The Big Sleep (1939)

Enjoyed this book as much as I expected, as a fan of the private detective novels. Requires a bit more keeping-track-of-events than your average mystery novel does nowadays, but keeping up with all the small twists is a part of the fun. ( )

This is quintessential "noire" detective fiction. Chandler pretty much developed the genre to its apex. The Big Sleep is the first of his Philip Marlowe novels. It was later turned into one awesome movie staring Bogart and Bacall, which is one of my all-time favorites (I'm sure I've got it around somewhere...can't wait for another gander).

I don't see a lot of point in rehashing the plot. Marlowe is a private detective who is hired, ostensibly, to protect a rich man (who has two wild daughters) from blackmail. So, there's lots of killing, driving around in the rain, hot women trying out their come-hither looks on whomever seems to have a few extra nickels, drugs, corrupt cops, etc. The previous Chandler book I read (Farewell, My Lovely) was amazingly racist. This one not so much. Rather it engaged in some virulent homophobia. In some ways, it seems, we have improved as a society. In terms of guns, corruption, drugs, punks, floozies, etc., not so much.

With luck, I'll find some other Chandler books on kindle that I can snag from the library, although I fear their selection is rather limited.

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[2016 "review"]
One of my all time favorites. Philip Marlowe is hired by a very rich, and very sick, old man to stop someone's blackmailing him regarding one of his wild daughters' misadventures. He also mentions that his older, slightly more staid, older daughter's spouse has disappeared, and he misses the guy. The son-in-law was about the only friend the old guy had.

Marlowe isn't tasked to look for the son-in-law, but everyone he comes across assumes that he might be. So, of course, he gets curious. Naturally, in the course of events, the blackmailer ends up dead, but he's dead in the presence of a drugged out and naked younger daughter. So, Marlowe tries to find the killer, save the girls from themselves, and figure out what happened to the missing son-in-law. A really masterful novel in the hard-boiled/noire tradition. This book was turned into a Humphrey Bogart film, which is one of Bogy's best, IMHO.
( )

It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. The story dragged, I detested most of the characters, and overall, I just couldn't wait for it to be over. That being said, I haven't been feeling great, so maybe part of the problem is me. Maybe at another time, I'd have loved the novel. I'm not ready to write Chandler off completely. I just need to wait a bit before I try another Marlowe. ( )

Fun, corny. ( )

It may have been a mistake to tune into the Bogart-Bacall film shortly before reading this, because their images kept hovering over the picture Chandler was making. 'The Big Sleep', film or book, is an unquestionable classic, but the fact remains that Philip Marlowe gets kicked around a lot more than I can ever imagine Humphrey Bogart, P.I., allowing.

His short stories laid down some important groundwork but here Chandler's convoluted, but well-built, plots have the breathing room they require. There's no need to go into specifics, if you know the least thing about noir crime novels you have a good idea about what goes down here: seedy blondes and gambling dens, the threat of scandal, desperation, and similies and metaphors stacked like...oh but you see where I'm going. Chandler elevates it to an art form. It's not perfection yet, but he's well on his way.

Philip Marlowe

Next: 'Farewell, My Lovely'

Review of 'Early Novels and Pulp Stories' ( )