The Maltese Falcon
by Dashiell Hammett · first published 1929
50% recommend50% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A tight, hard-boiled detective novel and a genre-defining classic, known for sharp prose and the Flitcraft parable. Well suited to anyone curious about early crime fiction.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Classic noir. Private detective Sam Spade is hired to search for a valuable, gem-encrusted antique in the shape of a falcon. Sam Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with a louse called Floyd Thursby. But Miss Wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and when Spade's partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby's trail, Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird, a treasure worth killing for, before the Fat Man finds him?
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2010–2026Swallows and Amazons
Arthur Michell Ransome
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 122 recommend · 12 mention2 recommend · 122 recommend
2012–2025Distrust that particular flavor
William Gibson
Recommended by 7 · mentioned by 107 recommend · 10 mention7 recommend · 107 recommend
2011–2025The children of the sky
Vernor Vinge
Recommended by 11 · mentioned by 3311 recommend · 33 mention11 recommend · 3311 recommend
2010–2026Neverwhere
Neil Gaiman
Recommended by 20 · mentioned by 3720 recommend · 37 mention20 recommend · 3720 recommend
2009–2026The Fellowship of the Ring
J.R.R. Tolkien
Recommended by 5 · mentioned by 535 recommend · 53 mention5 recommend · 535 recommend
2008–2026Free culture
Lawrence Lessig
Recommended by 28 · mentioned by 5328 recommend · 53 mention28 recommend · 5328 recommend
2007–2026Blood Meridian
Cormac McCarthy
Recommended by 105 · mentioned by 192105 recommend · 192 mention105 recommend · 192105 recommend
2008–2026Good Omens
Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Recommended by 32 · mentioned by 8232 recommend · 82 mention32 recommend · 8232 recommend
…of his books in this lists validates other books I'd never consider... Even though you can't have a Chandler and don't have a Hammett. You can't go wrong with a book by Hammett, I'd probably pick The Maltese Falcon. A classic. Of course, there are some books that I'd personally treat to a Bradbury process... Catcher in the Rye and On the Road are two books I was looking forward to reading (not being English-based…
on “Books to Read in a Lifetime” ↗This is a fascinating subject. I recommend the novel "Oracle Night" by Paul Auster for its treatment of this topic. At the core of "Oracle Night" is a short passage from Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon," reproduced in full here: http://www.fallingbeam.org/beam.htm. This story within a story within a story is about a man named Flitcraft who is walking to lunch one day when a beam from a construction…
on “Writer Evan Ratliff Tried to Vanish: Here’s What Happened” ↗Maltese Falcon by Hammett
on “Raymond Chandler’s guide to street, hoodlum, and prison lingo” ↗Hmmm. It'd be a neat litmus test for you to read The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon. Those are books from a very different time/aesthetic compared to Neuromancer but, in their own way, also defined their genre by being so tryhard they became sublime. It'd be interesting to see if you…
on “William Gibson is a literary genius” ↗Counterweight; Djuna. Good sci Fi. The Thin Man, The Maltese Falcon; Hammett. Good books behind excellent movies.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading these days?” ↗I read "Maltese Falcon" in the eighties. I remember vividly that story about Flitcraft, even if I had forgotten where it came from. It's really powerful.
on “How a script doctor found his own voice” ↗…still makes me happy to see stuff finally entering the public domain again. I don't care much about Betty Boop and I don't really care about Pluto and Mickey all that much, but I'm very excited for The Maltese Falcon's novel being available, since I think that that one could actually be adapted into something pretty modern. Also, All Quiet on the Western Front is very arguably one of the very best movies ever made,…
on “Happy Public Domain Day 2026” ↗Surprised there is no mention of Dashiell Hammett, a contemporary of Christie's. He wrote The Maltese Falcon in 1930, introducing the world to Sam Spade, an interesting contrast to Hercule Poirot. The interwar period certainly was the golden age of detective and mystery novels, whether they were more in line…
on “Father Knox’s decalogue: the ten rules of Golden Age detective fiction” ↗Fiction: Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami (I love Murakami’s novels, recommend starting with Hard Boiled Wonderland though) Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball - Haruki Murakami The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammet (Surprising just how much San Francisco is in it) The Postman Always Rings Twice - James Cain Seveneves - Neal Stephenson (recommended) Pattern Recognition - William Gibson The Sun…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗> Surprised there is no mention of Dashiell Hammett, a contemporary of Christie's. He wrote The Maltese Falcon in 1930, introducing the world to Sam Spade I think it's because Dashiell Hammett wrote in a different genre. Rather than detective fiction, he wrote in the hardboiled or noir style, totally unlike Agatha…
on “Father Knox’s decalogue: the ten rules of Golden Age detective fiction” ↗…Its Discontents 23 Stella Benson – The Far-Away Bride 24 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 25 E. H. Young – Miss Mole 26 P. G. Wodehouse 27 Vladimir Nabokov – The Defense 28 Dashiell Hammett – The Maltese Falcon 29 Roger Mais 30 Saadat Hasan Manto 31 Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz – Insatiability
on “What will enter the public domain in 2026?” ↗…and weaker. I'm sure he'd like to recapture the magic he had at 34, but maybe it requires the fear he spoke of. And an absolute ignorance about computers and networks. I think it shares more with The Maltese Falcon than with any SciFi. Saw WG complaining about GamerGate recently and thought how much he's aged, and how ungracefully, since GG and Operation Disrespectful Nod reminded me of the Panther Moderns.
on “William Gibson: How I wrote Neuromancer” ↗You may be interested to know that the story for The Maltese Falcon, not listed, will also be entering public domain because it was published in monthly installments in Black Mask magazine before it was published as a novel. (Any changes between the publication in Black…
on “What will enter the public domain in 2025?” ↗One thing that the Special Edition did for Star Wars was make clear that it had borrowed the Humphrey Bogart and "Little Pete[r Lorre]-Big Syd[ney Greenstreet]" characters which came from The Maltese Falcon via Casablanca. Sam Spade-Rick Blaine-Han Solo; Casper Gutman-Signor Ferrari-Jabba the Hutt (original version); Joel Cairo-Ugarte-Greedo; and of course they're fighting over a celebrated artificial "Falcon".…
on “Casablanca: How an unproduced play marched into movie history” ↗