scoobyramone's review against another edition
3.0
Dates in the way that everything about it has become cliched in the noir genre. At first it feels almost like parody because of how earnestly it leans into the genre. I knew this was really the first book that set these cliches into motion, but it still took a while to get used to it.
After I got into the groove of the book I enjoyed it. It’s a very simple story by modern standards but the mood and atmosphere holds up. Phillip Marlowe is a little bit the original incel but it’s okay.
After I got into the groove of the book I enjoyed it. It’s a very simple story by modern standards but the mood and atmosphere holds up. Phillip Marlowe is a little bit the original incel but it’s okay.
nakedsushi's review against another edition
3.0
This was my first Chandler book. I can see why he's a big name now. Not only did the whodunnit and whydunnit keep me guessing all the way to the end, but it was also a fast-paced ride through the streets of old LA. Some of the language is dated and offensive, and I had to look up some slang, but otherwise, an easy read. Most of the characters will be familiar if you watch any of those old black and white mysteries. The women are all dames of some sort, and the men are either unwillingly moral or super sneaky.
mickeymole's review against another edition
5.0
This is the one that started it all. Take to the streets of 1930s LA with Marlowe as your narrator.
On Carmen-- "Her eyes rounded. She was puzzled. She was thinking. I could see, even on that short acquaintance, that thinking was always going to be a bother to her."
On the General-- "The General spoke again, slowly, using his strength as carefully as an out-of-work show-girl uses her last good pair of stockings."
On Vivian-- "She'd make a jazzy weekend, but she'd be wearing for a steady diet."
On Carmen-- "Her eyes rounded. She was puzzled. She was thinking. I could see, even on that short acquaintance, that thinking was always going to be a bother to her."
On the General-- "The General spoke again, slowly, using his strength as carefully as an out-of-work show-girl uses her last good pair of stockings."
On Vivian-- "She'd make a jazzy weekend, but she'd be wearing for a steady diet."
wildbear's review against another edition
4.0
Lean and unadorned hardboiled prose and dialogue make the tools and colors with which Raymond Chandler paints a seedy depiction of urban L.A. and just as sordid - though more clandestinely so - suburbs. In it about half a dozen intertwined plots unfold making for a byzantine gestalt, their instigators all a self-serving bunch looking to get some dough or to try to stay out of the big house. Amidst all that exists a man, cynical in his own right but guided by a code: professional pride and honor, a code which he manages to hold onto to without fault, making him a knight in shining armor in a world where those qualities are detrimental.
Marlowe achieves valiance in the least sentimental way possible, lest he exposes himself to the very nasty world around him. Sunny California is soaking wet in Chandler’s novel, and its streets seemingly filled with a rotten smell. Alcohol helps with that though, and you won’t find its presence in larger quantities than ‘The Big Sleep’ unless you read a book about an alcoholic or a Hemingway novel. (The only difference between the two is self-awareness.) In any case, amidst all that, in a world where everyone seems to make a living via blackmail, Marlowe’s heroic act - giving an old man some peace of mind, and the generous gift of allowing him to keep his own vanity and pride in his death, all while recognizing the practical emptiness of such a gesture, being the pragmatic that he is - goes a long way to shine a tiny light in the gray forecasted sky. I was quite surprised at just how General Sternwood sneaked his way to being at the emotional core of the novel - if you can call it that - despite being the least prominent character. A welcomed surprise, to be sure. As always, the more seemingly downbeat and less sentimental something appears to be, the more emotional arousal it gets for its buck out of the smallest of gestures. Less is more.
But the pleasures of ‘The Big Sleep’ don’t stop there—Chandler’s elaborate descriptions, teeming with an excessive amount of strange similes, are just plain fun They also give an engrossing interior look into his Philip Marlowe, a seasoned veteran that avoids all the masculine posturing that one would come to expect from the figure. In fact, most of the novel is surprisingly melancholic, the cynicism an unfortunate consequence of the endless corruption all over. That Marlowe is smarter than the knight in the stained glass and recognizes the futility of his own valor only makes the circumstances of the land all the more lamentable.
But Marlowe is far from spotless himself—his own sexuality at odds with his cynicism, tainting his view of women generally and the strained nature of that relationship and its consequent frustrations collapsing him occasionally. (“The imprint of her head was still in the pillow, of her small corrupt body still on the sheets. I put my empty glass down and tore the bed to pieces savagely.”) When you get used to the smell of dirty streets the cloying smell of women’s perfume becomes the scent of pungent poison. Chapters 23 and 24, dealing with Marlowe dealing with Vivian Regan and Carmen Sternwood respectively, are nothing short of magnificent.
