I’m not a big reader of crime novels, but every so often there’s one that gets my attention. Red Harvest was one of those. I’d previously read and liked The Maltese Falcon, so I was curious to try some of Dashiell Hammett’s other novels. Red Harvest was his first, and is notable for launching the genre of hardboiled detective fiction. In the 1920s, when it was written, the type of crime writing that was popular was Agatha Christie-style ‘cosy crime’. Hammett drew from his own experience as a detective in the writing of Red Harvest, bringing in a hefty dose of violence, moral ambiguity, and realism to a genre that was often sentimental and sanitised. I liked it even more than The Maltese Falcon, and appreciated its unremitting depiction of corruption and brutality.
The story follows the nameless Continental Op, a member of the Continental Detective Agency who is sent to Personville (aka Poisonville) by Donald Willsson, the son of Elihu Willsson, an industrialist who unofficially controls the city. Shortly after the Op arrives, Donald is murdered, and the Op is recruited by Elihu to take the city back from the gangsters who have taken it over. But Elihu is in deeper with the gangsters than the Op realises, and soon his mission becomes a one-man crusade against the forces of corruption in Personville.
The main difference between Red Harvest and the crime novels that came before it is the relationship between the detective and the criminal world. In Agatha Christie’s novels, they are firmly separate. The detective has nothing to do with the criminal(s) until confronting them at the very end. In Red Harvest, the Continental Op becomes heavily involved with the criminal world, interacting with the very people he’s trying to stop. Though still on a mission to take them down, he nevertheless witnesses murders and other criminal activity without stopping them, and even kills people himself. It’s very much the ancestor of modern day ‘gritty’ police dramas and crime novels.
The legacy of Red Harvest is in film as well as literature. Akira Kurosawa seemingly drew influence from it for his 1961 film Yojimbo, which was later remade into A Fistful of Dollars. However, the book itself has never been adapted except for the 1930 film Roadhouse Nights, which changed too many things to be considered a real adaptation. This seems strange, since the story would work well on film. It’s pacy and engaging, and contains enough incident to sustain a film if one were to be made.
Did it make me want to read more crime novels? It certainly made me curious. I’ve always enjoyed mysteries, and there’s few more intriguing than the whodunnit. However, it’s not going to be something I’ll ever gravitate to. I find that they don’t stay with me as much as other books do, because once the solution is clear, there’s not a lot left to take from it. Red Harvest was an exception, though. It’s a book with something to say about corruption and violence, and one that I know will stay with me where others haven’t.
Review by Charlie Alcock
The main difference between Red Harvest and the crime novels that came before it is the relationship between the detective and the criminal world. In Agatha Christie’s novels, they are firmly separate. The detective has nothing to do with the criminal(s) until confronting them at the very end. In Red Harvest, the Continental Op becomes heavily involved with the criminal world, interacting with the very people he’s trying to stop. Though still on a mission to take them down, he nevertheless witnesses murders and other criminal activity without stopping them, and even kills people himself. It’s very much the ancestor of modern day ‘gritty’ police dramas and crime novels.
The legacy of Red Harvest is in film as well as literature. Akira Kurosawa seemingly drew influence from it for his 1961 film Yojimbo, which was later remade into A Fistful of Dollars. However, the book itself has never been adapted except for the 1930 film Roadhouse Nights, which changed too many things to be considered a real adaptation. This seems strange, since the story would work well on film. It’s pacy and engaging, and contains enough incident to sustain a film if one were to be made.
Did it make me want to read more crime novels? It certainly made me curious. I’ve always enjoyed mysteries, and there’s few more intriguing than the whodunnit. However, it’s not going to be something I’ll ever gravitate to. I find that they don’t stay with me as much as other books do, because once the solution is clear, there’s not a lot left to take from it. Red Harvest was an exception, though. It’s a book with something to say about corruption and violence, and one that I know will stay with me where others haven’t.
Review by Charlie Alcock
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