Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlieBird
After abandoning an attempt to read The Big Sleep (not realizing it was part of a series), I would never had read this month's selection if it had not won.
I don't know what the year span was between them but is not possible he honed his skills over time? How many Marlowe books are there by the way?
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is not possible he honed his skills over time?
Oh no, great writers come to this world just ready to go and the stork makes sure that all their talent are already set and primed. Otherwise she delays the delivery.
Novels
The Big Sleep (1939). Based on the short stories "Killer in the Rain" (1935) and "The Curtain" (1936).[1]
Farewell, My Lovely (1940). Based on the short stories "The Man Who Liked Dogs" (1936), "Try The Girl" (1937) and "Mandarin's Jade" (1937).[1]
The High Window (1942). Based on the short stories "Bay City Blues" (1938) and "The Lady In The Lake" (1939).[1]
The Lady in the Lake (1943). Based on the short stories "Bay City Blues" (1938), "The Lady In The Lake" (1939), "No Crime In The Mountains" (1941).[1]
The Little Sister (1949). Scenes based on the short story "Bay City Blues" (1938).[1]
The Long Goodbye (1953 UK; Sept 1954 USA; Edgar Award for Best Novel, 1955).
Playback (1958).
Poodle Springs (1959). (incomplete; completed by Robert B. Parker in 1989).
These are the criminal cases of Philip Marlowe, a Los Angeles private investigator. Their plots follow a pattern in which the men and women who hire him reveal themselves to be as corrupt, corrupting, and criminally complicit as those against whom he is hired to protect them.
[edit]Short stories
Typically, the short stories chronicle the cases of Philip Marlowe and other down-on-their-luck private detectives (e.g. John Dalmas, Steve Grayce) or good samaritans (e.g. Mr. Carmody). The exceptions are the macabre "The Bronze Door" the fantastical "Professor Bingo's Snuff" and "English Summer," a Gothic romance set in the English countryside. On several occasions, Chandler borrowed (or to use his term, cannibalized) from his pulp fiction for his novels; incidences of this borrowing are noted in the list below.[2]
Interestingly, in the old radio series The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, which included adaptations of the short stories, the Philip Marlowe name was replaced with the names of other detectives, e.g. Steve Grayce, in "The King in Yellow"[citation needed]. In fact, such changes restored the stories to their originally published versions. It was later, when they were republished as Philip Marlowe stories, that the Philip Marlowe name was used, with the exception being "The Pencil."
The first two named stories, featuring a detective named Mallory, are exceptions in a different way, in that were not turned into Marlowe cases in print.
[edit]Crime short stories
"Blackmailers Don't Shoot" (Black Mask, December 1933; Mallory)
"Smart-Aleck Kill" (Black Mask, July 1934; originally Mallory, changed to John Dalmas in Simple Art of Murder)
"Finger Man" (Black Mask, October 1934; unnamed originally, changed to Marlowe in Simple Art of Murder)
"Killer in the Rain" (Black Mask, January 1935; unnamed)
"Nevada Gas" (Black Mask, June 1935; Johnny DeRuse)
"Spanish Blood" (Black Mask, November1935; Sam Delaguerra)
"Guns at Cyrano's" (Black Mask, January 1936; Ted Malvern originally, changed to Ted Carmody in Simple Art of Murder)
"The Man Who Liked Dogs" (Black Mask, March 1936; Ted Carmody; cannibalized for Farewell My Lovely)
"Noon Street Nemesis" (Detective Fiction Weekly, May 1936; Pete Agstich; title changed to "Pick Up on Noon Street" for publication in Simple Art of Murder)
"Goldfish" (Black Mask, June 1936; Ted Carmody originally, changed to Marlowe in Simple Art of Murder)
"The Curtain" (Black Mask, September 1936; Ted Carmody; cannibalized for The Big Sleep and the opening of The Long Goodbye)
Try the Girl (Black Mask, January 1937; Ted Carmody; cannibalized for Farewell, My Lovely)
"Mandarin's Jade" (Dime Detective, 1937; John Dalmas; cannibalized for Farewell, My Lovely)
"Red Wind" (Dime Detective, January 1938; John Dalmas originally, changed to Marlowe in Simple Art of Murder)
"The King in Yellow" (Dime Detective, March 1938; Steve Grayce)[3]
"Bay City Blues" (Dime Detective, June 1938; John Dalmas, cannibalized for The Lady in the Lake, The High Window, and The Little Sister)
"The Lady in the Lake" (Dime Detective, January 1939; John Dalmas, cannibalized for The Lady in the Lake and The High Window)
"Pearls Are a Nuisance" (Dime Detective, April 1939; Walter Gage)
"Trouble is My Business" (Dime Detective, August 1939; John Dalmas originally, changed to Marlowe in Simple Art of Murder)
"I'll Be Waiting" (Saturday Evening Post, October 14, 1939; Tony Reseck)
"No Crime in the Mountains" (Detective Story, September 1941; John Evans, cannibalized for The Lady in the Lake)
"Marlowe Takes on the Syndicate" (London Daily Mail, April 6-10, 1959; published posthumously; first published in the United States as "The Wrong Pigeon" in Manhunt (February 1960; also appeared as "The Pencil", Argosy, September 1965; and "Philip Marlowe's Last Case", Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January 1962)