::READERS REVIEWS::

A Classic Noir - I have always felt that comparing Raymond Chandler to most mystery writers is like comparing The Beatles to The Monkeys. Chandler is an artist who had tremendous talent and skill and worked in a popular genre. Chandler was a tremendous writer. He chose to write in the p.i. genre because it suited him and his interests, but his novels are fine writing, and great reading. Lucky us, we also get to experience his great gift for writing compelling action sequences. The only recent noir novel that I have found that approximates Chandler in literary merit is the Kindle-only novel "The Wounded Man;" a 99 cent undiscovered gem that suggests Amazon.com will take over the world.

Having enjoyed Chandler's literary accomplishments through years of occasionally re-reading his classic tales, I do want to correct one misconception. The plot in The Big Sleep is not frail. The strands of the story seem unconnected, but weave together brillianty. Chandler drank quite a bit and said many things, some grumpy and some humble. His statements about plot were really to criticize the British mystery school such as Agatha Christie, who he disdained for lacking literary merit. Chandlers plots all work. He took years on every book, and so he made sure they worked. In this one, without spoiling anything, there's one coincidence and that's about it. Then there's the famous question from Bogey and the director of the film version, about who killed the man who went off the pier, which prompted Chandler's iconic, "I don't know." Chandler knew. I know. Everyone who really reads the book carefully knows. Chandler says it, but he's subtle about it. Hint - the theme song of the MASH movie and series is about it. Chandler just wouldn't answer such a question. He was a brilliant guy, and the world isn't brilliant. Also, based on the way he wrote that death, he may not have wanted to come right out and say.

Raymond Chandler is better compared to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway than other mystery writers. Chandler wrote in the 1930s - 1950s, when opportunity was more defined by class. Even then, Marlowe was slumming, but then he was so good at it that we have to forgive him for it. I agree with the consensus that "The Big Sleep" and "The Long Goodbye" are Chandler's two greatest works. The Big Sleep contains compelling meditations on reality that put it in the same league as the big guns of American writing. Yet, it's a compelling mystery book at the same time. A whiff of the tragic surrounds Marlowe and the Sternwood clan throughout. Although Chandler sometimes humbly claimed that he couldn't write the novel behind the case, that's exactly what he does here. Marlowe's involvement with the Sternwoods is more a question of personal honor, background, and attraction, than of a case. I highly recommend this book both as an entertaining mystery, and as just one of the best American novels. This book should not be missed.

Great Book!! - I had this on my book list for several years before I finally got around to reading it.

It is a great detective story set in mid (last) century or thereabouts LA. Brings that old LA back to life for readers. All film noir like and all that.

I was very surprised at some of the topics taken up in the book given how taboo they were when this was written. Not too shocking today though.

The movie surprisingly (given when it was made) took all this up as well. It is really worth watching too. Humphrey Bogart was really great in it.

Book (and movie) highly recommended.

A Masterpiece - I finished my last Raymond Chandler novel sitting on a bus in Whittier, and the knowledge that I would never again get to read a new Chandler was one of the low moments in my life. Everything that can be said about Philip Marlowe and about his creator has already been said. Other than Dashell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, Chandler has no peers.

A Masterpiece - I finished my last Raymond Chandler novel sitting on a bus in Whittier, and the knowledge that I would never again get to read a new Chandler was one of the low moments in my life. Everything that can be said about Philip Marlowe and about his creator has already been said. Other than Dashell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, Chandler has no peers.

sharp, vivid, and poetic, but ultimately too convoluted - I've wanted to read Mr. Chandler for ages now, and his own life story (conveniently included at the beginning of this edition) shows up a fascinating and plucky gentleman. As the virtual inventor of the modern detective novel, his achievement and influence is undeniable. When reading TBS, I could see private dick Philip Marlowe in every 40s film noir ever made, gravelly voice, smoked up sexiness, tipped hat, aggressive banter and slang, hard assed yet sensitive, too cool for school.

