Raymond Chandler's arresting new formula for crime fiction

Guardian UK ^

[Perdogg]

Seventy-five years ago this week a revolution in crime-writing began when Knopf published The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler's first novel. Reviews in 1939 were wary and unenthusiastic, however, and only gradually was it recognised that Chandler had pulled off a bold fusion of highbrow and lowbrow – much-applauded by authors such as WH Auden, Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh, but also much-imitated by fellow chroniclers of murder.

[Perdogg]

ping

[ClearCase_guy]

“I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun. I put them on and went out of the room.” ― Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely

[NewJerseyJoe]

P4L

[Savage Beast]

“It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window. She was wearing street clothes that looked black and white, and a hat to match and she was a little haughty, but not too much. Whatever you needed, wherever you happened to be—she had it.”

Farewell, My Lovely. Four Complete Philip Marlowe Novels. New York: Avenel Books, 1986, p. 218. (Through the character of Philip Marlowe)

[Savage Beast]

“The man in the back seat made a sudden flashing movement that I sensed rather than saw. A pool of darkness opened at my feet and was far, far deeper than the blackest night.

“I dived into it. It had no bottom.”

~Raymond Chandler Farewell, My Lovely. Four Complete Philip Marlowe Novels. New York: Avenel Books, 1986, p. 265. (Through the character of Philip Marlowe)

[Savage Beast]

“There was a sad fellow over on a bar stool talking to the bartender, who was polishing a glass and listening with that plastic smile people wear when they are trying not to scream.”

~Raymond Chandler

The Long Goodbye. Raymond Chandler, Later Novels and Other Writings. New York: The Library of America. Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1995. p. 489.

[Savage Beast]

“Inside was a small and ugly reception room, but the ugliness was deliberate and expensive.”

~Raymond Chandler

The Long Goodbye. Raymond Chandler, Later Novels and Other Writings. New York: The Library of America. Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1995. p. 509.

[Savage Beast]

“The tragedy of life…is not that the beautiful things die young, but that they grow old and mean.”

~Raymond Chandler (through the character of Eleen Wade)

The Long Goodbye. Raymond Chandler, Later Novels and Other Writings. New York: The Library of America. Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1995. p. 693.

[mrsmith]

Sure wish he’d written more.

[Talisker]

Vivian: Speaking of horses, I like to play them myself. But I like to see them workout a little first, see if they're front runners or come from behind, find out what their whole card is, what makes them run.
Marlowe: Find out mine?
Vivian: I think so.
Marlowe: Go ahead.
Vivian: I'd say you don't like to be rated. You like to get out in front, open up a little lead, take a little breather in the backstretch, and then come home free.
Marlowe: You don't like to be rated yourself.
Vivian: I haven't met anyone yet that can do it. Any suggestions?
Marlowe: Well, I can't tell till I've seen you over a distance of ground. You've got a touch of class, but I don't know how, how far you can go.
Vivian: A lot depends on who's in the saddle.

- Bogart & Bacall, The Big Sleep

[ClearCase_guy]

You know, if I were sitting with a pretty woman like that, I wouldn’t waste my time talking about horse racing — I’d be flirting with her!

[Talisker]

LOL... absatively posilutely.

[raybbr]

I’ve read every book at least twice. Same with Ross McDonald, Rex Stout, Dashiell Hammett and Ellery Queen. Some of the best stories ever.

[TChad]

"The challenge is to write about real things magically." -- Raymond Chandler

Chandler wrote of the magic in his own work. It might seem to be an immodest self-evaluation, but I think it was simply accurate. He really was that good. Even now I can pick up one of his novels, and an hour later I am surprised to notice that I do not really live in pre-1960 Los Angeles. How does he do it?

If you want to get to know Raymond Chandler a little better, read the Frank MacShane collection of his letters: Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler. Chandler wrote letters to everyone from Alfred Hitchcock to Ian Fleming to Howard Hunt (of Watergate fame) to Erle Stanley Gardner. He had a very long list of correspondents, and he holds forth on hundreds of subjects. Fascinating guy.

[Jeff Chandler]

I prefer Elmore Leonard, who never makes an appearance in his novels.

[what's up]

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[SunkenCiv]

;’) “Arresting”...