Can anyone recommend any fiction that features the type of characters we all love from the films. The loner, the drifter, bounty hunter, corrupt lawmen, bandit etc. I see that there has been a little discussion about this in the past but wondered if anyone had anything further to add. I did have a copy of TGTBATU written by Joe Millard (who I believe penned his take on the original dollars films as well as additional stories) but I have lost it sometime over the years.
I’m not necessarily looking for stories based on any film but anything along those lines. Good adult fiction based in the old West.
Yojimbo was a samourai story, of course, but it was also partly based on an American novel by Dashiell Hammet, RED HARVEST (with some elements taken from another Hammet novel, The Glas Key); Leone brought the story back to the country where it belonged
If you like loners, corrupt lawmen etc. the works of Hammet are fine
I would start with THE MALTESE FALCON, a more straightforward novel than Red Harvest
The work of Raymond Chandler is even better than Hammet’s
Nearly alll his Philip Marlowe novels are classics
Start with THE BIG SLEEP
Personally I prefer Ross MacDonald to Hammet and Chandler, but his work is more introspective, more restrained
THE GOODBYE LOOK is my personal favourite
Although probably not in a spaghetti style, Elmore Leonard has written a bunch of westerns; a number of which were made into movies. (3.10 to Yuma, Hombre and Valdez is Coming all spring to mind) He is an excellent writer of genre fiction so he might be worth a try.
[quote=“scherpschutter, post:2, topic:1172”]Yojimbo was a samourai story, of course, but it was also partly based on an American novel by Dashiell Hammet, RED HARVEST (with some elements taken from another Hammet novel, The Glas Key); Leone brought the story back to the country where it belonged
If you like loners, corrupt lawmen etc. the works of Hammet are fine
I would start with THE MALTESE FALCON, a more straightforward novel than Red Harvest
The work of Raymond Chandler is even better than Hammet’s
Nearly alll his Philip Marlowe novels are classics
Start with THE BIG SLEEP
Personally I prefer Ross MacDonald to Hammet and Chandler, but his work is more introspective, more restrained
THE GOODBYE LOOK is my personal favourite[/quote]
I admire the works of Chandler and Hammet ! The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon are classic American crime novels of the hard-boiled dick style ! I just love those pulp-novels out of magazines like Black Mask where Chandler and Hammet published their first short stories. Later more on the subject !
I’ve probably said this elsewhere but I would really recommend the books by Thomas Eidson too. Really intelligent writing based in the old west. The Last Ride was made into a movie (The Missing) and is an excellent read but I would also recommend St Agnes’ Stand for a good action story with a loner character who could easily be at home in a spaghetti western.
Look no further than the vivid, authentically detailed and extremely bloody novels churned out by the various “Piccadilly Cowboys” during the 70s - especially the series Jubal Cade (Charles R Pike), Breed (James A Muir), Gunslinger (Charles C Garrett), Hawk (William S Brady), Edge (George G Gilman) and Herne the Hunter (John J McGlaglen). Examples widely available from eBay and Amazon Marketplace.
I second the recommendation for the Piccadilly Cowboys. They are all fantastic reads.
And I always base my stories along the bloodlines of a spaghetti oater. I’ve been accused of being too descriptive with my violence and sex, though. So beware.