The Big Sleep
by Raymond Chandler
*When you open this audiobook on Libro.fm, be sure to select Aveson as your bookstore so that your purchase supports local literacy programs and tree‑planting.
Couldn't load pickup availability
One of the most acclaimed works of crime fiction ever written, The Big Sleep is the first novel featuring Raymond Chandler’s iconic creation Philip Marlowe, hailed as the “quintessential urban private eye” (Los Angeles Times).
One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years
“Chandler seems to have created the culminating American hero: wised up, hopeful, thoughtful, adventurous, sentimental, cynical and rebellious.” —Robert B. Parker, The New York Times Book Review
When old man Sternwood, a dying millionaire, hires Philip Marlowe to expose the blackmailer of one of his troublesome daughters, Marlowe finds himself involved with more than simple extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, and seduction are just a few of the complications standing in the way of completing the task at hand. And just as Marlowe feels he’s getting ahold of the situation, he discovers the first body.
Share
Book Details
- ISBN
- 9788119007097
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Authors
- Raymond Chandler
- Publisher
- Sanage Publishing House Llp
- Published Date
- January 16, 2023
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 240
- Physical Info
- 8.5 in L x 5.5 in W (1.0 lb)
Great reading experience.
I thoroughly enjoyed the 1940s slan ing in this book. Chandler certainly had a way with words! Very entertaining. I watched the movie with Bogart and Bacall as soon as I was finished with the book. It was fun too.
“The Big Sleep” is a classic of mystery, a classic of noir, and even a classic of American literature. Published in 1939, it’s the first novel in which author Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) featured his famous detective Philip Marlowe, and it set the stage for the Marlowe novels that followed. The novel was also the basis for the 1946 film of the same name starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.Marlowe, a private detective, is hired by ailing General Sternwood to find out why a blackmailer is asking for money concerning one of his daughters. Sternwood made in money in the Southern California oilfields; his estate even includes pumping well (tastefully hidden from view of the palatial house). His son-in-law also seems to have disappeared, but no one seems terribly concerned about it. Marlowe is told to stick to the blackmail request.The private detective makes use of clues and his many contacts to track the blackmailer to what appears to be a rare and antique book shop but is a front for a lucrative pornography business. Marlowe soon finds himself sucked into the Los Angeles underworld of pornography, gambling, violence, missing witnesses, and the glamour that disguises all of it.Marlowe is a fascinating detective. An outstanding graduate of the hardboiled detective school, he uses his tough-guy, no-nonsense exterior to harbor democratic ideals and a desire for good to triumph. He’s often compelled to chase down a wrong that’s been done, even when his employer tells him not to. It often leads to another feature of the ambiguousness of the culture highlighted in The Big Sleep – where the good buys and bad guys frequently change places.Chandler’s Philip Marlowe’s novels also include “Farewell, My Lovely” (1940), “The High Window” (1942), “The Lady in the Lake” (1943), “The Little Sister” (1949), “The Long Goodbye” (1953), and “Playback” (1958). He also worked as a Hollywood screenwriter, writing the scripts for such movies as “Double Indemnity,” “The Blue Dahlia,” and “Strangers on a Train.” Many of his short stories were published as collections. He died in 1959 at La Jolla, California.“The Big Sleep” is one of the milestones of American mystery fiction. It occasionally included descriptions and terms that were commonly used in the 1930s and 1940s but would cause many readers to wince today. But it’s a fascinating read, opening a window on life and culture in southern California at the time and giving us one of the great hardboiled detectives of American mystery fiction.
So much classic goodness. You will breathe and taste LA. Chandler just gets so many things right in this book. The book feels cinematic more than literary without losing the literary experience.
I may have read Chandler years ago, but this is the first time I really did appreciate it. The language may be a bit outdated but the writing has crisp dialogue and the descriptions by the incorruptible Marlow make it a classic.
