Customer Reviews

The Notebooks of Raymond Chandler

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Poor Frank MacShane, the biographer and editor who died in 1999 after a lengthy bout with Alzsheimers Disease. He did so much for Chandler's reputation, and really worked hard on his behalf, and now, in Harper Perennial's disastrous reprinting of MacShane's edition of Chandler's notebooks, he has been very nearly erased out of existence. He's not on the spine of the book. He's not on the front cover; not even on the back cover. They have his name on the title page, but it comes after Edward Gorey's, and he gets a tiny credit on the copyright entry. It's as if Harper Perennial wants us to believe these notebooks just got up off the shelf, edited themselves, and slipped into the display window a quality paperback pretends to be.

Then Harper Perennial prints the whole volume on--is it recycled paper? There's no other excuse, it's like your very worst nightmare of ugly, yellowed, tarnished cheap newsprint. What a disaster, especially when they're printing a selection of photographs which are now nearly totally unviewable, while Gorey's illustrations to ENGLISH SUMMER seem to dissolve into the rag fiber as you're examining them. This is the kind of visual presentation you'd expect to see a publisher give a book by Pauly Shore, but it's Raymond Chandler for goodness sake!

Okay, so he's not at his best here and his notebooks are far less interesting than one would think, but he deserves better treatment than what he's getting here, and as for MacShane it's a travesty of his work.

To me the notebooks of Henry James defines what I expect from a writer's journal, diary, or notebook. A intimate record of the creative process. Little of this is included in the Raymond Chandler notebook. Much of is reprints of other writer's views. Mr. Chandler's essay on the characteristics of a mystery although interesting is itself a reprint. There is some original content which indicates somewhat the artistic labor involved in his work but I find the amount a nibble instead of a feast.

Raymond Chandler's character, the witty, tough and romantic "private detective", Philip Marlowe, next to Dashiell Hammett's, Sam Spade, is more than likely, the most famous "gum shoe" investigator of the twentieth century, only rivalling, the nineteenth century private detective, Sherlock Holmes.

Chandler is known for his sharp prose and witty dialogue leading to a somewhat successful career as a screenwriter in Hollywood. He co-wrote with director Billy Wilder the award winning "Double Indemnity", adapted from the novel by James M. Cain. He also worked with Alfred Hitchcock on the screenplay adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel, "Stranger on a Train". I've read just about all of Chandler's work, thus coming across this little gem was a real pleasure.

Even if you haven't heard of Chandler or read any of his work, the Notebook, just standing alone, is a lesson for any budding "mystery writer." Contained in these pages is a quick procedure on the points to writing a full-length novel. The Notebook also includes facsimiles of Chandler's Ideas about short stories and potential plots for novels, screenplays or novellas.

The Notebook also has historical tid bits such as a list of similes and slang used in the 30's and 40's, which the author used in his work. This is an excellent resource for any budding mystery writer or writer overall.

This book is highly recommended.

Very amazing book. Especially seeing things written in his own hand writing. Very great book. Thank you.