Thin Man
Dashiell Hammett
1934
Around 200 pages

350! It's shocking how many meaningful milestones one blog can contain. We can celebrate with my favorite hard-boiled detective novel on this List. Incidentally, it was also adapted into one of my favorite movies of all time.

Nick has given up his job as a detective since marrying the wealthy socialite Nora and now spends his time drinking so much scotch it makes my stomach hurt. He gets drawn into investigating a murder, but still has time to exchange witty banter with his wife. Is it too much to ask that my life be exactly like that, minus the inevitable lung cancer and liver disease?

This is a really fun mystery and made me laugh out loud. I have a crush on Nick. And Nora.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Hammett's last published novel. I'll miss him, he was fun.

UP NEXT: Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Celine.

349. To the North

To the North
Elizabeth Bowen
1932
Around 320 pages

Our streak of so-so novels continues. It's like we are on the B-side of authors who already have plenty of coverage on this List. And the ending of this made me roll my eyes, which admittedly, are easily triggered.

Cecilia Summers and her late husband's sister, Emmeline, live together in 1920s London. Cecilia is having difficulty processing her husband's death, and spends her days drifting through the city's social scene. She meets Mark Linkwater, and is savvy enough to see that Mark is a roguish cad who wouldn't be out of place in a Jane Austen novel. Emmeline, however, is younger and more susceptible to roguery. 

I feel like this was heavily influenced by the Bunner Sisters. She nails the description of the psychological power each character possesses over the other, but not much else stood out to me. And Mark is a dick.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Elizabeth Bowen's marriage was reportedly never consummated. I know that has nothing to do with this book, but I thought it was juicy.

UP NEXT: The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

348. The Waves

The Waves
Virginia Woolf
1931

Around 325 pages

Virginia Woolf has officially gone full throttle with her experimentalism, making it harder and harder to grasp the thread of the story. She's still talented, but I don't find these later novels nearly as enjoyable as her early works.

The novel follows the reflections of six narrators, all of whom are based on characters in Woolf's life, including Vanessa Bell, T.S. Eliot, and E.M. Forster. I know all novels are auto-biographical to an extent, but does every character lately have to be based on an English author from the 30s? Apparently, yes.

Woolf blends poetry and prose, making something unique that is nearly incoherent and occasionally moving. Poor thing.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

In a 2015 poll conducted by BBC, The Waves was voted the 16th greatest British novel ever written.

UP NEXT: To the North by Elizabeth Bowen

347. The Glass Key

The Glass Key
Dashiell Hammett
1930
Around 215 pages

I'll be honest, these hard-boiled detective novels tend to run together. But they are fun, and they don't take themselves too seriously. Well, they do take themselves very seriously, which is why it is fun.

Ned Beaumont is a gambler and best friend of mobster Paul Madvig. Ned finds the body of the senator's son in the street, and is asked by Madvig to thwart the investigation so Madvig can marry the senator's daughter. Ned investigates the murder, encountering a dame or two along the way.

Modern man dreams of being a wise-cracking Marvel badass. I believe the men of the 30s were imagining they were Ned Beaumont: able to seduce any woman, impervious to torture, a diehard loyal friend, an obvious alcoholic.

So a fun novel and the brewing gang war provided a particularly interesting backdrop for the story. 

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Dedicated to his ex lover Nell Martin.

Dorothy Parker wrote that "there is entirely too little screaming about the work of Dashiell Hammett." The Queen hath spoken.

UP NEXT: The Waves by Virginia Woolf. 

346. Cakes and Ale

Cakes and Ales
William Somerset Maugham
1930
Around 310 pages

We are on a string of not so great novels, which pains me to say, as I am a huge Maugham fan. Of Human Bondage changed my life forever. So I guess my expectations for this novel were a scooch high. Once again, the author is depending on us to understand allusions to the personalities of dead writers. Who the hell is Hugh Walpole? 

 Our narrator is William Ashenden, an author who is contacted by Alroy Kear, a busybody, slightly hacky writer. Alroy wants assistance after being commissioned to write the biography of the late Edward Driffield. Driffield's second wife is hellbent on cementing Driffield's literary reputation, even though it is well known that Edward's first wife, Rosie, was his muse and was largely responsible for his success.

Okay, maybe this is better than I am giving it credit for. After all, Maugham is a magnificent writer, and I do love reading about reading. It's just a little dry and not as good as Of Human Bondage.

Why are so many titles from Shakespeare lately? I know the man is timeless, but it seems like a weird coincidence. 

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Title is based on the remark of Sir Toby Belch to Malvolio in Twelfth Night: "Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?"

Alroy Kear was based on Hugh Walpole. In The Fine Art of Literary Mayhem, Myrick Land asserts that Cakes and Ale ruined the last 11 years of Walpole's life and destroyed his reputation as a writer.

UP NEXT: The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett