I have decided that I'm going to read the "Philip Marlowe" books in order, and so far I can say Raymond Chandler has yet to let me down after reading the third, The High Window (1942). And like it's predecessors (The Big Sleep and Farewell My Lovely), it is the epitome of the classic hard-boiled style of writing that keeps the reader turning the pages, rather than labyrinthine plots that beg for second or third readings. In this novel we have murder, blackmail, an innocent damsel in distress, and the usual odd ball characters and femme fatales that have defined the genre. Here are some samples of Chandler's compelling style:
“From 30 feet away she looked like a lot of class. From 10 feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from 30 feet away.”
“A check girl in peach-bloom Chinese pajamas came over to take my hat and disapprove of my clothes. She had eyes like strange sins.”
“Well, George Anson Phillips is a kind of pathetic case... He was the sort of cop who would be likely to hang a pinch on a chicken thief, if he saw the guy steal the chicken and the guy fell down running away and hit his head on a post or something and knocked himself out. Otherwise it might get a little tough and George would have to go back to the office for instructions.”
“She had a lot of face and chin. She had pewter-colored hair set in a ruthless permanent, a hard beak and moist eyes with the sympathetic expression of wet stones.”
Another entertaining read from one of my favorite crime-mystery writers. I'm looking forward to the next volume in the series, Lady In The Lake.
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