The Big Sleep
by Raymond Chandler · first published 1939
55% recommend45% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A stylish, sharply written hard-boiled detective novel and a classic of the genre. It offers a window into noir fiction and the roots of modern crime writing.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Philip Marlowe, a private eye who operates in Los Angeles's seamy underside during the 1930s, takes on his first case, which involves a paralyzed California millionaire, two psychotic daughters, blackmail, and murder
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…widely available in English) Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood Burmese Days by George Orwell Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham Color of Summer by Reinaldo Arenas Williwaw by Gore Vidal The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
on “Ask HN: What do you read?” ↗Hmmm. It'd be a neat litmus test for you to read The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon. Those are books from a very different time/aesthetic compared to Neuromancer but, in their own way, also defined their genre by being so tryhard they became sublime. It'd be interesting…
on “William Gibson is a literary genius” ↗…don't really have any complaints about this list, but I would include: The Castle - Franz Kafka American Tabloid - James Ellroy The Inheritors - William Golding American Pastoral - Philip Roth The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
on “Book Club: 100 best novels of all time” ↗…highlights: Factfulness by Hans Rosling - amazing book, as recommended by Bill Gates, and I see why. Very timely and important given the current social climate. A must read for literally everyone. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler - I've always been meaning to read some of the classic hardboiled detective novels, and what better place to start than with _the_ classic. Loved it. Very easy read. Looking forward…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗…When I read it as a kid, it helped deal with the sense of alienation I was feeling during my adolescence. Also the movie a few years back (while ending fairly different from the book), was awesome. The Big Sleep - Chandler. Literary people all seem to prefer Hammett to Chandler, but for my money there's never been better prose written before or since. "Dead men are heavier than broken hearts" and "I never saw…
on “Ask HN: What's your favorite novel? Why?” ↗I highly recommend the BBC radio versions of Chandler's Marlowe books, starring Ed Bishop as Marlowe. The collection contains 6 x 1.5hr plays, including The Big Sleep. https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Raymond_Cha... The plays are rarely rebroadcast on the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007k360
on “The Big Sleep: The most baffling film ever made?” ↗…sleep. Maybe this does help the feelings of "If I don't get enough sleep I am going to die young" that some may come away with after reading the book. Overall, I'd still recommend the book. Also, who is "Big Sleep" that is mentioned at the end of the article? Mattress companies?
on ““Why We Sleep” Is Riddled with Scientific and Factual Errors” ↗"About the only part of a Californian house you can't put your foot through is the front door." 'The Big Sleep', Raymond Chandler (1939). Good to see nothing's changed!
on “How to build homes with virtually no heating (2020)” ↗Gibson's early novels are very much under the spell of classic hardboiled detective fiction. He claims to favor Dashiell Hammett while disliking Raymond Chandler, but if you read The Big Sleep and Neuromancer in parallel it's clear Chandler was a significant influence. They have the same strengths (e.g. style) and the same weaknesses (e.g. plotting). > They aren't only inaccessible but…
on “William Gibson: Seeing the Future in Science Fiction” ↗…literature, but look for anything that grabs your attention. Not all of these are to my taste, but they have been broadly popular: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979), The Da Vinci Code (2003), The Big Sleep (1939), The Color out of Space (1927) (short), The Hunt for Red October (1984), Hondo (1953), Get Shorty (1990).
on “Ask HN: How to transition from non-fiction to fiction reading?” ↗…of. I know this doesn't help if you had time-bound goals for your life, but I have to stress, people actually don't care. Raymond Chandler was not "uncovered, like toxic waste" when he published The Big Sleep, his first novel, at 42, but celebrated as anyone else.
on “Youth and what happens when it's gone” ↗That's been going on for a very long time. "The Big Sleep" has a protagonist with a messy personal life; "The Thin Man" has a protagonist who drinks throughout the book, and complains at the end that he didn't get to drink nearly as much as he intended.
on “The Ten Commandments for Detective Fiction (2017)” ↗