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Loading... The Big Sleep; and Farewell, My Lovely (1995)by Raymond Chandler
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. The prose can be cryptic and so dense with 1930s street jargon as to be all but nonsensical to the contemporary reader. Chandler also relies awkwardly on the indefinite article "a," so that lines like "A darkened window slid down" and "A gun had peaked at me," for example, unnecessarily obfuscate the action. Those criticisms aside, the novels do not fail to amuse and thrill. Noir is, after all, a sensibility, and Marlowe's quips, the rain-slicked Hollywood setting, and the portraits of corruption, Depression-era distrust, and sexual antagonism combine to create what some scholars call a truly American brand of existentialism. ( ) The last time I had seen Dr. Cliff Harbour, we had spent time talking about the book I was writing as well as the book that he had written, John Dewey and the Future of Community College Education. During that visit, he insisted that I read The Big Sleep & Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler. In fact, he opened the book to the first page and had me read the first couple paragraphs. He wanted to point it out, and what I noted while reading the book, was that Raymond Chandler sparingly used his words. Yet, he was able to elicit an emotion. Read more Raymond Chandler has a very cynical, hard-boiled writing style which I love. He uses lots of metaphors and similes to describe his scenes and characters; thereby, making brief and yet thorough description. I love Raymond Chandler's work, it makes me feel like I'm there in that time and place. I also love Philip Marlowe, he is cynical, funny, smart-assed, and doesn't let beautiful women manipulate him. I recommend to all who like detective novels. no reviews | add a review
Contains
These two classic novels featuring private eye Philip Marlowe made Raymond Chandler's name synonymous with America's hard-boiled school of crime fiction. The Big Sleep was an instant success when first published in 1939. It centers around a paralyzed California millionaire with two psychopathic daughters; he involves Marlowe in a case of blackmail that turns into murder. Farewell My Lovely, which Chandler regarded as his finest work, came out the following year. It has Marlowe dealing with the Los Angeles gambling circuit, a murder he stumbles upon, and three very beautiful but potentially deadly women. "Chandler writes like a slumming angel and invests the sun-blinded streets of Los Angeles with a romantic presence," said Ross Macdonald. And George V. Higgins wrote: "Chandler is fun to read. He's as bleak as tundra, and his dirtbag characters far outnumber his stellar citizens, but Philip Marlowe is a laconic tour guide through a zoo of truly interesting animals." No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.52Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1900-1944LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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