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This is for the discussion of The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.

I started reading this last night. The movie followed the book quite faithfully, at least for the opening scene, and I can hear Humphrey Bogart in my head. This is fun!

I started this book this morning and I'm already at the halfway point. At this pace, I'll be done by sundown. I'm completely wrapped up in it. Hold all of my calls, cancel any plans for the day...I'm busy! Anyone besides Casceil and me reading this yet?

I put it aside to read Mysteries of Udolpho, but I'm kind of bouncing on that one, so I may switch back. I picked up a copy of the Big Sleep at a used book store about a week ago. I've read it before, though not in years. My memory of it is that the second half gets kind of confusing, though it does make sense in the end once you sort it out.

I am going to read this after Udolpho. I have less than 100 pages. I am excited to read this!

Finished it this morning and loved it! I think I need more Raymond Chandler in my life. This one was just what I needed right now.

This is going to be a well needed change after reading The Mysteries of Udolpho, which I enjoyed and gave 4 stars!

I plan on finishing this soon!

I just finished The Big Sleep and rated it four stars. I really enjoyed the story and there are some great one liners! The only annoying thing, at times, was the short sentences. I would have to stop and reread them like people talking in old film noirs. This weekend I'm going to rewatch the movie :)

I don't think I noticed anything terribly complex or confusing, but I admit, I was SO wrapped up in it from the start that I can honestly say I wasn't thinking much while I read it! From the opening scene, I was just...in it. I fell into the story like an invisible third person in the room and lived it along with the characters. I felt like Marlowe's silent partner.

Iasa wrote: "The Big Sleep is one of my favourite novels. Chandler writes such rich atmosphere and characters I don't even mind the sometimes incomplete plots he uses. I know a lot of people find it overly com..."

I loved all the twist and turns and keep feeling like it shouldn't be over because I want to read more. Luckily I have a book with multiple books in it.

It is infamous for the confusion it caused among audiences and critics alike. The joke goes that even Chandler wasn't sure who the murderer was after seeing the movie.

I'd like to hear what y'all think of the depiction of women in the movie. In particular, the clerk at the bookstore (a young Dorothy Malone, vavavoom) and the girl taxicab driver.

Any resentment that they are drawn as 'easy' --sexpots? Pushovers? Bowled over by Marlowe/Bogart's charm, as if he was James Bond before Bond was even written.

My own preference is for Bogart as Sam Spade. His gravel voice, caginess, and edgy, wired, hair-trigger reactions are perfect for Spade.

Actors playing Marlowe: I like the glib Dick Powell, and (later) Elliott Gould.

Feliks wrote: "I'd like to hear what y'all think of the depiction of women in the movie. In particular, the clerk at the bookstore (a young Dorothy Malone, vavavoom) and the girl taxicab driver.

Any resentment ..."

I'm going to watch the movie again soon (a movie night that will also include The Thin Man) so I will let you know. One reason why the murderer may not be known in the movie is because based on the Motion Picture Production Code anyone who commited murder had to be punished in a movie. Instead of changing the story line they may have decided to leave the murderer ambiguous.

Agreed. Too many cooks. Although the three screenwriters were 2/3 of Hollywood's best, they had their hands full.