Helpful Score: 6
Good vintage/ classic detective novel. I haven't read any of Chandler's books before, so I started with this one, his first. I never read the classic detective novels because I knew that they took place in the forties and I thought that they would be really dated and old fashioned. Yet again, I was wrong. I don't know why I thought that it would be more innocent than it was. People are people and they murdered and gambled and drank and slept around just as well, if not better, than we do now. If you are a fan of mystery and detective novels you should give this a try.
This is a classic detective novel. What most stands out to me is the voice. It makes you feel like you're in an old movie. Fun to read.
Helpful Score: 1
good pulp...much better than the movie, especially the crappy 70's version.
Helpful Score: 1
Amazon.com
"His thin, claw-like hands were folded loosely on the rug, purple-nailed. A few locks of dry white hair clung to his scalp, like wild flowers fighting for life on a bare rock." Published in 1939, when Raymond Chandler was 50, this is the first of the Philip Marlowe novels. Its bursts of sex, violence, and explosively direct prose changed detective fiction forever. "She was trouble. She was tall and rangy and strong-looking. Her hair was black and wiry and parted in the middle. She had a good mouth and a good chin. There was a sulky droop to her lips and the lower lip was full."
"His thin, claw-like hands were folded loosely on the rug, purple-nailed. A few locks of dry white hair clung to his scalp, like wild flowers fighting for life on a bare rock." Published in 1939, when Raymond Chandler was 50, this is the first of the Philip Marlowe novels. Its bursts of sex, violence, and explosively direct prose changed detective fiction forever. "She was trouble. She was tall and rangy and strong-looking. Her hair was black and wiry and parted in the middle. She had a good mouth and a good chin. There was a sulky droop to her lips and the lower lip was full."
For some reason I have put off reading the Philip Marlowe crime novels of Raymond Chandler. I did read one of his later novels, THE LITTLE SISTER, back in the 1970's but I don't really remember much about it. I've read a lot of other hard-case noir detective novels including most of Dashiell Hammett as well as Mickey Spillane, John MacDonald, etc. Anyway, I really enjoyed THE BIG SLEEP and I will be looking forward to reading more Chandler. I do remember seeing the Humphrey Bogart movie version of this many years ago and I will also be looking out for it to see how it compares to the book.
This is the first in Chandler's series of Philip Marlowe novels and was published in 1939. Marlowe is hired by a wealthy retired General Sternwood to look into a case of blackmail. Sternwood is the father of two somewhat wild daughters, Vivian and Carmen, and the youngest, Carmen seems to owe a rather large gambling debt. Vivian is married to an ex-bootlegger who has apparently run off with a mobster's wife. Carmen is also prone to drugs and men and is easily manipulated. Although Marlowe is hired to address the blackmailing related to gambling, Sternwood also hints that he would like to find Vivian's missing husband. What appears to be a rather straightforward case turns into a real morass for Marlowe taking him through the bleak worlds of illicit pornography, drugs, and other forms of racketeering in the Los Angeles of the late 1930's. Several murders occur along the way with Marlowe in the thick of things but everything seems to tie back to the Sternwoods and especially the two daughters.
Chandler really has a flair for descriptive language and he also is among the first of the hard-boiled noir writers where the detective follows random leads rather than trying to deduce conclusions based on clues and intellect which was a mainstay of detective novels since the time of Sherlock Holmes. Sorry I took so long to read this great crime classic and I will be looking forward to more by Chandler.
This is the first in Chandler's series of Philip Marlowe novels and was published in 1939. Marlowe is hired by a wealthy retired General Sternwood to look into a case of blackmail. Sternwood is the father of two somewhat wild daughters, Vivian and Carmen, and the youngest, Carmen seems to owe a rather large gambling debt. Vivian is married to an ex-bootlegger who has apparently run off with a mobster's wife. Carmen is also prone to drugs and men and is easily manipulated. Although Marlowe is hired to address the blackmailing related to gambling, Sternwood also hints that he would like to find Vivian's missing husband. What appears to be a rather straightforward case turns into a real morass for Marlowe taking him through the bleak worlds of illicit pornography, drugs, and other forms of racketeering in the Los Angeles of the late 1930's. Several murders occur along the way with Marlowe in the thick of things but everything seems to tie back to the Sternwoods and especially the two daughters.
Chandler really has a flair for descriptive language and he also is among the first of the hard-boiled noir writers where the detective follows random leads rather than trying to deduce conclusions based on clues and intellect which was a mainstay of detective novels since the time of Sherlock Holmes. Sorry I took so long to read this great crime classic and I will be looking forward to more by Chandler.
Raymond Chandler is a legendary writer in the genre of tough, hard drinking, wise-guy detectives. His detective, Philip Marlowe, self describes himself as "I'm a licensed private investigator and have been for quite a while. I'm a lone wolf, unmarried, getting middle-aged, and not rich...I like liquor and women and chess and a few other things..."
This was my first Chandler book, and I picked it up because Chandler is legendary. He began writing in his 40's, a drunk who has a way with words. Most of his books were made into movies.
Marlowe is a cynical tough guy, with an ability at description to cause chuckles. For example, describing a young woman, "She was twenty or so, small and delicately put together, but she look durable."
This is a story of sex, drugs, blackmail and high society as narrated by Marlowe, a cynical tough guy. While it was written and takes place in the 30's, it is alive with dialogue, plot and action. Refreshingly, writers then could bring action to life without constant four-letter words, extreme violence, or graphically descriptive sex scenes. How refreshing that is...actual talent on display versus blatant obscenities spewed out that no longer shock so much as disgust, as the shock value is long gone.
