This is part of a series of occasional posts where I look at works from Le Monde’s 100 Books of the Century. Please see the separate page (link at the top) for the full list of books and an explanation of why I would do such a thing.
Now that I have some of my life back after a period where I was deranged enough to both work and study full-time (what was I thinking???? etc etc ad infinitum) I’ve decided I need to get back on track with my reading challenge, and I’m easing myself in with the slim novel The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.
The Big Sleep is the first of Chandler’s novels, and the first I’ve read. It’s a mark of how far his style and the hardboiled detectives he created have become assimilated into modern culture that I could hear Humphrey Bogart’s voice in my head reading every word:
Having finished the novel it’s a source of constant disappointment to me that I don’t have Bogie’s voice in my head narrating my daily life, although admittedly if he did turn up he’d probably leave out of utter boredom:
“I walked to the kitchen. A cat appeared from nowhere, making his disgust at the lack of crunchies in his bowl known. I poured a cup of tea. The kettle needed descaling but I couldn’t be bothered. I was out of milk. I debated whether to drink it black or go to the shop. The tea in the cup was as dark as the night outside. As dark as my soul. I put on my coat, knowing the wind outside would be colder than the welcome awaiting my return if the cat bowl remained empty.”
Hmm, it’s not really working, is it? Let’s see it done properly, with tales of blackmail, murder, riches and glamour in Los Angeles, rather than domestic banalities in south London. Private eye Philip Marlowe is summoned by the affluent and moribund General Sternwood:
“His long narrow body was wrapped – in that heat – in a travelling rug and a faded red bathrobe. His thin clawlike hands were folded loosely on the rug, purple-nailed. A few locks of dry white hair clung to his scalp like wild flowers fighting for life on a bare rock […] The General spoke again, slowly, using his strength as carefully as an out-of-work showgirl uses her last pair of good stockings.”
This is the real joy of Chandler, his much-parodied use of simile, inventive and atmospheric. The images he uses accentuate the world-weary knowingness of Marlowe: “Dead men are heavier than broken hearts.” but I must confess that my sheltered existence meant I didn’t always understand all of them: “Her face fell apart like a bride’s pie crust”. Whaaat? Anyone?
As Marlowe investigates the blackmail case the General has employed him to uncover, he is drawn into the seedy underbelly (I think the phrase ‘seedy underbelly’ was probably coined to describe Chandler’s oeuvre) of Los Angeles – “It seemed like a nice neighbourhood to have bad habits in”– pornography, drugs, murder, and of course, sexy ladies at every turn:
“She got up slowly and swayed towards me in a tight black dress that didn’t reflect any light. She had long thighs and she walked with a certain something I hadn’t often seen in bookstores.”
The plot is convoluted, with everyone double-crossing everyone else and Marlowe at the centre of it all, trying to hang on to some sort moral compass:
“I got up feeling sluggish and tired and stood looking out of the windows, with a dark harsh taste of Sternwoods still in my mouth. I was as empty of life as a scarecrow’s pockets.”
He is compelling narrator, wise, brave and so much cooler than probably any of his readers (definitely me, as much as I wish I looked like this):
This is a novel to accept on its own terms – one where atmosphere and style top anything else. Famously, director Howard Hawks queried a plot-hole with Chandler when he was filming The Big Sleep. Chandler confirmed he had no idea as to the answer. But for escapist entertainment, a quick read with a confident narrative voice (Humphrey Bogart’s to be precise), The Big Sleep is a great example of the hard-boiled genre.
“The coffee shop smell from next door came in at the windows with the soot but failed to make me hungry. So I got out my office bottle and took the drink and let my self-respect ride its own race.”
I confess I’ve never read any Chandler – I love Dashiel Hammett if I want a dose of hard-boiled and I think he does it briliantly. OH is a Chandler fan, however – maybe one day I’ll pinch one of his books and have a try!
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I’ve never read any Hammett but I have heard he’s the master of this type of writing – I should give him a go!
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Lovely! I might just work Chandler in to my challenge. I should get to him sometime in the next few years!
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Excellent! How can people say he wasn’t a versatile writer – he lends himself to a variety of challenges 🙂
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Fantastic review – you have such a way with words! good that you don’t have voices in your head narrating your daily life really, though… really enjoyed reading this x
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Thanks! You’re probably right – I’d tire of Bogie pretty quickly but it would definitely be fun for at least 3 minutes 😀
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Haha! Loved Bogie’s commentary on your day – cats can make any world seem a bit noir when the crunchies run out… I reckon Hammett plots better, but for writing style I think Chandler just edges it. Not that I’ve read a great deal of either of them – another two I’d like to know better. I love the quote about her long legs – reminded me of a favourite line from another ‘hard-boiled’ writer, Mickey Spillane – “Her hips waved a happy hello.” I’ve tried it – put my back out… 😉
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I definitely need to read more Chandler and Hammett too, but I get the impression plot is not one Chandler’s main concerns so it doesn’t surprise me that Hammett does it better!
My hips would struggle to manage a curt nod let alone a happy hello 😀
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Hahaha! 😀
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I love Raymond Chandler, and I, too, have Bogart on audio in my head whenever I read him! I’ve not read Hammett, but I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for some from now on. I think you’re right though, you don’t read Chandler for plot, but for syncopation and simile – he writes prose like jazz!
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Prose like jazz is the perfect description of Chandler!
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I too loved the Bogey narration of your day, I heard it in his voice! Plus kettle de-scaler being so poisonous, there could be all kinds of drama there!
The Big Sleep is also on the Guardian list of 100 greatest novels that we are doing, but I’m trying to get some of the heavier ones out the way, as Chandler seems like ice cream, and I wanted to get Richardson, who is the cabbage, eaten first 😉
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I hadn’t thought of that with the kettle descaler – terror at every turn! You are very good to get Richardson done first – he is definitely the cabbage to Chandler’s ice-cream 😀
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Dear madamebibliophile, I am working part time and have enrolled on my PhD full time, so here’s to us, crazy bookworm workaholics with no time to read!
Now, I need to confess I have never ready any classic hard-boiled fiction, although I have read quite some texts on the role women played in these texts. I am in love with the aesthetics of the pictures you posted though, so I should, maybe, revisit the genre. I watched ‘Laura’ last year and was quite taken aback by the whole story. Have you read/seen it?
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I wish you all the luck with your PhD, fellow bookworm workaholic! I am so impressed!
I’ve never seen ‘Laura’ but I will definitely seek it out now. I went to a talk on Vincent Price a few weeks back and it was mentioned then & sounded really interesting.
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I am not a huge fan of 1950’s movies, and I enjoyed it. And thanks for sending so much good luck my way, I’ll need it these upcoming weeks x
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You may enjoy “A Hat, A Coat and a Gun” available online ( BBC Radio4) – Harriett Gilbert presents a reappraisal of the life and legacy of the man from Upper Norwood London who helped invent the American PI archetype . Chandler was British and the radio documentary examines the crime writer’s life and assesses him as an uneasy Englishman abroad with an analyses his contribution to creating the American Hard-boiled detective. It also explores his love-hate relationship with Hollywood. 🙂
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That sounds great, I’ll definitely check it out – thanks 🙂 I live near Norwood, it seems so strange that someone who I thought of as quintessentially American came from so nearby!
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This book is not only one of the best examples of hardboiled crime novel but quite funny too. Love Chandler’s writing style.
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Yes, he is funny. The humour helps lift the subject matter I think, otherwise it would all be too bleak!
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