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The Big Sleep 
| 80% Recommended by our customers. Publisher: Vintage Catalog: Book Release date: 1988-07-12 Media: Paperback Number of pages: 234 Ean: 9780394758282 Book Isbn: 0394758285  Tip: compare prices with similar booksAuthor:
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Written on July 26, 2008 Summary: Where it all began The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler "I went to bed full of whiskey and frustration and dreamed about a man in a bloody Chinese coat who chased a naked girl with long jade earrings while I ran after them and tried to take a photograph with an empty camera." Only Raymond Chandler could write a sentence like that. He's easy to parody, but impossible to improve on. In "The Big Sleep" (1939) he leads us through a sleazy LA world of hookers, pimps, pornographers, blackmailers, gambling junkies, and floozies too many to mention. Their indiscretions lead Philip Marlowe from one red herring to another. Marlowe manages to keep his head high and his standards out of the gutter that surrounds him. It's easy to see how much Chandler influenced everyone who followed him, consciously or not-- Mickey Spillane, James Ellroy, Sue Grafton, Elmore Leonard and so on. Some of his work is dated: Greater Los Angeles was still surrounded by Orange and Avocado groves, gang-bangers didn't rule neighborhoods, and the Papparazzi hadn't taken over Sunset Boulevard. Men still wore hats and dressed for dinner, and people went out to Clubs in the evening. There is male chauvinism, political incorrectness, racism, and homophobia, but those were part of the times. Chandler's work was a natural for the movies, and for radio. His ear for dialogue was matchless. Written by Chandler and director Billy Wilder, the screenplay of James M. Cain's "Double Indemnity" became a classic with Fred MacMurry, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson. His later works, "T he Long Goodbye: and "The Lady in the Lake" show a bit more maturity and cohesiveness. But it's safe to say that books like "LA Confidential" and "T he Black Dahlia" wouldn't exist without the earlier works of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. Written on July 26, 2008 Summary: "Tough Like Some Guys Think They Are Tough" Before Jim Thompson's nihilistic, tough guy crime fiction, and long before smart-talking private detectives like Robert Crais' Elvis Cole or Dennis Lehane's Patrick Kenzie, there was Raymond Chandler and his prototype hard boiled PI, Phillip Marlowe. While Hammett's Sam Spade pre-dates Marlowe's 1939 debut here in "The Big Sleep", Chandler - through Marlowe - is arguably the standard by which all others are measured, the author who could credibly lay claim as the master of the irreverent maverick sleuth: the fast-fisted, impossibly clever, dame-magnet which so many have since sought to emulate. Less debatable is Chandler's mastery the style and the elegance of prose that he introduced to pulp fiction - sharp and lean as one would expect of the genre, but rich in simile and image and as readable today as it was nearly seven decades ago. In "The Big Sleep", in what looks like a routine case, Marlowe is summoned by a fatally ill millionaire to track down a blackmailer holding compromising pictures of one of his two wayward adult daughters. Chandler gets right to the point in spinning a tale of thugs and hit men trading in pornography and gambling, leading to more murders than a Mel Gibson movie and dalliances sleazy enough to make Bill Clinton blush. Still, while the violence and sex is quaint by today's no-holds-barred onslaught, it is no less effective - consider the terror of the shower screen in Hitchcock's brilliant "Psycho" - one of film's most disturbing moments, though the knife is never seen striking flesh. In fairness, "The Big Sleep" is not Chandler's finest moment. The initial transgression seems neatly wrapped up with nearly half of the book to go, and one wonders what Marlowe is doing as he aimlessly kicks around what seem to be meaningless loose ends in a rather muddled middle of the book. But Chandler's craft keeps the reader engaged, wrapping up with a few clever twists and enough (barely) of the irony these early masters of pulp fiction are so well noted for. If you're a fan of pop crime fiction and haven't gone back to read Chandler (or Thompson, Hammett, Block, Westlake, McBain...), you've got some real treats ahead of you. Great entertainment, while at the same time a peak into the roots and inspiration for so many of today's best crime writers. Written on July 20, 2008 Summary: One of the earliest detective noir fiction books The Big Sleep is Raymond Chandler's first novel featuring Philip Marlowe, the private eye who is the main character in most of Chandler's novels. The author immediatly thrusts the reader into the story without wasting any time on introductions or