THE BIG SLEEPWritten By: Raymond Chandler

Presentation By: Tyler Shalvarjian

BACK COVER TEASER

Philip Marlowe, a private detective, is hired by General Sternwood to

investigate what is supposed to be a simple blackmailing case. Marlowe

soon realizes that this is a deeper case than what he first perceived, as

Sternwood’s daughters both end up becoming major parts of the case.

Despite the complexity, he jumps straight in, targeting and following his

first suspect, an owner of a “bookstore”. This, unfortunately, does not last

long, as his suspect is murdered. The murder leads Marlowe nowhere and

his case is postponed shortly. However, after another mysterious murder,

Marlowe is able to find a few leads. His case is jumpstarted once again

and he begins to learn about the circumstances surrounding each murder.

BACK COVER TEASER CONT.

He finds that each successive murder has a connection to the

first murder which lead him nowhere. Nearly stumped, Marlowe

is confronted by a seemingly innocent man who offers his help to

Marlowe in exchange for a sum of money. Marlowe realizes that

he is becoming a target in the blackmailing case, and that he

must “take matters into his own hands” in order to ensure his

safety. This murder mystery is seemingly over, but what later

ensues, changes the entire plot of the story. The masterful end to

the confusing novel is all due to Marlowe’s ability to decipher the

case from stage one. Follow Philip Marlowe as he disassembles a

case of many false fronts and reassembles the puzzle that makes

up the entirety of this blackmailing case.

NOVEL SETTING

West Hollywood, California

1930s-1940s

3765 Alta Brea Crescent (General Sternwood’s Mansion)

Majority takes place during the nighttime

Very descriptive:• “The air was thick, wet, steamy and larded with the cloying smell of tropical

orchids in bloom. The glass walls and roof were heavily misted and big drops of moisture splashed on the plants. The light had an unreal greenish color, like light filtered through an aquarium tank. The plants filled the place, a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the fingers of newly washed dead men. They smelled as overpowering as boiling alcohol under a blanket” (Chandler 8).

Weather

DETECTIVE PHILIP MARLOWE

Private Detective

Only honest person throughout the novel

Helps others before helping himself

Tough, resilliant, focused; resists temptation

Does not do things for money (paid very little), only for

enjoyment

Smart, clever; much like Sherlock Holmes

SIGNIFICANT PASSAGE

“You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not

bothered by things like that, oil and water were the same as wind and

air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of

how you died or where you fell. Me, I was part of the nastiness now. Far

more a part of it than Rusty Regan was. But the old man didn’t have to

be. He could lie quiet in his bed, with his bloodless hands folded on the

sheet, waiting. His heart was a brief uncertain murmur. His thoughts

were as gray as ashes. And in a little while he too, like Rusty Regan,

would be sleeping the big sleep” (Chandler 206).

RAYMOND THORNTON CHANDLER

Born in Chicago, Illinois; spent his childhood years in Plattsmouth,

Nebraska; moved to London, England in 1900

Educated in England but did not attend university

Worked an admiralty job, during which he published his first poem (1907)

Became a reporter for the Daily Express and the Bristol Western Gazette

newspapers

Moved to Los Angeles in 1913 - Along the way he strung tennis rackets and

picked fruit

Worked at the Los Angeles Creamery for four years and enlisted in World

War I in 1917

RAYMOND THORNTON CHANDLER

After the war, Chandler worked for the Dabney Oil Syndicate but was fired due to

his alcoholism, absenteeism, promiscuity with female employees and threatened

suicides

During the Depression, Chandler turned to writing to earn a living

Taught himself to write pulp fiction by studying the Perry Mason story formula of

Erle Stanley Gardner.

Chandler's first professional work: "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", published in Black

Mask magazine in 1933; First novel, The Big Sleep, published in 1939

After second novel’s success (Farewell, My Lovely (1940)), became a screenwriter

Attempted suicide in 1955, but was unsuccessful and died from pneumonial

peripheral vascular shock and prerenal uremia

MY RECOMMENDATION

Did not know what to expect

LA Noir – set in Hollywood

Philip Marlowe – Protagonist

Eddie Mars – Antagonist

Characters in-between

Rusty Regan Puzzle

MY RECOMMENDATION CONT.

Logical/typical mystery plot

Misleading at times

Mysterious, dark tone

Everybody is out to get you

Corruption

I recommend this novel.

NOVEL INFORMATION

Genre: Detective/Crime Novel; LA Noir

Reading Level: High School (11-12)

Length: 211 pages

Point of View: First Person