The High Window (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)
by Raymond Chandler
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who can read
Chandler's third Philip Marolowe mystery happened to be the first mystery novel I've read. I was not prepared for how wonderful it was. Chandler has written elsewhere that "the best mystery novel is one where it doesn't matter if you get to the end." The story's power gathers in the atmosephere and mood established by individual scenes. Chandler's eye for detail and unique gift for description will leave some images permanaently etched on your mind, and Marlowe has some of the grea...more
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Read in August, 2008
This third Marlowe is more on the level with “The Big Sleep” than was Chandler’s second effort.
As in the second novel, “Farewell, My Lovely,” Chandler seems to be fighting to write another saleable novel with the convolution of “The Big Sleep.” Trouble is, the first novel came by its Daedalian corridors honestly. The second two, not so much.
In keeping with the genre’s fabricated world, the detective still stumbles onto all the bodies, still reads so much more deeply into ...more
As in the second novel, “Farewell, My Lovely,” Chandler seems to be fighting to write another saleable novel with the convolution of “The Big Sleep.” Trouble is, the first novel came by its Daedalian corridors honestly. The second two, not so much.
In keeping with the genre’s fabricated world, the detective still stumbles onto all the bodies, still reads so much more deeply into ...more
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I love Raymond Chandler. And Marlowe, the joke cracking private eye who's tough on the outside and golden on the inside and who would be cliched except he's the original everyone else copied...it's vintage noir, hard-boiled action, the world without frills, a trail of murders and blackmail and robbery. It's flawed the way America's underbelly is flawed but it's always clear where Marlowe's sympathies lie...with the poor, the lost, the wicked, the desperate doing all they can to get out of povert...more
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Read in June, 2007
Raymond Chandler's greatest skill is his ability to write the most gorgeous prose you could ever imagine in a hardboiled detective novel, and The High Window is no exception. Chandler's descriptions are fantastic, and yet, they don't seem out of place in the hardboiled novel- they are dark, and lovely, and totally weave a spell around the reader.
However, I wasn't particularly interested in the plot or the characters of The High Window. Merle Davis, the flighty, damaged assistant of Marlowe...more
However, I wasn't particularly interested in the plot or the characters of The High Window. Merle Davis, the flighty, damaged assistant of Marlowe...more
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Read in November, 2005
Raymond Chandler’s The High Window sees Philip Marlowe investigating the theft of a rare early American gold coin, the Brasher Doubloon. The case turns out also to involve blackmail and three murders. This is vintage Chandler. The plot is delightfully Byzantine. Marlowe, as usual, finds himself trying to resolve the case in such a manner that at least some vague semblance of justice is done. Which isn’t easy, since just about everybody has something nasty that they’re trying to...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
fans of crime/mystery
Phillip Marlowe, the central character of most of Chandler's novels, is one of those classic literary figures. He's tough but still gets worked over by the occasional thug. He's smart but still has his moments of idiocy. Ladies like him but he usually manages to blow it. He's always up for a drink and he rarely lacks a clever quip for whomever he is dealing with. I love these books because Chandler always crafts an intriguing murder mystery tale that is complemented perfectly by his unique writi...more
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Read in September, 2007
In this worthy companion to "The Big Sleep" and "Farewell My Lovely," Marlowe tracks a rare colonial coin called "The Brasher Doubloon." This novel features a handful of well-drawn stock characters: an iron dowager, her effete son and mousy secretary, a B-movie actor turn big-time gambler and his six-foot-five henchman (both with scars), round-heeled ex-showgirl Lois Magic, gin-joint contralto Linda Conquest and a good no-nonsense middle-aged cop named Breeze. A...more
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Read in October, 2006
My first Phillip Marlowe novel. It had EVERYTHING. Though it did seem a bit formulaic after having seen the big sleep, I still enjoyed it immensely. I always have a hard time keeping track of the detective's day and appointments though.
The writing was wry and very descriptive giving a great feel of some very specific places in L.A.
And, though I had hunches, I had no iea how it was going to end!
