(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
Raymond Chandler's first three novels, published here in one volume, established his reputation as an unsurpassed master of hard-boiled detective fiction.
The Big Sleep , Chandler's first novel, introduces Philip Marlowe, a private detective inhabiting the seamy side of Los Angeles in the 1930s, as he takes on a case involving a paralyzed California millionaire, two psychotic daughters, blackmail, and murder. In Farewell, My Lovely , Marlowe deals with the gambling circuit, a murder he stumbles upon, and three very beautiful but potentially deadly women. In The High Window , Marlowe searches the California underworld for a priceless gold coin and finds himself deep in the tangled affairs of a dead coin collector.
In all three novels, Chandler's hard-edged prose, colorful characters, vivid vernacular, and, above all, his enigmatic loner of a hero, enduringly establish his claim not only to the heights of his chosen genre but to the pantheon of literary art.
Raymond Chandler's first three novels, published here in one volume, established his reputation as an unsurpassed master of hard-boiled detective fiction.
The Big Sleep , Chandler's first novel, introduces Philip Marlowe, a private detective inhabiting the seamy side of Los Angeles in the 1930s, as he takes on a case involving a paralyzed California millionaire, two psychotic daughters, blackmail, and murder. In Farewell, My Lovely , Marlowe deals with the gambling circuit, a murder he stumbles upon, and three very beautiful but potentially deadly women. In The High Window , Marlowe searches the California underworld for a priceless gold coin and finds himself deep in the tangled affairs of a dead coin collector.
In all three novels, Chandler's hard-edged prose, colorful characters, vivid vernacular, and, above all, his enigmatic loner of a hero, enduringly establish his claim not only to the heights of his chosen genre but to the pantheon of literary art.
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Publisher:
New York : A.A. Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 2002
ISBN:
9780375415012
0375415017
0375415017
Branch Call Number:
MYSTERY CHANDLE 2002
Characteristics:
xxxi, 656 pages ; 22 cm
Additional Contributors:
Alternative Title:
Big sleep ; Farewell, my lovely ; The high window
Farewell, my lovely
High window
Farewell, my lovely
High window
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debwalker
Oct 21, 2010
Opening line of The Big Sleep: "It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills."
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Add a CommentPhilip Marlowe is at his best as a cynical worldly-wise detective hired to solve labyrinthine crimes.
These are fast moving, suspenseful whodunits. The plots are tight and the characters all memorable. Don't skip a line because the detail is interesting and necessary to the plot. The one-liners are quotable ("She had the kind of face that would make a bishop kick out a stained glass window"; "She was good looking, but not so good looking that a guy would have to wear brass knuckles when he took her out").
Makes the Millenium Series (Girl with Tatoos) seem like a rough first draft.