I like it -- good, clever writing - it is language that makes you think a little and gives you a great mental image of the action in a way most people would not have thought of.
Yes. I had to click the link to identify the story it came from, but I instantly knew who wrote it. I might have even been able to identify the writer even if I had never read it before- it literally cries out in Chandler's style.
I thought of Chandler just the other day, reading an author who would have benefited from reading more of Chandler's words and writing less of his own.
Thanks for the reminder and the chance to go to the link and be reminded of the master's work.
Chandler, Hammett, Macdonald, people could write in those days. I've always loved the curtain line from The Gutting of Couffignal, which was written by Hammett and featured his "Continental Op" character. People should read and judge for themselves.
One of my English teachers in high school asserted that the first paragraph in "Red Wind" (and not the first lines from a Tale of Two Cities) was the best opening paragraph in the history of English literature. I think it's a decent candidate for that honor.
Virgil Hilts said... One of my English teachers in high school asserted that the first paragraph in "Red Wind" (and not the first lines from a Tale of Two Cities) was the best opening paragraph in the history of English literature. I think it's a decent candidate for that honor.
If that's the one about; "every booze party ends in a fight", I'd say your English teacher was spot on.
"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge."
Red Wind - Chapter 1 (First paragraph) Raymond Chandler
Understandably, Mickey Spillane has nowhere the reputation that Chandler has. Still, he did write the highly memorable closing lines of "I, the Jury":
The roar of the .45 shook the room. Charlotte staggered back a step. Her eyes were a symphony of incredulity, an unbelieving witness to truth. Slowly, she looked down at the ugly swelling in her naked belly where the bullet went in. A thin trickle of blood welled out.
I stood up in front of her and shoved the gun into my pocket. I turned and looked at the rubber plant behind me. There on the table was the gun, with the safety catch off and the silencer still attached. Those loving arms would have reached it nicely. A face that was waiting to be kissed was really waiting to be splattered with blood when she blew my head off. My blood. When I heard her fall I turned around. Her eyes had pain in them now, the pain preceding death. Pain and unbelief.
How c-could you?” she gasped.
I only had a moment before talking to a corpse, but I got it in.
"There was me, that is, Alex, and my three droogs, Pete, Georgie, and Dim, Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening, a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry. The Korova Milkbar was a milk-plus mesto, and you may, O my brothers, have forgotten what these mestos were like, things changing so skorry these days, and everybody being very quick to forget, newspapers not being read much neither."
Among my favorite first few sentences written in English.
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२७ टिप्पण्या:
Raymond Chandler?
I like it -- good, clever writing - it is language that makes you think a little and gives you a great mental image of the action in a way most people would not have thought of.
A sane man observing realty. That is refreshing.
Quaestor,
Yes. I had to click the link to identify the story it came from, but I instantly knew who wrote it. I might have even been able to identify the writer even if I had never read it before- it literally cries out in Chandler's style.
A bit over-written though, yes?
My favorite is from The High Window.
“She had eyes like strange sins.”
The Godfather,
Does it read better "He hit me in the gut, and I fell down and hit my head"?
North, also from High Window:
"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"
His novels about Los Angeles have a lot of LA history, sort of like Hammett and San Francisco.
From The High Window (from memory):
"The moon was cold and clear, like the justice men seek but don't find."
I thought of Chandler just the other day, reading an author who would have benefited from reading more of Chandler's words and writing less of his own.
Thanks for the reminder and the chance to go to the link and be reminded of the master's work.
Actual quote:
"The white moonlight was cold and clear, like the justice we dream of but don't find."
I read it and thought, "This guy's another Chandler. I'll have to pick up one of his books".
Chandler, Hammett, Macdonald, people could write in those days. I've always loved the curtain line from The Gutting of Couffignal, which was written by Hammett and featured his "Continental Op" character. People should read and judge for themselves.
"She tried to sit in my lap while I was standing up."
from The Big Sleep
One of my English teachers in high school asserted that the first paragraph in "Red Wind" (and not the first lines from a Tale of Two Cities) was the best opening paragraph in the history of English literature. I think it's a decent candidate for that honor.
The first six paragraphs of "A Farewell to Arms" is the best beginning in English literature, closely followed by the first paragraph of "Moby Dick."
Was there a Blue Ox?
I snapped off the Chrysler Building and beat the Althouse Lefties until they were all screaming like little girls. It didn't take long.
Virgil Hilts said...
One of my English teachers in high school asserted that the first paragraph in "Red Wind" (and not the first lines from a Tale of Two Cities) was the best opening paragraph in the history of English literature. I think it's a decent candidate for that honor.
If that's the one about; "every booze party ends in a fight", I'd say your English teacher was spot on.
"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge."
Red Wind - Chapter 1 (First paragraph)
Raymond Chandler
@Yancey Ward: Your version is UNDERWRITTEN. Keep working on it.
Understandably, Mickey Spillane has nowhere the reputation that Chandler has. Still, he did write the highly memorable closing lines of "I, the Jury":
The roar of the .45 shook the room. Charlotte staggered back a step. Her eyes were a symphony of incredulity, an unbelieving witness to truth. Slowly, she looked down at the ugly swelling in her naked belly where the bullet went in. A thin trickle of blood welled out.
I stood up in front of her and shoved the gun into my pocket. I turned and looked at the rubber plant behind me. There on the table was the gun, with the safety catch off and the silencer still attached. Those loving arms would have reached it nicely. A face that was waiting to be kissed was really waiting to be splattered with blood when she blew my head off. My blood. When I heard her fall I turned around. Her eyes had pain in them now, the pain preceding death. Pain and unbelief.
How c-could you?” she gasped.
I only had a moment before talking to a corpse, but I got it in.
"It was easy,” I said.
""What's it going to be then, eh?
"There was me, that is, Alex, and my three droogs, Pete, Georgie, and Dim, Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening, a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry. The Korova Milkbar was a milk-plus mesto, and you may, O my brothers, have forgotten what these mestos were like, things changing so skorry these days, and everybody being very quick to forget, newspapers not being read much neither."
Among my favorite first few sentences written in English.
Among my favorite first few sentences written in English.
Figures. If you call it English.
Is that who your avatar is? Dim maybe? Could be Alex.
It's the English slang of the novel, and it's absolute music.
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