In Praise of Raymond Chandler
This is the second in a series of blog posts that discuss novelists I admire and who have influenced my own writing.
The Legacy of Raymond Chandler
Chandler began his writing career at the age of 44 by publishing short stories in the pulp fiction magazine Black Mask. Although not nearly as prolific a writer as Georges Simenon, Chandler left us works such as The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely, and The Long Goodbye that have become classics. He was also a noteworthy screenwriter: he co-authored the screenplay for Double Indemnity, based on the eponymous novel by his fellow pulp fiction writer, James M. Cain, and wrote the original screenplay for The Blue Dahlia. Both screenplays were nominated for Academy Awards.
Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade and Chandler's Philip Marlowe are considered to be the original hard-boiled detectives. They paved the way for Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer, John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee, Robert B. Parker's Spenser, and Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, among others.
Chandler's ability to depict the California setting so that it became a metaphor for both the opulence and decay of modern American society also had a major influence on the works of both Ross Macdonald and Michael Connolly. Macdonald said of Chandler that he wrote "like a slumming angel and invested the sun-blinded streets of Los Angeles with a romantic presence."
Influence on My Own Writing
Chandler once said that a good mystery is one that you would read even if the end was missing. In moving the emphasis away from the denouement and the concern with "whodunit", Chandler taught subsequent generations of writers the importance of setting, dialogue, and individual scenes in story-telling. These are also central elements in my own crime fiction novels.
Internet Resources
If you'd like to [re}discover Chandler--his life and works--the Raymond Chandler website at http://home.comcast.net/~mossrobert/ is a good starting point.
Happy Reading!
The Legacy of Raymond Chandler
Chandler began his writing career at the age of 44 by publishing short stories in the pulp fiction magazine Black Mask. Although not nearly as prolific a writer as Georges Simenon, Chandler left us works such as The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely, and The Long Goodbye that have become classics. He was also a noteworthy screenwriter: he co-authored the screenplay for Double Indemnity, based on the eponymous novel by his fellow pulp fiction writer, James M. Cain, and wrote the original screenplay for The Blue Dahlia. Both screenplays were nominated for Academy Awards.
Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade and Chandler's Philip Marlowe are considered to be the original hard-boiled detectives. They paved the way for Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer, John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee, Robert B. Parker's Spenser, and Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, among others.
Chandler's ability to depict the California setting so that it became a metaphor for both the opulence and decay of modern American society also had a major influence on the works of both Ross Macdonald and Michael Connolly. Macdonald said of Chandler that he wrote "like a slumming angel and invested the sun-blinded streets of Los Angeles with a romantic presence."
Influence on My Own Writing
Chandler once said that a good mystery is one that you would read even if the end was missing. In moving the emphasis away from the denouement and the concern with "whodunit", Chandler taught subsequent generations of writers the importance of setting, dialogue, and individual scenes in story-telling. These are also central elements in my own crime fiction novels.
Internet Resources
If you'd like to [re}discover Chandler--his life and works--the Raymond Chandler website at http://home.comcast.net/~mossrobert/ is a good starting point.
Happy Reading!
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Open Investigations
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