Paula Coots's Blog: Paula's Blather about Writing. Mostly. - Posts Tagged "style"

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Who wants to hear my opinions, really? What I love about this book is the writing style. Lots of long sentences with no commas. Followed by short sentences. Or fragments. And occasionally short paragraphs. He's famous for his metaphors and similes, and when I think about when this was written, 1939, I appreciate how he rejected the strict "style" constraints and just wrote what needed to be written. It's all about the story. The pace, creating tension and resolution, and the music of the words. I think that's a worthy goal for any author. At the time, he was widely regarded as just a "pulp fiction" writer. Today, he is considered a genius by many in the field.
I'm on to "Farewell, My Lovely" next.



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