It's odd. I of course know who Raymond Chandler was, and his famous hard-boiled detective character Philip Marlowe... I like mystery stories, but never once have I read one of his books, until this week.
But when I saw Marlowe's praise for Fleming's Diamonds Are Forever, I thought, why not check out one of his books?
I ended up deciding on his first full-length novel, The Big Sleep. It was based on two of his earlier short stories, "Killer in the Rain" and "The Curtain," and published in 1939.
One thing I didn't know is that Chandler spent a lot of time writing poetry and essays before he hit detective fiction in 1933.
This detective story is not like the ones I usually read; it's not a whodunit. There are mysteries to be solved, but the focus is more on the characters and investigation, rather than providing clues to the reader. The main mystery of the book, the whereabouts of Rusty Regan, isn't even really presented as such--Marlowe is not tasked with solving it officially until the very end of the story, but as he notes in one scene...
Vivian: "I suppose it's none of my business--even if the man was my husband. I thought you weren't interested in that."
Marlowe: "People keep throwing it at me."
So what we actually get is a detective taking on a job that pulls him deeper and deeper. Marlowe is trapped between the pride of a rich family and the bad sorts that such a family can end up in debt to.
The plot is solid and meanders just enough to be mysterious and interesting, without ever getting too far afield. Some of the content is racy, but it's handled in a balanced way, without being more explicit than necessary.
The prose is very good, not poetic or gentlemanly, which wouldn't fit, but gritty and direct. There's lots of simile, metaphor, and sensory language. It's been done poorly so often since Chandler that I had to remember that these weren't tropes when Chandler was writing.
One minor issue at the start of the book was the extreme detail of descriptions. Chandler describes the characters' clothes and the surroundings in such ridiculous detail that it was almost too much. Fortunately, he tones it down and spreads it out more as the story goes on.
I was incredibly surprised by the amount of color in Chandler's descriptions. I'm not a movie guy, so I only know a little about film noir, but I was expecting something like that in the book. To the contrary, Chandler loves using all kinds of color words, especially reds and greens. At one point in the book, he even differentiates minutely between white and ivory:
"The white made the ivory look dirty and the ivory made the white look bled out."
The dialogue is sharp and gets the job done. Marlowe is extremely good at saying very little when he wants to, and often does with four words what most would need seven for. Yet at the same time, he says he isn't witty...
Vivian: "Wittier, Marlowe. Much wittier."
Marlowe: "I don't pretend to be witty."
Yet many of the conversations are tense and engaging.
Characters with more than a bit part get some depth and development. Their appearance of depth is improved by the fact that they all tend to keep their cards very close to their chests. Marlowe is no exception; he is extremely quiet when he wants to be.
Outside of the main cast, most of the bit characters are there to show the reader how easily and frequently Los Angeles chews people up and spits them out. It's an effective combination.
Marlowe's tone is tired and familiar without being too pessimistic or sarcastic. He often hopes for the best from people, if only to shrug when those hopes are dashed. It's not exaggerated. He's been around.
For a book of this length, only 140 pages, albeit small, dense text in the omnibus I read, there's a surprising amount going on. Characters all have multiple relationships with other characters and we as readers aren't privy to all of them, until it's too late.
All in all, this was a superb read. Tense dialogue, good descriptions, layered characters, and a messy but believable plot really brought it home. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries of any kind.
As always, for more spoilers, check the appropriate chapter of the embedded video.
Read it on the Internet Archive here for free.
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