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Title: The Little Sister
Author: Raymond Chandler
Genre: Noir
Thingummies: 2.5
Synopsis: A prim little country mouse shows up looking for her brother in LA. Private detective Marlowe is suddenly up to his neck in gangs, starlets, pot, and bodies.
Thoughts: Marlowe sure kisses a lot of women in this one.
Kind of randomly, too. It's symptomatic of the major issues with this book. Chandler prefers to imply rather than tell, and a lot of the time, you need to pay attention to know what just happened. In The Lady in the Lake, this was a very effective technique. Here, not so much--it goes too far and I still can't figure out how he made some of the connections. Or why he kissed so many different women. It feels more like Chandler's editor demanded more sexiness than Marlowe actually got suckered in by multiple dames.
And the dames. Oh, you have to expect some rampant sexism from the period. And noir pretty much thrives on the mysterious woman with a past. But the ending of this one took a turn for the absurd. The levels of coincidence necessary and the sheer malevolence required kind of broke my suspension of disbelief. It's where Jessica Rabbit gets her "I'm just drawn that way" line.
Some of Chandler's work is great. This one, not so much.
Author: Raymond Chandler
Genre: Noir
Thingummies: 2.5
Synopsis: A prim little country mouse shows up looking for her brother in LA. Private detective Marlowe is suddenly up to his neck in gangs, starlets, pot, and bodies.
Thoughts: Marlowe sure kisses a lot of women in this one.
Kind of randomly, too. It's symptomatic of the major issues with this book. Chandler prefers to imply rather than tell, and a lot of the time, you need to pay attention to know what just happened. In The Lady in the Lake, this was a very effective technique. Here, not so much--it goes too far and I still can't figure out how he made some of the connections. Or why he kissed so many different women. It feels more like Chandler's editor demanded more sexiness than Marlowe actually got suckered in by multiple dames.
And the dames. Oh, you have to expect some rampant sexism from the period. And noir pretty much thrives on the mysterious woman with a past. But the ending of this one took a turn for the absurd. The levels of coincidence necessary and the sheer malevolence required kind of broke my suspension of disbelief. It's where Jessica Rabbit gets her "I'm just drawn that way" line.
Some of Chandler's work is great. This one, not so much.