setting up characters. It's refreshing to read an author who gets straight to the point without wasting any words. The story begins with Marlowe being hired by a wealthy old man to discover the source of an extortion attempt, but the story quickly expands to include murder, pornography, and a few missing people. Marlowe is very methodical and impartial in his investigations, creating a stark contrast to the seedy and unpredictable cast of characters. Chandler does a wonderful job of portraying Los Angeles in the 1930's as it really was with its hidden dark side behind the beautiful exterior of fancy houses and dapper suits. Although Chandler's style is a little dry, he still creates a thoroughly readable story without any unnecessary descriptions to slow it down. It's a shame that Chandler didn't start on his writing career until the age of 39. Even so, he was still able to write some other outstanding Marlowe novels to carry on his legacy.  Written on May 23, 2008 Summary: Even if you don't like mysteries, you might like this. Although I understand the popularity of the genre, murder mysteries like The Big Sleep are not usually satisfying reading experiences for me. I frequently feel like I'm missing or overemphasizing clues: "Does that empty coffee cup mean something?" "Oh, his eyebrow went up! He must have done it!" With The Big Sleep, I still experienced that feeling a bit, but the characters and voice were so strong and compelling that they more than made up for the plot twists and angles. Raymond Chandler's sentences are artistic masterpieces and clear influences on many 20th Century literary and cinematic archetypes. Marlowe is a strong individual. The other Raymond Chandler characters are like Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, searching for meaning in all the wrong places. Written on April 7, 2008 Summary: Hard to go wrong w/ this hardboiler "Where there is mystery, it is generally suspected there must also be evil." Lord Byron The novel takes place during the 1930's and is set in the seedy world of Los Angeles, a place Jack Kerouac once described as 'a jungle'. The story is told to us through the eyes of the main protagonist - private investigator Phillip Marlowe. To me, Marlowe is a fusion of Dirty Harry, Howard Rourke and Jim Rockford all rolled into one. He's got that machismo, loner thing going on and you know how we Americans love that type of character (i.e. see above). He's also an extremely honest and straight-shooting sleuth, absolutely no BS in the guy. He's your true-blue American hero, married to his job, battling endlessly with the hypocrisy of the powers-to-be and not afraid of anyone or anything. The story begins when a dying millionaire hires Marlowe to find the blackmailer of one his daughters. The old man, like Balzac's Old Goriot, has two spoiled, self-absorbed party girls as daughters - Carmen and Vivian - and they are always seemingly getting into trouble. However, this time one of them is in BIG trouble and it's up to our hero Marlowe to save the day. This imaginative, hardboiled work of fiction got really convoluted about midway through the novel for me, but I still plowed on until it's very end, and never did my enthusiasm ebb. It's the type of story I couldn't wait to finish in order to unravel the mystery. Raymond Chandler was some kind of writer - acerbic, satirical, brutally honest and candid, yet his prose also contains a certain magnetism and simple elegance that makes this author, at least in this reviewer's opinion, a joy to read. I am looking forward to not only reading his other works, but also catching "The Big Sleep" on film, the classic by Howard Hawks starring Bogie and Bacall. A film that I have abstained from because I wanted to read the book first; and now I'm off to rent me a film folks... A great story! |
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| Price comparison |
 The Big Sleep |
 The Long Goodbye |
 The Maltese Falcon |
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 The Lady in the Lake |
 The High Window |
| Our price | $11.16 | $11.16 | $10.36 | $11.16 | $11.16 | $10.36 |
| List price | $13.95 | $13.95 | $12.95 | $13.95 | $13.95 | $12.95 |
| Lowest used price | $1.90 | $1.49 | $0.01 | $0.71 | $1.55 | $2.80 |
| Lowest new price | $6.95 | $6.00 | $2.95 | $5.19 | $6.95 | $7.45 |
| Collectible price | $12.95 | - | $12.95 | $13.95 | $12.99 | $12.95 |
| Catalog | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book |
| Release date | 1988-07-12 | 1988-08-12 | 1989-07-17 | 1988-07-12 | 1988-08-12 | 1988-07-12 |
| Media | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback |
| Number of pages | 234 | 384 | 224 | 304 | 272 | 272 |
| Ean | 9780394758282 | 9780394757681 | 9780679722649 | 9780394758275 | 9780394758251 | 9780394758268 |
| Book Isbn | 0394758285 | 0394757688 | 0679722645 | 0394758277 | 0394758250 | 0394758269 |
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