From the Bookshelf of I Read Therefore I Am…

The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1)

Raymond Chandler

Start date: June 13, 2014

Finish date: July 15, 2014

Discussion: Monthly Boxall's Reads

Why we're reading this: June Boxall's Read…more
[close] June Boxall's Read

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 13 topics — 517 comments total

Monthly Boxall's Reads

* Up and Coming Monthly Reads
By deleted member · 58 posts · 148 views

last updated Aug 21, 2014 09:34PM

Hallucinating Foucault - Patricia Duncker
By Laurel · 3 posts · 7 views

last updated Aug 21, 2014 09:37PM

showing 3 of 3 topics view all »

What Members Thought

May 13, 2019 David Sarkies rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This Ain’t no Agatha Christie
13 May 2019

Apparently the story goes that Raymond Chandler was reading with pulp detective novel, said ‘this is absolute rubbish, I could write so much better’ and this was the result. The thing is that I remember watching the film years ago, the one with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and I really struggled to understand what was going on. In fact, a friend of mine watched it with me and he also struggled to understand what was going on as well, which was odd b This Ain’t no Agatha Christie
13 May 2019

Apparently the story goes that Raymond Chandler was reading with pulp detective novel, said ‘this is absolute rubbish, I could write so much better’ and this was the result. The thing is that I remember watching the film years ago, the one with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and I really struggled to understand what was going on. In fact, a friend of mine watched it with me and he also struggled to understand what was going on as well, which was odd because The Maltese Falcon seemed to make a lot more sense (though I have since discovered that it was written by a different author, and is about a different detective). Well, upon discovering the book, I thought maybe this might clear things up a bit.

Well, it certainly did that, and it does now make a lot more sense, and I’d also have to say that it was pretty damn good as well particularly the nice little twist at the end (view spoiler). In fact, with the story that I mentioned above, and the fact that a lot of the British detective stories pretty much took the formula produced by Doyle (and also Poe) and ran with it, it is quite refreshing to see something quite different.

Look, don’t get me wrong, I do rather like Sherlock Holmes, but the thing is that pretty much all of the stories boil down to a single formula, and while there are twists and all that, pretty much half is devoted to setting everything up, and the rest devoted to Holmes explaining everything. Then with have Christie whose stories are basically all the same, with different faces – a group of people are trapped somewhere, there is a murder, and then this lovely old lady, or some guy with a ridiculously hideous mustache, proceeds to tell us what happened (though I am still running with the theory that Poirot is actually the murder because, well, how is it that he just happens to be there when somebody bites the dust).

Let us go back to Chandler because he certainly has written something much different to what we would have been used to before hand. First of all our protagonist isn’t actually what one would consider a good guy, and he certainly isn’t all that puritanical either (though others do suggest that he is a knight in shinning armour, in a corrupt and despicable world). By no means – Marlowe is a bit of a thug, and he certainly doesn’t pull any punches either. One could almost theorise that this is the introduction of the ‘tough guy’ detective. The second thing is that he is a private eye, and the reality is that people don’t hire private investigators unless there is something they don’t want the police to find out about (another reason why I shy away from the knight metaphor).

Actually, that’s not quite true – I used to work in the insurance industry, and there is actually a lot of work for investigators, though it certainly isn’t interesting work in the Raymond Chandler (or even Jessica Jones) train of thought. Mind you, one guy that I spoke to did mention that they do get a lot of people wanting to become private dicks because, well, they think that it is like being a spy (or no doubt living the life of Phillip Marlowe, despite the fact that Marlowe does point out that it isn’t all that remunerative), and are generally sorely disappointed. On the other hand, a lot of them also end up being ex-cops, probably because the pay is better, and in some cases it is somewhat safer, not that we have a huge problem with cops getting shot in the line of duty here in Australia.

The other thing is that I never realised that is rained so much in Los Angeles. In fact, the whole sunny, warm, and pleasant idea that I had of Southern California was been completely shattered, but then again I got the exact same impression from Seven, though they never specifically said which city Seven was set in, and in a way they kept it deliberately vague. As for this book, well, as I said previously, it was actually surprisingly good, but then again I did quite enjoy The Maltese Falcon (which, as it turns out, has absolutely nothing to do with this book, with the exception that the movies both had Bogart in them). ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Apr 04, 2015 Angela rated it it was amazing

An utterly superb book. Being too embarrassed to admit I didn't understand the film, I only intended to read 'The Big Sleep' to enhance my viewing pleasure. What a delight to find that Raymond Chandler's mesmerizing style had me from the first paragraph, and I was drawn into P.I. Marlowe's tale of debauchery, bloodshed and blackmailing with gusto. No wonder I was so confused - poor Bogey's portrayal pales in comparison. Many more Chandlers will now be read. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review