The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler’s first novel, introduces us to one of the most famous detectives in fiction, Phillip Marlowe. Marlow is hired to find out who is trying to blackmail the daughter of his rich client and in the process uncovers a nest of pornography, money and murder. Marlowe has to navigate his way through a maze of deception, which ultimately winds up leading him to an unlikely end of the case.

Chandler, along with Dashiel Hammett, is one of the masters of the “noir” detective story. His writing style has been emulated in everything from fantasy novels to William Gibson’s Neuromancer. It’s so iconic, it often winds up in parody of the genre as well.

The story itself is not bad, although The Maltese Falcon is better. It’s the way the story is told that is the real gem. Tight writing with wonderful metaphor and, what must have been in the 1940′s scandalous descriptions of a seedy underworld make reading the book a pleasure.

A cornerstone of the “noir” subgenre, The Big Sleep is still a wonderful book and highly recommended.

Other participants in the “52 in 52″ meme who reviewed books recently include:

• Jeremy reviews Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother.
• Jamie reviews Mort by Terry Pratchett.
• Heliologue reviews Oliver Sack’s Musicophilia: Stories of Music and the Brain.

-K

I enjoyed it. Let me state that right up front. However, I would have a hard time recommending it to other people. Let me explain and I’ll try to do it without sounding condescending, but I’ll also probably fail. You try studying literature for years without developing an elitist attitude. I double-dog dare you.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics is, on its surface, a mystery and a “coming of age” novel. However, it requires a considerable investment before even beginning to unravel the mystery. If you’ve read Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, you know exactly what I mean. Meanwhile, the novel is filled with literary and pop culture references, all the way down to the chapter titles (famous book titles which broadly function to establish the theme or events within each chapter). It takes its own time getting to the core story (the murder), which is referenced in its opening pages and doesn’t include a dramatic scene in which the solution is laid out for the reader. In fact, the conclusion of the book is a final exam in which the reader is invited to choose among possible answers.

I guess I’d have to put it this way. When I was in college, I knew the exact people to whom I’d have recommended this book and they all belonged in my literature classes, or among the group who edited the school’s literary magazine. I’d have recommended it to people who worked with me at Bookstar, but not all of them. I wouldn’t have recommended it to people outside work and I don’t know of anyone who would enjoy it today, except for Linsey who recommended the book to me in the first place.

Of course, it could be I’m completely wrong and everyone would enjoy it, but I don’t think so. I enjoyed the novel thoroughly and it will have an honored place on my shelf. If you decide to pick it up, I hope you enjoy it. If not, then caveat lector. Remember, I eat crawfish, so chances are my tastes are going to be different from yours.

-K