Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels: Pulp Stories / The Big Sleep / Farewell, My Lovely / The High Window (Library of America) [Hardcover]

Raymond Chandler (Author), Frank MacShane (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you're looking for the perfect gift for yourself or some other lover of mysteries, this beautifully-made volume from the Library of America series will definitely prove that you care enough to send the very best. And if you haven't picked up The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely, or The High Window recently, you'll be amazed at how well they stand up to the test of time. (A second handsome volume, Later Novels & Other Writings -- including The Long Goodbye -- is also available.)

From Library Journal

These additions to the venerable series make official what mystery fans have always known: Raymond Chandler is one of the gods of American literature. Following the trail blazed by Dashiell Hammett, Chandler created Philip Marlowe and set the standard against which all private detective fiction is measured. This two-volume set covers the full canon of Chandler's work from early pulp stories to all the Marlowe novels, the screenplay for Double Indemnity, and essays on the mystery genre plus the usual Library of America goodies such as notes on the text and a chronology of the author's life. In terms of literary inventions, the Wild West cowboy and the hard-boiled P.I. are this country's only true native sons and are deserving of respect. One of them at least now has it.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1216 pages
• Publisher: Library of America (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883011078
• ISBN-13: 978-1883011079
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #99 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Anthologies

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Stories, Great Edition, Great Book, January 29, 2004

By 

"efoff" (Ecotopia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels: Pulp Stories / The Big Sleep / Farewell, My Lovely / The High Window (Library of America) (Hardcover)

Just my personal opinion, but I think Raymond Chandler is one of the most underrated American authors. Anyone who hasn't read "The Long Goodbye" must be punishing themselves for sins in a past life. "The Big Sleep" and "The High Window" are also excellent novels--good mysteries.

But what really makes Chandler's stories hold up so well is the language: "The Dancers is the kind of club that will dissolution you about what a lot of extra golf money can do for the personality" or "What does it matter, if you're breathing wind and air or oil and water--when you're sleeping the big sleep."

While the plots are wonderful period pieces of a young Los Angeles, the characters are richly drawn. Ever wonder where all those tv detectives came from? Right here.

Chandler's short stories are also supurb. My vote for the single best detective short story of all time is Red Wind--there is so much that happens in such a short story. No one should ever die without reading it....."Trouble is my Business" is also excellent....

Is this a complete collection of his short stories? No--There are a few I would have added, even though several of them were "canibalized" (Chandler's phrase) into later novels. The plot of "Bay City Blues" was built into "Lady in the Lake," but I think that story still holds up on its own. An earlier review also mentioned that "The Pencil" is missing. I can't understand why it was left out. "Killer in the Rain" also became "The Big Sleep," but it still has charm. "No Crime in the Mountains" is not included, but that's not much of a loss.

Not all of the stories in this book work--but that's going to be true with any collection. What is convenient with Library of America is the bindings are wonderful, the print font easy to read, the books lie flat, and will last forever. The list prices are a little steep--but not if you consider the amount of literature you're getting for the cost. I've bought this book three times, and have loaned it out--only for it to never return. But that's why I buy books.

One final note--The previous review mentioned that in this edition Johnny Dahlmas was replaced by Phillip Marlowe in "Red Wind." I was certain it was Johnny, and used Amazon's "Look Inside" to confirm--it is. Chandler had a few detectives, that eventually evolved into Marlowe, and each was a little different. I have a very soft spot in my heart for Dahlmas (I'm probably spelling his name wrong, so the soft spot may be in my head), so if the editor x-ed him out, I'd be furious....

Buy this book.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, good, GOOD editorial choice here!, December 1, 2001

By 

Paul Dana (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels: Pulp Stories / The Big Sleep / Farewell, My Lovely / The High Window (Library of America) (Hardcover)

Earlier anthologies of Raymond Chandler's works mostly center upon what have come to be known as his 'big four' or earliest novels -- The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely, The High Window, The Lady In The Lake -- or upon his later, and admittedly (with the possible exception of The Little Sister) 'inferior' works. Chandler's earlier short stories ( many of which he "cannibalized," to use his word, for the material in his subsequent novels) are normally treated as a separate genre altogether.

This particular collection, rightly, combines Chandler's first three novels with the best of his earlier short stories, recognizing the thematic unity in those works. (Good as it is, "The Lady In The Lake" demands to be treated separately from Chandler's earlier efforts.)

Chances are, if you're reading this, you've read most, if not all, of Chandler's Phillip Marlowe novels. You may as well have read many, if not all, of the short stories presented here. But have you read these novels, and these short stories, TOGETHER in this context? Likely not. But you deserve to.

In the short stories, for example, there are protagonists named John Evans, Ted Carmody and Tony Resick (the last two of which, interestingly, inhabit locations which were most likely Los Angeles' Hotel Mayfair, with which Chandler had more than a nodding familiarity). And when, in Chandler's writings, did they meld themselves into what would be his penultimate creation, Phillip Marlowe?

And at which point did Chandler begin to write, as fellow writer Ross McDonald termed it, "like a slumming angel . . ."? The answers to both questions may well lie here, in this collection.

Pick up this collection! Read it! Discover the material anew!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pour the scotch and smoke 'em if you've got 'em, December 3, 2007

By 

Deric Clarke (Orange Curtain CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels: Pulp Stories / The Big Sleep / Farewell, My Lovely / The High Window (Library of America) (Hardcover)

What I consider one of the greatest descriptive writers in the Western cannon, Chandler can transport you in to old Los Angeles. Every story will make you crave a stiff drink and perhaps even leaving a smell of tabacoo in your clothes. I recomend these stories to people who want to understand LA better because Chandler caught the essence of the city that can even be seen today. Look down the 2nd street tunnel at 2 am and see that barrel of a gun or drive to the Rosebowl and see why he makes reference that there are no sidewalks in that wealthy neighborhood. If you want to learn about noir, there is a reason Chandler is considered one of the fathers.