Mr. Chandler's writing is razor sharp and vivid when he is recreating the seedy underbelly of LA. I loved his language. The dialogue was so very quick and witty and full of fabulous 30's and 40's slang, and his descriptions border on poetry at times, gunshot grim and gorgeous.

My one complaint: I found TBS a bit of a `boy' book: too much mafia and manly men, women all beautiful and wasted, and a plot so convoluted that I couldn't keep up. This last I found to be the most distracting of all. Marlowe was always a step ahead of the game, in the right place at the right time, knew what to say and when not to say it, page after damned page. Halfway through, I gave up trying to understand what was going on and just read for the mayhem and fun of it (and this wasn't difficult at all).

Zzzzzzzz....Still, a Great Man Has to Start Somewhere! - Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep is a great example of a seminal novel that is not actually a very good one. It helped establish numerous tropes of the hardboiled mystery subgenre, but the plot is a stitched-together, unsatisfying mess and the psychology is risible. About halfway though the novel, the plot--never very mentally stimulating--runs out of steam. Chandler throws in a naked girl in the hero's bed, some beatings and some shootings before reaching his finish, which predictably turns on the hardboiled keystone credo, "dames are bad news."

Chandler's main purpose in this book seems to be to convey his conception of masculine dignity and honor withstanding the temptations offered by rich, decadent, beautiful young women. This is a valid enough idea for a novel and the opening image of the knight in stained glass in a truly arresting one, but Chandler's "psychology" is blundering and heavyhanded. He was quite daring for his day in his presentation of blatantly loose women and "degenerate" homosexuals, but these depictions are not only insulting and offputting now but I would argue quite shallow (thumb-sucking, loose-bladdered, nymphomaniac Carmen has to be one of the most cartoonish and misogynistic creations in the genre by a serious writer). The characters with whom Chandler sympathizes are his ego-projection detective, Philip Marlowe, and Marlowe's original client, old, dying General Sternwood; tellingly, these are the only characters in the book who get anything beyond surface treatment.

In The Big Sleep Chandler achieves some of his patented, pithy bon mots, but his writing would get better in his next book, Farewell, My Lovely, as would his plotting. Chandler is a great figure in the genre and he produced some great detective novels, but The Big Sleep is not one of them.

A Classic Noir - I have always felt that comparing Raymond Chandler to most mystery writers is like comparing The Beatles to The Monkeys. Chandler is an artist who had tremendous talent and skill and worked in a popular genre. Chandler was a tremendous writer. He chose to write in the p.i. genre because it suited him and his interests, but his novels are fine writing, and great reading. Lucky us, we also get to experience his great gift for writing compelling action sequences. The only recent noir novel that I have found that approximates Chandler in literary merit is the Kindle-only novel "The Wounded Man;" a $1.99 undiscovered gem that suggests Amazon.com will take over the world.

Having enjoyed Chandler's literary accomplishments through years of occasionally re-reading his classic tales, I do want to correct one misconception. The plot in The Big Sleep is not frail. The strands of the story seem unconnected, but weave together brillianty. Chandler drank quite a bit and said many things, some grumpy and some humble. His statements about plot were really to criticize the British mystery school such as Agatha Christie, who he disdained for lacking literary merit. Chandlers plots all work. He took years on every book, and so he made sure they worked. In this one, without spoiling anything, there's one coincidence and that's about it. Then there's the famous question from Bogey and the director of the film version, about who killed the man who went off the pier, which prompted Chandler's iconic, "I don't know." Chandler knew. I know. Everyone who really reads the book carefully knows. Chandler says it, but he's subtle about it. Hint - the theme song of the MASH movie and series is about it. Chandler just wouldn't answer such a question. He was a brilliant guy, and the world isn't brilliant. Also, based on the way he wrote that death, he may not have wanted to come right out and say.

