Chicago born novelist / screenwriter Raymond Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) wrote only seven novels, all of them concerning private detective Philip Marlowe. The Big Sleep, published in 1939, was his first, when Chandler was already 50. He had started selling short stories a few years earlier. From age 12 to 30, he lived in the UK and participated in the WWI war effort, eventually enlisting with the Canaidan Expeditionary Force and saw combat duty in France. After the war, he settled in Los Angeles and turned to writing for The Black Mask in 1933. The sensation of The Big Sleep led to opportunities as a Hollywood screenwirter. He collaborated with Billy Wilder on adapting James M Cain's Double Indemnity.

In 1946, The Big Sleep was also turned into a memorable film starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, directed by Howard Hawks.

[Updated: minor reformatting errors fixed -- sorry, first e-book]

Nice... Thanks...

Well I feel like a big doofus. I bought the Kindle edition of The Big Sleep on Jan 2nd.

Well I feel like a big doofus. I bought the Kindle edition of The Big Sleep on Jan 2nd.

Unless you happen to live in Canada, or another "life + 50" copyright country, the book is still under copyright, so you were probably right to buy it.

Thanks for the upload!

Read it three times.

Seen the movie twice.

Still can't figure out who murdered the chauffeur.

Read it three times.
Seen the movie twice.
Still can't figure out who murdered the chauffeur.

Read online somewhere (so it must be true!) that even Raymond Chandler didn't know who killed the chauffeur...

Good book though... :thumbsup:

Yup, I heard in this audio lecture: http://ebook30.com/audiobooks/audiobooks/133259/ttc-detective-fiction-the-killer-the-detective-and-their-world.html
( and I don't have any reason to doubt the lecturer ) that when they were making a movie based on The Big Sleep, in working over the scenario they found out they can't determine who murdered the chauffeur from the book. So they wired Chandler asking him that. And he wired back "I haven't the slightest idea".

Yup, I heard in this audio lecture: http://ebook30.com/audiobooks/audiobooks/133259/ttc-detective-fiction-the-killer-the-detective-and-their-world.html
( and I don't have any reason to doubt the lecturer ) that when they were making a movie based on The Big Sleep, in working over the scenario they found out they can't determine who murdered the chauffeur from the book. So they wired Chandler asking him that. And he wired back "I haven't the slightest idea".

yep, i've heard that story too. in fact i heard that first he replied "it was X [can't remember who he said]" but they wired back saying "it couldn't have been X, at the time of the murder he was [busy / somewhere else / in jail (can't remember that detail either)]", and *then* he wired back saying "in that case i don't know either." :) brilliant story though ! Mike L, if you ever *do* figure out who murdered the chauffeur, a lot of people would like to know. ;)

I've heard several versions of the story about how the film people contacted Chandler, who replied that he didn't know who murdered the chauffeur.

In some of the stories, Howard Hawkes cabled Chandler. In others, it was the two screenwriters, William Faulkner and Leigh Brackett, who phoned Chandler. The author replied that the answer was "right there in the book", but later called back to admit the it wasn't, and he didn't know what it was.

By the way, I once read one of Raymond Chandler's very early short stories, called (if I remember right) Killer in the Rain. He wrote it before he was an established author - probably when he was still working in the oil industry.

The story was very much a dry-run for The Big Sleep. It had the same hard-boiled private eye (but he wasn't called Philip Marlowe), the same General Sternwood character in his orchid hot-house, the same dysfunctional daughters - and the same scene where the narrator is got out of bed in the middle of the night and invited to drive to the ocean-front, where a car had gone over the pier.

Sure enough, it was the same chauffeur being murdered. And, sure enough, the story finished without the identity of the murderer being revealed.

You'd think he'd learn from his mistakes.

You'd think he'd learn from his mistakes.

:p he probably did it on purpose, to see who was paying attention. ;)

i've never read that story (i don't think i've heard of it) i'll have to see if i can find it somewhere (if you've got a source, please share !).

:p he probably did it on purpose, to see who was paying attention. ;)

i've never read that story (i don't think i've heard of it) i'll have to see if i can find it somewhere (if you've got a source, please share !).

I think it was on the webpage with all Chandler ebooks someone posted a link to around New Year, in one of Public Domain Day threads... don't know how to find it now.

i've never read that story (i don't think i've heard of it) i'll have to see if i can find it somewhere (if you've got a source, please share !).

