Publisher: London : Hamilton, 1967.
Copyright: 1939
ISBN: 9780394758282
Characteristics: 216 pages
"The Big Sleep" Is Raymond Chandler's first novel, and introduces us to is now famous detective Philip Marlowe. I'm not sure if this novel is the first of what came to be known as hard-boiled detective novels, but if it isn't it's one of the first in that genre, and it’s a genre that has stood the test of time as the stories can be read many times and still be enjoyed.
Philip Marlowe is definitely a character that will stand out in anybody's memory. He works for $25 a day plus expenses which in 1930 was even extremely low wages. In this book Marlowe is hired by a dying millionnaire when he is being blackmailed because of one of his daughter's antics. However Marlo finds that there is more to the case than he ever suspect suspected because it involves not only blackmail but extortion, kidnapping, pornography, seduction, organized crime, and few murders are thrown in just for good measure.
The novel is written in first person which was quite typical for these type of stories, and for detective fiction in general as it puts the reader in the detective’s place, and they essentially solve the mystery along with him or her.
Enjoy!
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