the big sleep. raymond chandler Paperback – January 1, 2011

A dying millionaire hires Private Detective Philip Marlowe to take care of a situation involving his youngest of two daughters. It seems that she has either been losing a bit too much in an illegal casino or is the victim of blackmail. Either way, Marlowe's job is to make the trouble go away. But this doesn't even scratch the surface of what's waiting for him as he begins to investigate. Before long, the same daughter is present at the scene of a murder, a pornography ring is part of the puzzle, as well as the usual collection of cutthroats and tough guys. Meanwhile, the older daughter's husband, a former gun-runner, has run off and absolutely everyone assumes Marlowe was hired to find him.The Big Sleep, written in 1939, introduced Philip Marlowe to the world and has been entertaining readers ever since. When writing the snappy patter associated with this type of detective fiction, it's a tricky balancing act to make it funny and colorful without degenerating into a self-parody. Chandler not only accomplishes this, he makes it look easy. The dialog and narration deliver plenty of chuckles and offer many a well turned phrase, but are also polished to silky smooth perfection. The plot is a bit convoluted, but this is a detective story after all. The story has to have layers for the hero to keep peeling back and the main thing is that they're all interesting enough to keep the reader wanting to see what happens next.While I don't think anyone would call this novel one of the great character studies in American literature, it's still safe to say that this is not a cast of two dimensional cardboard cutouts either. Marlowe, in particular, is both well developed and likeable. Lesser characters are obviously not developed as thoroughly, but most get enough nuance in how they speak and carry themselves that you don't feel that they're generic in any way.For those who have seen the movie, I should caution that the book is quite different in many ways. A lot of the original story goes into territory that was strictly off limits in the Hollywood of that era. Also, while Bogart was very entertaining, he's fairly different from what you'd picture reading the book. A young James Garner would probably be closer to the character I picture while reading the novel (I know that Garner would have been too young to be in the movie, that's not the point). The main thing to remember is that however much you might have liked the film, reading the book will be a different experience and you'll need to accept that going in.The Big Sleep is my first experience reading Raymond Chandler. I found it a true page turner and completed it in one day. I'll definitely buy more of his work and consider this one of the best books I've read in some time. This is a very easy book to recommend to anyone who is either curious about trying Chandler's work or a fan who hasn't gotten around to this installment just yet.

Before Jim Thompson's nihilistic, tough guy crime fiction, and long before smart-talking private detectives like Robert Crais' Elvis Cole or Dennis Lehane's Patrick Kenzie, there was Raymond Chandler and his prototype hard boiled PI, Phillip Marlowe. While Hammett's Sam Spade pre-dates Marlowe's 1939 debut here in "The Big Sleep", Chandler - through Marlowe - is arguably the standard by which all others are measured, the author who could credibly lay claim as the master of the irreverent maverick sleuth: the fast-fisted, impossibly clever, dame-magnet which so many have since sought to emulate. Less debatable is Chandler's mastery the style and the elegance of prose that he introduced to pulp fiction - sharp and lean as one would expect of the genre, but rich in simile and image and as readable today as it was nearly seven decades ago.In "The Big Sleep", in what looks like a routine case, Marlowe is summoned by a fatally ill millionaire to track down a blackmailer holding compromising pictures of one of his two wayward adult daughters. Chandler gets right to the point in spinning a tale of thugs and hit men trading in pornography and gambling, leading to more murders than a Mel Gibson movie and dalliances sleazy enough to make Bill Clinton blush. Still, while the violence and sex is quaint by today's no-holds-barred onslaught, it is no less effective - consider the terror of the shower screen in Hitchcock's brilliant "Psycho" - one of film's most disturbing moments, though the knife is never seen striking flesh.In fairness, "The Big Sleep" is not Chandler's finest moment. The initial transgression seems neatly wrapped up with nearly half of the book to go, and one wonders what Marlowe is doing as he aimlessly kicks around what seem to be meaningless loose ends in a rather muddled middle of the book. But Chandler's craft keeps the reader engaged, wrapping up with a few clever twists and enough (barely) of the irony these early masters of pulp fiction are so well noted for.If you're a fan of pop crime fiction and haven't gone back to read Chandler (or Thompson, Hammett, Block, Westlake, McBain...), you've got some real treats ahead of you. Great entertainment, while at the same time a peak into the roots and inspiration for so many of today's best crime writers.