As far as I remember, I found it in a book of short stories in our public library. They were stories from the American pulp crime magazines, like Black Mask. I'm not even certain of the title of the story.

If I get any more information, I'll post it here.

I think it was on the webpage with all Chandler ebooks someone posted a link to around New Year, in one of Public Domain Day threads... don't know how to find it now.

http://raymondchandler.bravehost.com/Chandler,%20Raymond%20-%20Killer%20In%20the%20Rain.html

:D

(full listing : http://raymondchandler.bravehost.com/)

By the way, for the benefit of anyone following this thread who hasn't read The Big Sleep yet: don't let this put you off.

There's nothing in this discussion that will be a spoiler. The demise of the chauffeur is only one thread in the novel - and a relatively minor one.

By the way, for the benefit of anyone following this thread who hasn't read The Big Sleep yet: don't let this put you off.

There's nothing in this discussion that will be a spoiler. The demise of the chauffeur is only one thread in the novel - and a relatively minor one.
yes, absolutely agree. and i think it was moejoe who said recently something like chandler novels are not really about the plot anyway, they're more about the ambiance, the characters, and all the little details. they're truly brilliant, and really you don't actually care that no-one knows who killed the chauffeur.

(maybe it was a rogue villain from a completely different novel who was on the run from the cops and knocked him off so he wouldn't squeal !)

A bit better formatted version from Australia is here (http://ae-lib.org.ua/texts-c/chandler__coll_killer_in_the_rain__en.htm).

As far as I remember, I found it in a book of short stories in our public library. They were stories from the American pulp crime magazines, like Black Mask. I'm not even certain of the title of the story.

If I get any more information, I'll post it here.

The story is The Curtain. For another chunk of The Big Sleep, see Killer In The Rain

The story is The Curtain. For another chunk of The Big Sleep, see Killer In The Rain

Thanks, Ralph. Now you mention it, I think Killer in the Rain was the name of the collection. There is certainly a copy of that book listed in my local library's catalogue. But I don't remember the name of any stories in the collection.

A bit better formatted version from Australia is here (http://ae-lib.org.ua/texts-c/chandler__coll_killer_in_the_rain__en.htm).
oh, brilliant ! thank you !

The story is The Curtain. For another chunk of The Big Sleep, see Killer In The Rain

Thanks, Ralph. Now you mention it, I think Killer in the Rain was the name of the collection. There is certainly a copy of that book listed in my local library's catalogue. But I don't remember the name of any stories in the collection.
it looks like quite a few stories are available at both of the previously mentioned links. it's possible the entire collection is there. the curtain is, anyway.

A bit better formatted version from Australia is here (http://ae-lib.org.ua/texts-c/chandler__coll_killer_in_the_rain__en.htm).

*Blush* You mean .ua is not Australia? Actually the site is in the Ukraine. :o

And one should be careful using the site. It's *full* of copyrighted material.

oh, brilliant ! thank you !




it looks like quite a few stories are available at both of the previously mentioned links. it's possible the entire collection is there. the curtain is, anyway.


Here is the list of short(er) stories written by Chandler (in publication order)

Blackmailers Don't Shoot
Smart-Alec Kill
Finger man
Killer In The Rain
Nevada Gas
Spanish Blood
Guns at Cyrano's
The Man Who Liked Dogs
Pickup on Noon Street
Goldfish
The Curtain
Try the Girl
Mandarin Jade
Red Wind
The King In Yellow
Bay City Blues
The Lady In The Lake
Pearls Are A Nuisance
Trouble Is My Business
I'll Be Waiting
The Bronze Door
There's No Crime in the Mountains
Professor Bingo's Snuff
The Pencil
English Summer

Very useful and interesting, Ralph.

So I was right about Killer in the Rain being a short story (as well as the name of the collection I referred to earlier).

I'm slightly surprised that Smart-Alec Kill was so early. It seemed to be much more mature than any of the others I can remember reading. I'm also slightly surprised tha The Lady in the Lake is on the list. I thought that was a full-lengh novel.

I've still got an old copy of Tom Hine's biography of Raymond Chandler. I'll have to read it again to refresh my memory of all this.