Raymond Chandler is better compared to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway than other mystery writers. Chandler wrote in the 1930s - 1950s, when opportunity was more defined by class. Even then, Marlowe was slumming, but then he was so good at it that we have to forgive him for it. I agree with the consensus that "The Big Sleep" and "The Long Goodbye" are Chandler's two greatest works. The Big Sleep contains compelling meditations on reality that put it in the same league as the big guns of American writing. Yet, it's a compelling mystery book at the same time. A whiff of the tragic surrounds Marlowe and the Sternwood clan throughout. Although Chandler sometimes humbly claimed that he couldn't write the novel behind the case, that's exactly what he does here. Marlowe's involvement with the Sternwoods is more a question of personal honor, background, and attraction, than of a case. I highly recommend this book both as an entertaining mystery, and as just one of the best American novels. This book should not be missed.

Great Short Read - Book arrived in perfect condition--was easy to read--and yet a classic. Great for reluctant readers high school age and up.

A Classic Noir - I have always felt that comparing Raymond Chandler to most mystery writers is like comparing The Beatles to The Monkeys. Chandler is an artist who had tremendous talent and skill and worked in a popular genre. Chandler was a tremendous writer. He chose to write in the p.i. genre because it suited him and his interests, but his novels are fine writing, and great reading. Lucky us, we also get to experience his great gift for writing compelling action sequences. The only recent noir novel that I have found that approximates Chandler in literary merit is the e-book novel "The Wounded Man." In a slightly different genre, but with a noir aspect, "The Scent of Shadows" is very good. However, nobody does it like Chandler.

Having enjoyed Chandler's literary accomplishments through years of occasionally re-reading his classic tales, I do want to correct one misconception. The plot in The Big Sleep is not frail. The strands of the story seem unconnected, but weave together well. Chandler drank quite a bit and said many things, some grumpy and some humble. His statements about plot were really to criticize the British mystery school such as Agatha Christie, who he disdained for lacking literary merit. Chandlers plots work. He took years on every book, and so he made sure they worked. In this one, without spoiling anything, there's one coincidence and that's about it. Then there's the famous question from Bogey and the director of the film version, about who killed the man who went off the pier, which prompted Chandler's iconic, "I don't know." Chandler knew. I know. Everyone who really reads the book carefully knows. Chandler says it, but he's subtle about it. Hint - the theme song of the MASH movie and series is about it. Chandler just wouldn't answer such a question. He was a brilliant guy, and the world isn't brilliant. Also, based on the way he wrote that death, he may not have wanted to come right out and say.

Raymond Chandler is better compared to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway than other mystery writers. Chandler wrote in the 1930s - 1950s, when opportunity was more defined by class. Even then, Marlowe was slumming, but then he was so good at it that we have to forgive him for it. I agree with the consensus that "The Big Sleep" and "The Long Goodbye" are Chandler's two greatest works. The Big Sleep contains compelling meditations on reality that put it in the same league as the big guns of American writing. Yet, it's a compelling mystery book at the same time. A whiff of the tragic surrounds Marlowe and the Sternwood clan throughout. Although Chandler sometimes humbly claimed that he couldn't write the novel behind the case, that's exactly what he does here. Marlowe's involvement with the Sternwoods is more a question of personal honor, background, and attraction, than of a case. I highly recommend this book both as an entertaining mystery, and as just one of the best American novels. This book should not be missed.

A classic American crime fiction novel - Raymond Chandler was born on July 23 1888 at Chicago Illinois. In 1896 he attended Dulwich College in London. Between 1905 and 1912 he spent a year in France and Germany, then after passing his Civil Service examinations he worked for the British Admiralty for six months while living in Bloomsbury, becoming a freelance journalist for a while before returning to the U.S. At the outbreak of war he enlisted with the Canadian Gordan Highlanders, served in France before joining the Royal Flying Corps, and was demobilised in England in 1919. After the death of his mother, five years after returning to California, he married. After various kinds of jobs, the first of a number of his stories were published in Black Mask Magazine, between 1933 and 1936, then in Detective Monthly in 1937/38. His first full-length novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939.
We are introduced to Phillip Marlowe, a cynical, world weary private eye who describes himself as 'neat, clean, shaved and sober - everything a well-dressed private detective ought to be' as he is about to enter the Sternwood residence, with 'entrance doors, which would have let in a troop of Indian elephants'. On the way is confronted by 'trouble' in the form of a young woman with expressionless eyes and predatory teeth. He introduces himself as 'Doghouse Reilly - a sleuth'. 'You're cute', she giggles.
He is taken by the butler-chauffer to a greenhouse filled with plants: 'a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men'. He meets an old and obviously dying man (General Sternwood) sitting in a wheel chair. It appears a certain Arthur Gwynne Geiger is attempting to collect gambling debts owed by the General's daughter Carmen - whom we have already met.
From that stage onward the plot thickens and the pace never slackens. Chandler's superb eye for detail and laconic dialogue remain as fresh and amusing today as when originally written.

