La gran dormida (1939)

The Big Sleep (1939) (Marlowe #1) by Raymond Chandler. The first and very possibly the best of the seven Philip Marlowe novels. With this book Mr. Chandler took modern mystery fiction in a direction it had not yet seen. Here the hero is not a brilliant mind, pondering the clues to a mystery, smoking a pipe, discussing the case with a close comrade, or any of the other tropes that came before. Here is Marlowe, a singular being faced with his own limitations and ambitions. He has a past but that doesn’t matter very much. There is a future for him but he won’t dwell on that either. Instead he takes his moral code and goes out to slay the evil dragon, or perhaps only protect the beautiful dame in the case.
When a rich man hires Marlowe to help with with family matters it is the start of a steep incline, throwing Marloe, and us, into a swirl of a mystery that even the author couldn’t figure out. But that is no matter as we are here for the scenery of the story, the display of characters and the unwavering dedication of Marlow himself.
With this one book, to say nothing of the others, Mr. Chandler rewrote the story of the mystery, and all authors who followed him down this road owe him a debt that can only be repaid by writing honestly about their characters and their actions and fitting both into the reality of the world. ( )

I recently read this novel again. I concede dated and politically incorrect, however it is powerfully evocative. ( )

A hard boiled classic that introduces Philip Marlowe as the knight out to save two damsels in distress. The opening hallway description of the Knight tells a lot about Marlowe's character. If you've seen the movie there is still lots to enjoy here as the details are finely drawn. ( )

This is what noir is all about. Never mind that you’ll never make full sense of the mysteries. The dialogue is electric, and the characters are first rate. ( )

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is employed by General Sternwood to deal with some debts belonging to his youngest daughter Carmen.
Brilliant, well-written, great crime story. Another re-read ( )