Finally got around to reading a novel that inspired the authors I enjoy! Although James Ellroy is rather critical of Chandler (I’ve read in interviews) and I’m confident Walter Moseley would have some choice words for the racism of a century ago. Given that the new Marlowe flick with Liam Neeson in it came and went, I stumbled upon what was the first novel Chandler wrote starring his famous character. The edition I checked out also had a glossary for the slang which really helped. Never in a million years would I have guessed the phrase “skate off” would equate being executed via hanging at San Quentin.
Despite how the language was “too offensive” for the younger generations demanding a word police to protect their naive and ignorant brains from connotation (OMG! Marlowe used a mean term for several groups! We need to cancel Chandler with Twain!), it was a fantastic story which gave the world the tropes we know too well. Marlowe gets hired by an old guy who had children in his fifties and now he needs help getting rid of somebody wanting to extort one for gambling debts. He pokes around the Los Angeles of the Thirties, a time when getting around took less than two hours and housing wasn’t unaffordable. He uncovers the usual seedy underbelly of ugly deeds and acts involving the rich, the poor and the in-between. Does Marlowe solve the problem? More or less. I’ve never seen the two film adaptations; the first with Bogart and a weird Seventies remake with Robert Mitchum and they chose to set it in the UK; otherwise, I’d say watch those. Instead, I’d highly insist on reading the novel before it’s butchered as per the upcoming Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming editions on the horizon; as if reading a book always turns someone into a disciple of Ayn Rand or Adolf Hitler, on the former I couldn’t get back a few pages without wanting to vomit. Sleep was a pretty quick read. Chandler’s style is quick so despite Ellroy’s shit talk, I think I know who he really admires.
Next up the second adventure of Easy Eakins, I recently got a special library card to borrow from Austin’s branches since Pflugerville is part of the system. My beloved P-ville place is lacking some key Moseley novels and I prefer to read stuff in order.
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