The High Window - Raymond Chandler

Lady in the Lake - Raymond Chandler

to as “a slot machine,” the none-too-subtle connotation being he’ll do anything for money). But I digress, slightly. Like many of the adaptations of Chandler’s novels, they’re never quite Chandler, the movie has to accommodate itself to an audience expecting certain generic convention and themes, and this one plays around a great deal with the story and the characters and can be frustrating at first. But if you’ve seen this film, don’t be tricked into thinking that you’ve read the book, because you haven’t. Second prefatory note: do not read Chandler’s Killer in the Rain before reading this novel. As there is a short story titled, curiously: The Lady in the Lake, ...

Farewell My Lovely - Raymond Chandler

"She was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window." This line is often quoted, but how many people have actually read the book it comes from? My brother lent me this book because he knows I'm a Humphrey Bogart fan and we had spent many happy hours in our youth doing tight lipped impersonations of Bogie. He made the part of Philip Marlowe his own, although the wise cracking P.I was also brought to life by Robert Mitchum and Dick Powell, among others. If you are familiar with the old movies, you'll know the Private Investigator standards - the plain door with the name painted on it, the messy desk and full liquor ...

The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler

The classic private eye Philip Marlowe makes his debut in this stylish thriller. Raymond Chandler first used the hard-bitten, cynical private investigator in his short stories. This 1939 novel is the first in the Marlowe series; its character and story became an icon of the times. Marlowe himself is world-weary, but as close to a hero as Los Angeles gets. When a dying oil millionaire hires him, the PI is dragged into the seedy secrets that lurk behind the neon and glitter. General Sternwood’s family seems to be all black sheep, and Chandler creates a feeling of corruption and decadence that their money helps indulge. Both of the General’s daughters become ...