If you have not read Raymond Chandler, as I had not, put it on your bucket list of books to be read.
This was my first Chandler book, and I picked it up because Chandler is legendary. He began writing in his 40's, a drunk who has a way with words. Most of his books were made into movies.
Marlowe is a cynical tough guy, with an ability at description to cause chuckles. For example, describing a young woman, "She was twenty or so, small and delicately put together, but she look durable."
This is a story of sex, drugs, blackmail and high society as narrated by Marlowe, a cynical tough guy. While it was written and takes place in the 30's, it is alive with dialogue, plot and action. Refreshingly, writers then could bring action to life without constant four-letter words, extreme violence, or graphically descriptive sex scenes. How refreshing that is...actual talent on display versus blatant obscenities spewed out that no longer shock so much as disgust, as the shock value is long gone.
If you have not read Raymond Chandler, as I had not, put it on your bucket list of books to be read.
Every once-in-a-while, I just have to read Raymond Chandler again. He's the king of the hard-boiled detective novel and I love his fabulous turn of a phrase. To me, he captures 'film noir' in print. The story is less important (to me) than the language he uses to convey thoughts and ideas. I really don't know how to phrase it but I like to feel Raymond Chandler's language pour over me. His phrasing is so sharp and pithy.
This novel is about the 1940s Los Angeles and in it, Raymond Chandler is a descriptive genius. The dialogue is forcefully expressive and Marlowe oozes with sarcasm. This book is a study of 1940s morality in Los Angeles. Television has made America more homogeneous in many ways. But in the years highlighted in this book, morals and behaviors were certainly different in the city vs. the small towns of America. This story captures a long-gone era, but we are able to peek in because of Chandler's clear lens. A great read.
This novel is about the 1940s Los Angeles and in it, Raymond Chandler is a descriptive genius. The dialogue is forcefully expressive and Marlowe oozes with sarcasm. This book is a study of 1940s morality in Los Angeles. Television has made America more homogeneous in many ways. But in the years highlighted in this book, morals and behaviors were certainly different in the city vs. the small towns of America. This story captures a long-gone era, but we are able to peek in because of Chandler's clear lens. A great read.
Excellent book. If you enjoy detective stories you will love it.
I read this with the expectation that I would be intrigued. I had heard a great many good things about this. Honestly, for a noir novel this one felt pretty flat. It wasn't poorly written by any means. It just didn't have the "something" it needed to bring it to life. Perhaps it was the characters. I didn't find myself excited to turn the page. I just felt the need to finish it to say that I'd read it. I've read worse novels though. Worth reading at least once to say you've read it if you haven't yet. Other than that, meh.
This is an old time mystery style with a detective who is smart, tough and gives an honest days work for his pay. In this story he is hired to find out who is blackmailing one of two daughters and his investigation opens up a whole can of worms.
The beginning of Phillip Marlowe. Great to read of the mores of the 1930's.
No one writes noir better than Chandler and this book is perhaps his finest effort. As an LA resident, its also interesting to see how much has changed, but also how much remains the same.
I had trouble getting into it. I guess I don't care for crime mystery as much as cozy mysteries.
I had trouble staying interested. At least I know who Michael Connelly and Robert Crais (and many others) have to thank for their style. I didn't like the "voice" as much as another reviewer did. This is the 3rd Chandler novel I've tried, and in all of them the voice seemed disconnected from reality.
This is one of the grand daddys of the murder mystery. raymond Chandler only did about six of them. This the tough detective against the bad guys and at least one trecherous woman. It's great reading. The stylized writing is probably a little too simple for some readers, but it emerged in the 30's...and carried us up to Papa Hemingway and Mickey Spillane. Oh, by the way, it's a good story.
Cool noire detective fiction from one of the masters! A great vacation read.
Have just barely started reading this. The initial premise of an old man and two scheming daughters bring King Lear to mind. I'll have to read on to see if this idea holds up.
I have to be careful not the conflate my feelings about the hardboiled genre and this example of it. Raymond Chandler's first novel, The Big Sleep, is undoubtedly a classic hardboiled detective story. Chandler introduces Philip Marlowe, the protagonist of several more novels, as a more fleshed-out and likable character than those in Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, another recent read in this genre. Chandler's prose, while still succinct and edgy in a masculine manner, has more attitude. Although a new plot twist at the end of every chapter is standard, I felt there was a place in the middle where the plot could have resolved, and subsequent developments were merely to prolong the story. Nonetheless, I'm glad the list of 1001 books you must read before you die led me to The Big Sleep.
Love vintage mysteries. This one finds Philip Marlowe involved with three murders. While he has been hired by a dying millionaire to help with the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, he finds kidnapping, murder and untangling a variety of criminal actions to discover what really happened. He is rather philosophic about the experience and at the end of the tale, the author describes his feelings.
"What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or on a marble slab on top of a high hill. You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep. The big sleep, you wre not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell..."
"What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or on a marble slab on top of a high hill. You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep. The big sleep, you wre not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell..."
When I first started reading this book, I didn't think I was going to like it or that I would finish it and at times didn't really understand what was going on. But I stuck with it and eventually things became clear and I found it quite intriguing with many twists to the story and a surprise ending.
Philip Marlowe is a witty and likable character and while reading, I felt like I was watching an old black & white movie that he was narrating.
A good, fast, read.
Philip Marlowe is a witty and likable character and while reading, I felt like I was watching an old black & white movie that he was narrating.
A good, fast, read.
Well written detective story!