more elaborate than I had expected - Having read Maltese Falcon, a natural next step was to give the other "noir" master, Raymond Chandler a read. In many respects the two authors are similar: both wrote during the same time period, both protagonists are private detectives working in California, and (in broad terms) Sam Spade (Hammet) and Philip Marlowe (Chandler) are similar characters: hard-drinking single men, street-smart, smart-alecks who crack wise to the police and often find themselves in situations that require quick thinking or quick fists to get out of. Yet I liked Marlowe better. Chandler is less the mysogynist than Hammet (even making allowances for the time in which they wrote, Chandler's women are less objectified and two dimensional), which is important to me. (With this said, women are far from the independent, strong persons of contemporary fiction.)

In Marlowe's debut, he is given a case of blackmail by a wealthy LA invalid who wants to know who is extorting him: both his daughters have a tendency to get into trouble. An ancillary case is what happened to his son-in-law. Marlowe quickly finds things far from simple blackmail, as a series of murders result, exposing a seedy, vulgar side of the lives LA's wealthy and powerful. True to the genre, all the loose ends aren't tied together until literarlly the final few pages, with a typically bitter-sweet conclusion. But what really gave me a kick was the dialogue - vintage noir:

"All I want is to find out is she dummying up on you, kid. If that's the way you say it is, everything is jakeloo. You can put the bite on the peeper and be on your way."

"I was as empty of life as a scarcrows' pockets. I went out to the kitchenette and drank two cups of black coffee. You can have a hangover from other things than alcohol. I had one from women. Women made me sick."

"It might have annoyed him, but business was business, and you have to hold your teeth clamped around Hollywood to keep from chewing on stray blondes."

The conclusion - and the motive - was convoluted and complicated, overly so, I think. This reservation aside, it was a whole lot of fun to read.

A classic American crime fiction novel - Raymond Chandler was born on July 23 1888 at Chicago Illinois. In 1896 he attended Dulwich College in London. Between 1905 and 1912 he spent a year in France and Germany, then after passing his Civil Service examinations he worked for the British Admiralty for six months while living in Bloomsbury, becoming a freelance journalist for a while before returning to the U.S. At the outbreak of war he enlisted with the Canadian Gordan Highlanders, served in France before joining the Royal Flying Corps, and was demobilised in England in 1919. After the death of his mother, five years after returning to California, he married. After various kinds of jobs, the first of a number of his stories were published in Black Mask Magazine, between 1933 and 1936, then in Detective Monthly in 1937/38. His first full-length novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939.
We are introduced to Phillip Marlowe, a cynical, world weary private eye who describes himself as 'neat, clean, shaved and sober - everything a well-dressed private detective ought to be' as he is about to enter the Sternwood residence, with 'entrance doors, which would have let in a troop of Indian elephants'. On the way is confronted by 'trouble' in the form of a young woman with expressionless eyes and predatory teeth. He introduces himself as 'Doghouse Reilly - a sleuth'. 'You're cute', she giggles.
He is taken by the butler-chauffer to a greenhouse filled with plants: 'a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men'. He meets an old and obviously dying man (General Sternwood) sitting in a wheel chair. It appears a certain Arthur Gwynne Geiger is attempting to collect gambling debts owed by the General's daughter Carmen - whom we have already met.
From that stage onward the plot thickens and the pace never slackens. Chandler's superb eye for detail and laconic dialogue remain as fresh and amusing today as when originally written.The Learning Process: Some Creative Impressions