The Big Sleep (1939)
Author: Raymond Chandler
Publisher: Alfred A Knopf
Synopsis:
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a retired general to deal with the blackmail of his freewheeling daughter, but things become more complicated as the case turns to murder.
Impressions:
I really like the '46 adaptation of this story and while the later '78 version is highly flawed, it got me curious about the original. This is actually my first hardboiled detective novel to read, so I enjoyed the experience quite a bit. There's a bit of messiness to the prose, but it does a great job of conveying the character of Philip Marlowe. Honestly, I wouldn't have this be any other way. It's quite effective for what it's trying to do. Chandler wrote most of his novels by merging earlier short stories and you're probably going to see the seams, but it isn't nearly as bad as in his next book, Farewell, My Lovely. If you're used to post-Code movies from this time period, you're likely to be shocked at what they could get away with in print. This is actually good medicine for counteracting the more sanitized world Hollywood used to present. If you like your detectives to be more polished and their mysteries more brain-ticklers, this probably isn't the kind of story for you, but if you want a down-and-dirty look at the seedy underbelly of LA at the time, I recommend it quite a bit. If you take as much of a shine to it as I did, you'll want it in your collection.
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