Raymond Chandler

For a change instead of all reading the same novel we could choose one of his 7. We watched the 1946 film of The Big Sleep with Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart which did indeed put someone to sleep and some of us were very confused as to what was going on. There are at least 6 deaths and the linkage between each is at times rather tenuous.
  Unfortunately because the film was in black and white the colours Chandler so carefuly describes lost out. The film also changed a rather crucial point of the story - that of the relationship of the missing Rusty Regan to General Sternwood's daughter Vivian. She was somehow married to a Mr Routledge and Rusty's name was changed to Sean. Perhaps due to the Hollywood Code or some sensibilities now lost in the mist of time the fact that Geiger was a dealer in pornography, took photos of the naked Carmen Sternwood, and was gay was all ignored. No wonder those who had not read the book wondered what on earth all the killing was about.
  We discussed Chandler's style in some depth. His sense of colour, his humour and his almost obsessive use of figures of speech particularly similes. Brought up to believe that short sentences with a minimum Fogg Factor are the easiest to read and comprehend Chandler is a master of this. His one-liners and his imagary are timeless and would be wonderful examples for school children - to encourage them to think in unusual ways. Between us we had read most of his novels (the person who went to sleep hadn't read any!) so we were able to compare his work written over a period of 20 years from 1939 to his final book Playback in 1958 shortly before he died. Much seems autobiographical - the outsider, the loner, the drinker and the man always a little detached from the mainstream - both Marlowe and Chandler.
  Many reviewers describe the novels as 'hard-boiled detective'  but I didn't recognise this - in fact they seemed rather tame in some ways but that is comparing them to today's works. Marlowe is honourable, honest and does not 'go it alone' but soon brings in the 'Law'. The books also set scenes of gambling, deceit, blackmail and contract killings and the dark underbelly of the rich in California, and of course of the times in which they are written - between 1939 and 1958 the world changed a lot particularly in the US where war was but a dot on a ladybird's back. (that's a very poor attempt isn't it).
  I would recommend reading one of the novels if only for the astonishing imagery - take the man who's neck was like a celery stalk or the fakeness of the usherette's eyelashes - could you think of that? I certainly couldn't.