One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler might be THE classic Noir novel.
Philip Marlow is a good PI. He does what he needs to to get the job done. When Marlowe is hired by a dying man to investigate a blackmail attempt on his youngest daughter, Marlow must go above and beyond for his client. Again.
I always say that i like noir but I had never read any Chandler. As soon as I started reading I could see why he is iconic! I was shocked that this was a debut novel! I was surprised at how tight and cinematic this novel was for being writing in the 1930s. It’s also surprisingly funny! The humor reminded me so much of Agatha Christie. Both authors mix the serious topic of murder and crime with a lightness of comedic timing and poking fun at the characters and story, itself. Having never read this novel or seen the movie before, I really had no idea what was going to happen and this mystery had a lot of moving parts and great intrigue. I really liked that Marlowe was a “good guy”. Although he may have to do nasty things, he ultimately has a strong moral code and follows it. Especially in comparison to other noir novels, I liked how little misogyny and anti women sentiment there was. Now, there are still very problematic words, thoughts and ideas in this book, mostly due to it’s time and place in history. And I’m not saying there is NO misogyny, but there was less then I expected. I did feel that the first half of this novel was much stronger than the second part. There was a few middle bits that lagged compared to the beginning and there was less of a clear path or clear writing. Despite that uneveness, I really enjoyed this novel and can’t wait to read more Chandler. I would highly recommend this book for wanyone who likes noir novels or movies, people who like clasic crime stories, those who like books set in LA and mystery lovers.
Who is your favorite noir writer?
This book is featured in my Dec Wrap Up.