HomeGroupsTalkZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

The Big Sleep (1939)

by Raymond Chandler

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Philip Marlowe (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
9,764271687 (3.98)652
The iconic first novel from crime fiction master Raymond Chandler, featuring Philip Marlowe, the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times). A dying millionaire hires private eye Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, and Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in.… (more)
1930s (9)
Read (36)
My TBR (18)
Read (25)
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 652 mentions

English (255)  Spanish (5)  Swedish (3)  French (2)  Portuguese (Portugal) (1)  Hebrew (1)  Portuguese (1)  German (1)  Italian (1)  Danish (1)  All languages (271)
Showing 1-5 of 255 (next | show all)
both fun and hard for me. i think noir is a tough sell for me, but parts of this were really great, and i know that this was one of the first of this genre. considering that it was originally published in 1939 it's pretty great, just a little hard for me to get into and not be confused. by the end i was much more into it.

my favorite examples of the language this type of book is known for are
when talking about an innocuous greenhouse: "The plants filled the place, a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men." ?!?! what?
and especially: "The General spoke again, slowly, using his strength as carefully as an out-of-work show-girl uses her last good pair of stockings."

"Neither of the two people in the room paid any attention to the way I came in, although only one of them was dead."

"'He didn't know the right people. That's all a police record means in this rotten crime-ridden country.'" ( )
  overlycriticalelisa | May 21, 2023 |
3,5 ( )
  lulusantiago | Mar 11, 2023 |
I really liked this book. Great descriptions, juicy similes. This is really the book that defined the hard-boiled detective fiction genre as we know it. ( )
  qaphsiel | Feb 20, 2023 |
Raymond Chandler conjures a massively influential genre lead in Philip Marlowe. The classic private eye, blackmail, subterfuge, murder, corruption, femme fatale's and more are all present here and although the story beats are all familiar, there is a good reason for that. In addition, the craft in telling a story, using challenging jargonistic language in a way that is crystal clear to the reader, and on top of that, making the mystery not solvable from the first page? When an author invents the formula but the reader doesn't necessarily have a handle on his style, that's the good stuff!

This is a very short novel and it took me some time to finish this. I'm not going to go all out and give it 5 stars just because it didn't quite hook me the way it did my brother, who finished it in a single day. Still I can see myself coming back to this one day and perhaps I might look at it more favourably then! ( )
  GlencoeTraveler | Feb 20, 2023 |
Great book. Question folks: Was there a version starring Robert Mitchum?? ( )
  graeme.bell3 | Dec 31, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 255 (next | show all)
Novela repleta de nervio y de ingeniosos diálogos. Es un caso de chantaje el que lleva a Marlowe a asomarse a las alcantarillas de una sociedad en apariencia espléndida.
added by Pakoniet | editLecturalia
 

» Add other authors (59 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Chandler, Raymondprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Adams, TomCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Del Buono, OresteTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gould, ElliottNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kidder, HarveyCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Marking, StevenCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ortlepp, GunarTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Porter, RayNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rankin, IanIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Virtanen, SeppoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Грънчаров, МихаилTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

Is contained in

Has the (non-series) sequel

Has the adaptation

Is expanded in

Is parodied in

Inspired

Has as a student's study guide

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills.
Quotations
Such a lot of guns around town, and so few brains.
Whoever had done it had meant business. Dead men are heavier than broken hearts.
It had the austere simplicity of fiction rather than the tangled woof of fact.
What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were 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.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

The iconic first novel from crime fiction master Raymond Chandler, featuring Philip Marlowe, the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times). A dying millionaire hires private eye Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, and Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Plot Summary: The decrepit General Sternwood hires Detective Marlowe to investigate Geiger, the man who is blackmailing him. Marlowe discovers Geiger is running a pornography lending library under the front of an antique book store. Marlowe tries to confront Geiger, but finds Geiger dead along with evidence that Geiger has been taking nude photos of Sternwood’s youngest daughter Carmen. While Marlowe takes the drugged Carmen home, Geiger’s body disappears along with the photographic evidence. As one murder leads to another, Marlowe must follow the clues to protect the Sternwood family from its own dark secrets.
Appeal Factors: Private investigator subgenre. Narrated in the first-person by Marlowe. Primary characters are complex. The atmosphere is dark and brooding. The frame highlights the dark underbelly of L.A. The language is succinct, but very descriptive; powerful, gritty and realistic. Action scenes are suspenseful and fairly fast-paced, with space for reflection in between. The reader is drawn in as Marlowe uncovers each new layer of clues. Violent, but not graphic.
Haiku summary
General's daughters
are handful for Marlowe...but
who did slay chauffeur?
(abbottthomas)

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.98)
0.5 3
1 16
1.5 3
2 105
2.5 20
3 459
3.5 164
4 1044
4.5 118
5 735

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

Penguin Australia

2 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.

Editions: 0140108920, 0141037598

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 188,653,540 books! | Top bar: Always visible