Raymond Chandler introduces the world to a series of crime stories in his first novel ‘The Big Sleep’. In a style of writing that has definitely stood the test of time the reader is introduced to Philip Marlowe, a private investigator hired to aid Old man Sternwood and his two promiscuous daughters who are being blackmailed by a man named Geiger. On the hunt for the blackmailer, the story quickly transforms into a thriller and a murder mystery.
Chandler’s vivid description is the most powerful factor in this novel, for example the captivating line “dead men are heavier than broken hearts”. However, the sheer amount of similes and metaphors is overwhelming at some points, and this gives a sense that Chandler has foraged through notebooks of the ideas he has collected over the years and poured every clever comparison he had ever written into this, his first novel.
‘This Big Sleep’ is a thriller that is very hard to follow due to the ludicrous number of important characters, and the plot is often confusing. It is clear that Chandler has stuck to his favourite motto, “If in doubt, have a character pull out a gun”, making for an unconvincing and implausible novel. The only key theme is here is death, which even the title of the book is an analogy for.
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