Marlowe achieves valiance in the least sentimental way possible, lest he exposes himself to the very nasty world around him. Sunny California is soaking wet in Chandler’s novel, and its streets seemingly filled with a rotten smell. Alcohol helps with that though, and you won’t find its presence in larger quantities than ‘The Big Sleep’ unless you read a book about an alcoholic or a Hemingway novel. (The only difference between the two is self-awareness.) In any case, amidst all that, in a world where everyone seems to make a living via blackmail, Marlowe’s heroic act - giving an old man some peace of mind, and the generous gift of allowing him to keep his own vanity and pride in his death, all while recognizing the practical emptiness of such a gesture, being the pragmatic that he is - goes a long way to shine a tiny light in the gray forecasted sky. I was quite surprised at just how General Sternwood sneaked his way to being at the emotional core of the novel - if you can call it that - despite being the least prominent character. A welcomed surprise, to be sure. As always, the more seemingly downbeat and less sentimental something appears to be, the more emotional arousal it gets for its buck out of the smallest of gestures. Less is more.
But the pleasures of ‘The Big Sleep’ don’t stop there—Chandler’s elaborate descriptions, teeming with an excessive amount of strange similes, are just plain fun They also give an engrossing interior look into his Philip Marlowe, a seasoned veteran that avoids all the masculine posturing that one would come to expect from the figure. In fact, most of the novel is surprisingly melancholic, the cynicism an unfortunate consequence of the endless corruption all over. That Marlowe is smarter than the knight in the stained glass and recognizes the futility of his own valor only makes the circumstances of the land all the more lamentable.
But Marlowe is far from spotless himself—his own sexuality at odds with his cynicism, tainting his view of women generally and the strained nature of that relationship and its consequent frustrations collapsing him occasionally. (“The imprint of her head was still in the pillow, of her small corrupt body still on the sheets. I put my empty glass down and tore the bed to pieces savagely.”) When you get used to the smell of dirty streets the cloying smell of women’s perfume becomes the scent of pungent poison. Chapters 23 and 24, dealing with Marlowe dealing with Vivian Regan and Carmen Sternwood respectively, are nothing short of magnificent.
coops456's review against another edition
2.0
It's a noir classic of course, but hasn't aged well. Some of the prose is great, particularly if you can hear it in your head with a cagey accent, but to a modern reader the book is misogynistic and homophobic in a way that's hard to stomach.
The story is also quite convoluted; [b:The Maltese Falcon|29999|The Maltese Falcon|Dashiell Hammett|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168050298s/29999.jpg|980184] has a much better plot.
The story is also quite convoluted; [b:The Maltese Falcon|29999|The Maltese Falcon|Dashiell Hammett|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168050298s/29999.jpg|980184] has a much better plot.
bookishwendy's review against another edition
3.0
"My God, you big dark handsome brute! I ought to throw a Buick at you."
I'm not really a fan of the classic noir genre, but unlike [b:The Maltese Falcon|29999|The Maltese Falcon|Dashiell Hammett|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1306421260s/29999.jpg|980184] I did manage to enjoy this one, though I barely followed (nor was much interested in) the racketeering plot. *gasp* nekkid pictures! Luckily, thanks to modern technological advances and the interwebs, this type of vice has now been eradicated completely...(amiright?)
I think the biggest difference was the writing. I found the dialogue highly amusing (instead of stilted and stale)--even a little sexy--and managed to laugh at some turn-of-phrase every five minutes or so.
"Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains. You're the second guy I've met within hours who seems to think a gat in the hand means a world by the tail."
I only wish that my audiobook had been narrated by, say, Mr. Humphrey Bogart or Mr. Orson Welles.
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
I'm rather excited to go watch the film now.
I'm not really a fan of the classic noir genre, but unlike [b:The Maltese Falcon|29999|The Maltese Falcon|Dashiell Hammett|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1306421260s/29999.jpg|980184] I did manage to enjoy this one, though I barely followed (nor was much interested in) the racketeering plot. *gasp* nekkid pictures! Luckily, thanks to modern technological advances and the interwebs, this type of vice has now been eradicated completely...(amiright?)
I think the biggest difference was the writing. I found the dialogue highly amusing (instead of stilted and stale)--even a little sexy--and managed to laugh at some turn-of-phrase every five minutes or so.
"Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains. You're the second guy I've met within hours who seems to think a gat in the hand means a world by the tail."
I only wish that my audiobook had been narrated by, say, Mr. Humphrey Bogart or Mr. Orson Welles.
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
I'm rather excited to go watch the film now.
mollyanne624's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0