MobileRead May 2013 Book Club Vote

[Stephjk]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I hope everyone's ready for The Big Sleep.

I was thinking of giving this one a miss but there's no point in joining a book club if I'm not going to take on a few challenges! So it's downloaded and ready for when I've finished my current book.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Powers Boothe was a credible Philip Marlowe in the 1983 HBO series.

I adore Philip Marlowe but it was an accumulative affection that grew to awareness with books after The Big Sleep. Still, one must begin at the beginning.

Goodbye My Lovely is one of my favorite books ever despite the casual racism infecting too many books of earlier eras. It is also marred by an imperfect melding of short stories, as is The Big Sleep, but the language is the most beautiful I've ever found in the mystery genre. I don't recall Chandler's poetic abilities much on display in this month's selection.

In a good series, the development of a fascinating character is the charm of it all. I will read anything featuring Harry Bosch, Dave Robicheaux, Matt Scudder, and Philip Marlowe.

As noted by Issybird, the Marlowe books are dated. But that is not a negative for me. They are time capsules to an earlier Los Angeles.

Edit: I should have written that the language in Goodbye My Lovely is the most beautiful of the mystery genre except for the best of James Lee Burke.

I think most books become dated to a certain degree by the fact that the author wrote them primarily for the readers of their own time. Chandler died in 1959 and it is now 2013, some 54 years later. The world has seen a lot of changes in that time. Things which were the norm back then are not always P.C. today. Literature always reflects the time in which it is written I think. Mark Twain is another writer whose works are liked or hated based on his language. He's certainly not P.C. in today's world, but when his books were written things were a lot different. His essay about mystery fiction is online at the University of Texas' American Literature Website:
Simple Art of Murder

[desertblues]

I did read the Big Sleep, in the time I read all of Mickey Spillane and Biggles, but it made no lasting impression on me. (long, long ago, perhaps I was 15 or so).
This gives me a second chance to read this book, with the wisdom of my years, new insights and so on.

[desertblues]

Eh...I have been looking for the discussion thread on this book, but can't find it.....

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by desertblues

Eh...I have been looking for the discussion thread on this book, but can't find it.....

It won't be posted for another 11 days yet. The discussions always begin on the 20th.

[desertblues]

Aha. Thank you W.T. Sharpe, I missed that.
On with Trollope then, which is 4x as long as Chandler.....

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by crich70

His essay about mystery fiction is online at the University of Texas' American Literature Website:
Simple Art of Murder

Thanks for this crich - I enjoyed it.