The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler BOOK REVIEW

[@asderc1]

Apparently when making the film, Bogart asked Hawks who killed the chauffeur. Hawks looked at the script, scratched his head and sent a telegram to Chandler. Chandler replied 'Damned if I know'.

[@lewistyler462]

“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. I was wearing my powder-blue suit with a dark blue shirt, tie, and display handkerchief, black brogues, and black wool socks with dark blue clocks on them. I was neat, clean, shaved, and sober, and I didn’t care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars.” Chandler is rightfully praised for his style and the way he opens a story. One thing that has greatly influenced me and that I have mercilessly stolen from him is the way in which he finishes a paragraph, a chapter, or a story. It's the subtle grace of a hello, a fine introduction, and then the sudden punctuation of a goodbye, fleeting and sometimes final. I'm currently re-reading The Long Goodbye, which is my favourite. He has the best titles too, in my opinion.

[@TooFarWest1]

I too love Chandler.I think had he aspired to write outside of detective fiction he could have risen to even higher acclaim.

[@BetterThanFoodBookReviews]

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[@MichaelSmith-su9cq]

My favorite movie adaptation is when they turned this material into The Big Lebowski.

[@TheSankyu99]

Though I am downsizing my online subs, I’ll die on this hill of content goodness. It makes me a better man.

[@feanor7080]

Chandler’s dialogue is unmatched.

[@RhysOlwyn]

I love his use of hyperbole too

[@playermartin286]

I´m so glad to have found a booktuber who isn't obsessed with Brandon sanderson and "booktags" whatever the f*** that is

[@tritoangle]

Chandler and Dashiell Hammett have a special place in my heart and on my shelves

[@matthewjaco847]

I found a Modern Library hardback edition a while ago that including “The Big Sleep” and “Farewell, My Lovely”. The back cover included a great quote from George V Higgins (of “The Friends of Eddie Coyle” fame): “Chandler did not write about crime, or detection - as he insisted he did not. He wrote about the corruption of the human spirit, using Philip Marlowe as his disapproving angel, and he knew about it, down to the marrow.”

[@russworks2882]

Hope you're feeling better soon. I'd like to recommend a 1950's heir to Chandler/Hammett, named Ross MacDonald (a pseudonym actually), who seemed to season his hard-boiled Lew Archer mysteries with elements of modern psychology and Greek tragedy. I'm sure some of the early Archers were adapted to film. I'd actually suggest a later Archer book, the Underground Man, that takes place in the Southern California of the late 60's/early 70's.

[@ellelala39]

Hope you are feeling better, Cliff. And thanks for the Chandler, he is one of the greats (have read all of his work). I love the point you made, and good for readers to know, about his writing literature in the guise of a detective story.

[@igorrenfield6588]

As a resident of Florida, welcome! But be warned, you’re in for one hell of a culture shock. We won’t even discuss the change in weather you’re about to encounter.

[@efleishermedia]

Bogey is the shit. There's no one that touches him today in my opinion. Last thing that came close to those old noire masterpieces was most definitely Chinatown. It was just about perfect, and Nicholson killed it

[@frankiegumdrops8532]

Dude you should read The Big Goodbye. It’s all about the making of Chinatown, one of my favorite movies of all time. The book is an amazing look not just at the making of the film but an era of Hollywood that gone forever.

[@Nadia-uc1tb]

I'm glad you read and reviewed Chandler who is one of my favourite authors. His best work in my opinion is Farewell my Lovely, or the Long Goodbye. If you enjoy Chandler I'd recommend another author I love, Ross Macdonald. He also wrote detective fiction set in California and his prose and dialogue are incredible. Definitely a worthy heir of Chandler and Hammett.

[@ccoope02]

The Long Goodbye is peak Chandler.... Also there is a fantastic KZbin audio only video of a totally pissed Raymond Chandler and Ian Fleming chit-chatting. It's pure gold.

[@thJune-ze7dn]

Thank you for linking that fascinating Chandler interview with Fleming. I really enjoyed it.

[@mjau65]

The Big Sleep is good but not his best. Try The Long Goodbye!

[@onetruecaesar99]

Definitely. It's probably Chandler's finest work, and definitely the one book he wrote that comes close to "actual literature" (whatever that might be).

[@ianp9086]

@@onetruecaesar99 agreed - but avoid the Elliot Gould film which completely changes the ending!

[@deadeyes7558]

Farewell, My Lovely is excellent too. I believe it sits next to Long Goodbye

[@DimaaReyma]

Give it a rest-The big sleep is just as good as The long goodbye.

[@beyondz55]

Thank you for reminding me to read this book!!!! Looking forward to it, I love the old B&W detective/noir films.

[@michaelstahlberg9392]

Certainly one of my all time favorites. My father had back in the sixties a dark green leatherbound copy with pictures from the movie version. One of the best movies ever.