"'I'm smart,' i said. 'It would be a shame not to talk to me.'"
The writing was wry and very descriptive giving a great feel of some very specific places in L.A.
And, though I had hunches, I had no iea how it was going to end!
"'I'm smart,' i said. 'It would be a shame not to talk to me.'"
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone
still 60+ pages to go, but i feel confident stating as fact that every Raymond Chandler novel i read is, at that time, my favorite Raymond Chandler novel. the man is a genius.
UPDATE: he did not disappoint. what i most admire in Chandler, & try to emulate, is his precision as a wordsmith. he had a true lyrical gift & his writing at once conveys a dark poetry, a stern stoicism, & a bone-dry sense of humor. genius, i says.
UPDATE: he did not disappoint. what i most admire in Chandler, & try to emulate, is his precision as a wordsmith. he had a true lyrical gift & his writing at once conveys a dark poetry, a stern stoicism, & a bone-dry sense of humor. genius, i says.
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Read in July, 2007
The New Yorker quote on the back states: "Chandler wrote as if pain, hurt and life mattered." I think that pretty much sums it up. The plot of this one is perhaps more convoluted than it needed to be, but ultimately the read is worthwhile because you're reading to swim in the awe-inspiring prose and characterizations that Chandler fills his novels with, and The High Window delivers in spades.
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Read in March, 2008
Chandler and Marlowe's "ideas" about women are arguably even less palatable here than they usually are, and the McGuffin (a missing rare coin) is pretty preposterous. Despite or maybe because of all that, this is another exemplary noir, with one of the most memorable closing scenes in the Marlowe canon, that tells you everything about why the booze-loving bachelor PI does what he does.
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Noir fans and all writers
Chandler's use of similie is second to none. I've also read the Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely. If you're a writer, you should read all Chandler's novels for the style and the similies. Here's one on the page I just read: "as faint as a fat lady at a firemen's ball." He says the curtains in his office "puckered in and out like the lips of a toothless old man sleeping."
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Read in June, 2008
Another great Marlowe adventure in which he's thrust deep into the shady secrets of a nutty family. There's a strange restraint here that I haven't noticed before in Chandler's writing but its sort of a nice change of pace from the bug-eyed psychotics that usually haunt Marlowe's Los Angeles.
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I read this one twice - probably not b/c I thought it was so great but b/c I forgot that I read it the 1st time. You call this a review?! Shd I make a bkshelf called something like "bks-I-read-when-I-was-sick" or "bks-that-I-unintentionally-read-twice"?
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Evokes the landscape of 1940s LA as a backdrop to a decent crime story. The descriptions of buildings, roads, cars and houses make me want to read City of Quartz by Mike Davis again. I was reading it more for the historic aura than the crime story aspect.
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You CAN judge a book by a better cover. The thumbnail shown is NOT the illustration from the $3.95 paperback edition printed in 1976 by Vintage Books (Division of Random House) which has a more fitting representaion of a trashy crime novel.
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Read in July, 2008
Unusually coherent for a Raymond Chandler book, though there are some time gaps that don't make sense, and Marlowe's annoying way of withholding information from the reader.
It has the usual strong descriptions and wisecracking.
It has the usual strong descriptions and wisecracking.
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Read in August, 2008
Raymond Chandler - makes me want to live in a really slummy apartment with no a/c, chain smoking, and slapping the occassional gal when she mouths off. Chandler always delivers.
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
all
i love every book this man ever wrote. even not having read quite a few of them, i know. it's hard to pick a favorite out of the ones i have read, but i guess this would be it.
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Lesser Chandler, but lesser Chandler is still better than 99% of what passes for mystery fiction, and there's good stuff here.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.92 (548 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.92 (525 ratings) number of reviews: 31popular shelves
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quote
"I looked at Spangler. He was leaning forward so far he was almost out of his chair. He looked as if he was going to jump. I couldn't think of any reason why he should jump, so I thought he must be excited. I looked back at Breeze. He was about as excited as a hole in the wall."
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