The Father Of Noir And His Progeny — страница 3

stories leaves the reader wanting more, but he is also at the same time thinking about the case. During the time that I read this book, I was drawn into it more and more. Because of Marlowe’s first-person narrative, all clues are presented and the reader knows everything that Marlowe does. I pride myself because I figured out the book with approximately 25 pages to spare. The Lady in the Lake was not as successful as The High Window because of its inconsistency in the plot. This was one of Chandler’s mid-career books, and his drinking problem was taking him over; it would eventually be the death of him. No longer did people know Raymond Chandler; they only knew the name Philip Marlowe, who was a household name. The Lady in the Lake in a quick summary, was about a man who

sends Marlowe to find his wife who has been staying at her country house for the past month. Upon arriving Marlowe, finds the body of another woman and is now on one case whose action includes many cities. I think that Chandler wrote this novel to show what he was capable of, as critics often wrote that he was getting old. This effect was a failed attempt to prove them wrong. When I read this book, I was too preoccupied in following it and was not given the chance to enjoy it. Though I was impressed with Chandler’s ability to pull in all the facts in the climax of the book, the story proceeding the climax became rather dull. Marlowe, like many other private eyes of then and now has a quick mouth and an almost endless supply of cigarettes. Marlowe’s quick mouth seldom makes

sense but is always humorous, and leaves the other man speechless. Ex. “Well I’ll be damned,’ I said. ‘So that’s the answer to the pantomime.’ ‘What pantomime?’ He gave me a hard level unfriendly stare from his very blue eyes” What separates Marlowe from other detectives is his sentimental side. Sam Spade, another detective of the time, was tough and clever but did not show real emotions. Chandler described Marlowe as a, “controlled half-poetical emotion.” Other characteristics of Marlowe are in direct correlation to Chandler himself, such as his low tolerance for physical abuse. In many of Chandler’s novels Marlowe has a quick mouth, but will generally a fight. Marlowe’s pain threshold is also substantially low. In one of the books Marlowe is hit in the

knee and suffers in pain for the remainder of the book. The wound was not serious, but it was unbearable to Marlowe. The characteristics that Chandler gave his character Marlowe are an extension of himself. Many critics have accused Marlowe of being Chandler’s alter-ego. Because the characteristics of Marlowe include a compassionate side critics often accused Marlowe of being homosexual. In the early writing’s for Black Mask in the 1930’s, Chandler had Marlowe as merely a clich? detective: tough, strong, and “an honest man in a crooked trade.” Chandler found this formula to be too bland and added in the emotions that Marlowe later displayed. In Chandler’s novels, Private Eye Philip Marlowe is the first-person narrator. The first-person narratives do, although, have

many disadvantages that Chandler was well aware of. It was hard to provide events in the story when the detective is not present, and not bore the reader at the same time. To make up for this problem Chandler created his whimsical fast-talking detective. The feature of a first-person narrative does, although, provide many interesting ideas and scenarios for the reader to enjoy. As the narrator, Marlowe is able to introduce new characters in a different way. Marlowe’s eyes become the reader’s eyes, and the reader’s eyes became Marlowe’s. (The Life of Raymond Chandler.70) Marlowe, being as a first-person narrator, was also used in many of Chandler’s films, where the camera serves as the eyes of Marlowe, so that the audience can experience everything through the eyes of

Marlowe. The book The Lady in the Lake was made into a movie in which the main interest was the idea that the camera itself was Marlowe: “YOU accept an invitation to a blonde’s apartment. YOU get socked in the jaw by a murder suspect.” The Lady in the Lake starred Robert Montgomery as Philip Marlowe. Unfortunately, the movie proved to be grossly inaccurate, so inaccurate as to make this viewer angry. The plot of the story was dumbed down from a sophisticated viewpoint to an average Hollywood detective movie. The plot was so simplified that Marlowe was not even given the case by the same person, nor did the film happen to mention parts that tied the whole story together. The original plot and wise attitude were stripped from the movie, and it no longer was a representation