[@musicnoonelikes]

I would check out the episode of Greg Proops' Film Club where they review the movie. It's one of the funniest things i've ever heard in my life.

[@satyarthsingh2276]

Thank you for doing this one Cliff, would love you to read The Long Goodbye sometime in the future. His best work in my opinion and literature at it's finest.

[@martyndelargy4706]

I bought The Long Goodbye without knowing much about Chandler. Can you read it without reading the books that come before?

[@jaguartony]

@@martyndelargy4706 yes

[@martyndelargy4706]

@@jaguartony Thanks!

[@RhysOlwyn]

When I read Chandler I like to have a drink when Marlowe has a drink, and have a reefer when Marlowe gets beaten up. Some books are a real test of endurance!

[@ryanthegreat805]

immediately when I see your bookshelf, IS HE MOVING?!?!?!?

[@lisalasoya2898]

Raymond Chandler, more than any writer before or since, has captured the poetry and paltriness that are the heart of Los Angeles, his characters move within the shadow of the Hollywood machine-tough, chauffeurs, dames and the wealthy gone bad. Haunting, flawed, and larger than life. Mr. Chandler I am in you seem to get the attention of people.

[@loekiekanters4295]

I like 'Playback' and 'Poodle Springs' - to where he wrote it - the most.

[@DemeterTelphousia-Erinyes]

I recently read a collection of his early short fiction where you could see the roots of the Marlowe character in various other similar private investigators. I’ve read the novels too, and enjoyed them. U.S writers do noir/crime so well.

[@rainblaze.]

Listen to "small change" by tom waits, its such a great pastiche of chandler and really captures the mood of his writing

[@morteniversen6109]

Awesome work as always

[@JstJaybeingJay]

I'll check out bogey now... Heard so much about him.

[@thekeywitness]

Love Chandler. Love Bogey too. The best. I think he and Bacall were married by The Big Sleep (they met on To Have and Have Not, another terrific movie).

[@fergalcussen]

Read about half of it a few years ago. Might come back to it because of this video.

[@tomlewis4748]

My favorite book ever. My second-favorite movie ever (nothing beats Chinatown). My favorite actor ever (Bogie). It is thought by many that the weakest thing about Chandler's novels is that the plots are murky. The reason could be bc he never wrote a book from scratch. All of his novels are cobbled together from short stories he wrote early on, combinations of either 2 or sometimes 3 different plots. Billy Wilder, who adapted TBS to the screenplay with Faulkner (Chandler was under contract to a different studio at the time) was puzzled by a plot thread. He sent a message to Chandler asking 'Who killed the chauffeur?', which is a dead end in the novel. Chandler messaged him back in two words: 'No idea.' The plot was secondary to him. What was primary was creating the most iconic character ever created in Philip Marlowe and bonding the reader to him. Even so, I sure wish he'd written more novels. All 7 are great (maybe not Poodle Springs which he only wrote 4 chapters of), and some are even better than TBS. Why is his line-by-line style so poetic? Maybe bc he was a poet for the first 11 years of his writing career. My hero. Chandler is definitely my greatest inspiration as a writer. I learned more from him than all the others put together. Sure, I tried to write like him. But no one can. If we could, we'd have 1,000 Raymond Chandlers. But there is only one. No writer can write like any other writer, it turns out. If we try to think of examples of writers writing like other writers, none come to mind (other than mimic hacks).

[@BJCHESTER]

I read this a few years back, really enjoyed Chandler's prose.

[@Margie75]

Thanks for this review. Love detective noir stories and because of you I'm reading more interesting and entertaining books that I never had a chance to read in my life. And I love books📚 . Thanks for the info on Eve Babitz and Barney's Beanery. Feel better, Cliff.

[@AmandaS18]

Thank you soo much! Very excited for this, I also loved the movie.🤗

[@duke927]

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan and Corbin Bernsen. The chapters in the movie are all based on books by Raymond Chandler:) My favorite noir author.

[@vcackermanwrites]

2:37 It’s very cool that your channel brought about that kind of change

[@noahfranks984]

Cliff. I must know. Where did you get the skull in the background? I've been looking for a realistic skull

[@joni1405]

I unironically think Chandler is one of the best prose stylists of the 21st century and gets far less credit than he deserves because he wrote unapologetic genre fiction. There are highly-regarded literary novelists who are worse writers than Chandler was.

[@thewayfarer8849]

I never realized it until now, but you would blend in pretty seamlessly to a noir story Cliff, have you ever done an audiobook reading of crime/noir?

[@donaldkelly3983]

I have to endorse Jack M. The Long Goodbye is a different and better novel than TBS.

[@grantwallace1882]

Really enjoyed "Farewell, My Lovely" and "High Window". I shall add "The Big Sleep" to the list. I am currently reading "Strangers" by Dean Koontz. Not perhaps your sort of thing. Love the channel.

