"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 dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, 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."
"I went quickly away from her down the room and out and down the tiled staircase to the front hall. I didn't see anybody when I left. I found my hat alone this time. Outside, the bright gardens had a haunted look, as though small wild eyes were watching me from behind the bushes, as though the sunshine itself had a mysterious something in its light. I got into my car and drove off down the hill. What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell."
Here are two passages from the beginning and end of the novel. You can tell by Chandler's careful attention to detail and context that he has the traits of a good story teller. Notice he mentions things like date and time as well as what he is wearing; the more detail, the better in any mystery. He is also very thoughtful and contemplative as you can see towards the end of that second passage, questioning the significance of death. Chandler's The Big Sleep and all his other works are all great reads. I suggest them to any mature reader, especially someone looking for a good old-fashioned mystery or simply just a story with a good narrator.
Nobody does the tough=guy detective any better than Raymond Chandler did it. Too bad he only wrote 4 or 5 novels (I've read each of them a couple of times). If I remember, wasn't this the one you chose for your project for Ms. Driscoll last spring? Thanks for a good first entry, but one request--can you change the blood-red background to something a little gentler on my aging eyes?
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