52 Books in 52 Weeks, it's called. The challenge is simple: read a book every week for a year.
33. The big sleep; Farewell, my lovely.
This is the Modern Library edition of Chandler’s first two Philip Marlowe novels. A perfect storm of suggestion blew me to the stacks to find a copy of The big sleep; Farewell, my lovely was a bonus. Marlowe is the tough guy with a heart of gold, which is interesting because his escapades touch on far seedier characters and deeds than Hammett (Maltese Falcon seems like child’s play next to these). Lines like “The lightless finger of a black pier jutted seaward into the dark,” convince you he’s writing for keeps. His playfulness with everyone’s dialogue keeps you coming back for more. Chandler has a lot of fun with Marlowe’s patois — you can hear him commenting on it at times, in Marlowe’s voice, a pre-post-modernism that probably worked in his favor. There’s a peculiar pleasure in reading Marlowe’s actions and then waiting to see what on earth his thoughts and motives turn out to be. Both novels involve killer dames. Oh, and surprise! here’s the origin of the phrase “would make a bishop kick out a stained glass window.” On the whole, a lot of fun.