[@makichas]

I need to up my robe game.

[@onetruecaesar99]

Great video, Cliff. I agree with you that the best part of the book, by far, is the dialogue and Marlowe. Those two things are what truly elevates Chandler's work from your average crime fiction. It's just a shame, imo, that he completely negleted the plot. I really appreciate the snappy dialogue, the brilliant Marlowe monologues, but you can't have that without a proper story, imo. And The Big Sleep barely has a story. It really makes no sense, there are plot holes everywhere. And maybe that wasn't the point, but it's not for me, I guess. I felt robbed after finishing the book. So, while I do share your enthusiasm about the positives I brought up, I don't really agree with the rest. If you enjoyed this book, I highly recommend you read The Long Goodbye. The things you enjoyed on The Big Sleep are even better on that one, and I feel like the plot isn't as convoluted.

[@Ozgipsy]

Right, now I know why the set changed. I hope Florida is doing it for you 👍

[@Itsnotanymore-ku7dz]

I remember Haruki Murakami referencing this book somewhere

[@Hitithardify]

What hasn’t Murakami mentioned in his work? Haha

[@pgfinna]

that sounds cool as hell. LA seems kinda stuck in the 90s, hasn't changed a brick since Michel Mann's Heat

[@4-dman464]

13:55 Typical Raymond Chandler ending. You can find shades of Raymond Chandler's private detective pulp fiction in the writing of *Hunter Thompson* . Compare the mood of that Chandler ending with the ending to *Fear & Loathing On the Campaign Trail 1972*

[@GameHero80]

Thank you for the video! appreciate you

[@frankiegumdrops8532]

Bout damn time, Cliff.

[@antherthalmhersser7239]

There are some excellent audiobooks of Chandler's stuff on yt. Really great voice actor.

[@reservafantasma3618]

Can you link?

[@antherthalmhersser7239]

@@reservafantasma3618 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKWqeZJ7hrh8mc0

[@MariaCamarena_OneWing]

Please do a book review of the razors edge.

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

Ah, Raymond Chandler, the only author who could describe rain as wet and a woman smiling "with her mouth" and still be praised. 😂😂😂

[@estebanb7166]

Haha fair point. He makes it work

[@SingaporeSkaterSam]

“There was an overtone of strain in her smile. It wasn’t a smile at all. It was a grimace. She just thought it was a smile.” “The blonde was strong with the madness of love or fear, or a mixture of both, or maybe she was just strong.” These are original and ahead of their time.

[@robertgallagher5285]

Chandler writes great for the movies where you can SEE everything but in the books think there is too much descriptions like he is trying to make up for the fact you CAN'T see everything whereas Hammett wrote a little simpler The movie The Big Sleep is comparable to the movie The Maltese Falcon but think the book The Maltese Falcon is better then the book The Big Sleep!!!!!

[@wacastillo3006]

Do Bukowskis Ham on Rye next please

[@milfredcummings717]

It was my favorite film noir. After reading the book, I finally understood what was happening in the movie, and it's not interesting at all anymore. It's a great movie though, the book is meh. In A Lonely Place is now my favorite film noir, and two by Orson Welles: "The Lady from Shanghai" and "Touch of Evil". The book has a better ending, more noir.

[@87YeaYea]

In the film, in the first 15 minutes, every woman is a knockout.

[@toti1239]

Dude would you please consider reviewing The Hustler by Walter Tevis! That book takes a very unique dive into the art of characterization! I'm pretty sure you will appreciate it.

[@saki651]

Can you please give review on "My Solace a poem collection " .Please.

[@jameswheeler7148]

The long goodbye

[@Calcprof]

The movie makes little sense (though it actually works) because of all the stuff cut out from the novel.

[@zarathustra1471]

You should review Sartre’s Nausea

[@dennis-1983]

James Garner series Marlowe"

[@abrahamremedios7743]

Can You please do one on Edgar Allan poe

[@Laocoon283]

The audio on your videos is very low btw

[@KKelper]

review starts 5 minutes in.

[@reaganwiles_art]

Excellent! and good for you, like Newports, Mountain Dew, unprotected sex and gin. . . .

[@stevienicks9210]

Could you do The Idiot by Dostoevsky?

[@awesumevideos]

damn man you're moving to Florida? why would you do that to yourself

[@arblankenship54]

So what you’re saying is that it’s a boring Pynchon novel

[@Philliben1991]

I'd compare 'The Big Sleep' to 'Catch 22'. It's entertaining at first but is basically the same thing over and over again. I do think it's better than 'Catch 22' but there is a diminishing return to the style of writing.

[@regolithia]

Catch-22 is one of my favourite books, and I didn’t find there was a dimishing return to the style of writing at all. Haven’t read The Big Sleep yet, though