Raymond Chandler - The Big Sleep

 

 Rating: 5/5

Review:

Still brilliant

 

This is probably the fourth or fifth time I’ve read The Big Sleep and it is still brilliant. It is Chandler’s first full-length novel and establishes him instantly as a very fine writer, as well as being exceptionally readable and enjoyable.

Right from the opening paragraph, Chandler's style and brilliant prose catch the mood, and Marlowe’s laconic narrative voice is a huge pleasure throughout. There are fewer wisecracks than most people think, but some wonderful similes, like orchids with "nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men". It's "newly washed" which is so brilliant there, I think. There is also some penetrating (and quietly angry) observation on the state of US local politics in 1939; the political chicanery, the wealthy protected by the police (including wealthy racketeers) and so on. Marlowe is a moral man doing his best to navigate an immoral world with as few compromises as possible, and his thoughtful, sometimes cynical take on things is another pleasure of Chandler’s novels.

One or two aspects have not dated well. The homophobia is hard to take sometimes, for example. I know it was the prevailing attitude in 1939, but it's pretty repellent to modern sensibilities (well, to my sensibilities anyway). Still, we can't pretend attitudes were otherwise; I just took it on the chin, and the rest of the book is just great.

Chandler is as good as his reputation suggests. He is a truly great writer of English, in my view, and he also produced some superbly entertaining books. The Big Sleep is one of them and I can recommend it very warmly.