Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All

Both the noir genre and the hard-boiled detective genre are so iconic these days that they are practically punchlines. The first time this chocolate-and-peanut-butter combo really came together, though, was in Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep.

I’m a fan of both genres although I’ve seen more movies and TV shows than I’ve read books. So this is the first time I’m meeting Chandler’s famous Philip Marlowe. Unlike Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade, Marlowe is more of an upstanding guy by our standards. Marlowe is like a knight-errant in the service of his clients. Even though we may not be able to see why his particular clients in this story are so worthy of his sacrifices, he knows he has to continue living by his own code.

This brings romanticism to the character, but we also know of the alienation and bleakness that arise from his choices. As good as he is at what he does, he is not a happy man.

The plot of The Big Sleep is simultaneously brilliant and sloppy. The book is set out as a series of mysteries but these are not the kind of mysteries that you’re supposed to follow along and figure out by the clues left along the way.

I would liken it to what Agatha Christie writes, where the story is enjoyable and the characters are interesting, and really, you may as well relax about the solution to the puzzle because you’re not going to figure it out. The author didn’t create the work with the intention of helping you along.

The Big Sleep has plenty of style and progression of plot, but true mystery aficionados are going to be frustrated.

So what’s so brilliant about the plot then? One, Marlowe succeeds right off the bat, and I can’t elaborate further about that without spoiling the action. Two, Marlowe becomes the mystery, and again, I can’t say any more. Structurally, Chandler has done something so witty and playful here. Unfortunately, an understanding of his humor on this front won’t be possible until the end.

But in the meantime, all throughout the book, Chandler is going to make you smile. There are just great turns in the language.

New Author Challenge: four completed, eleven to go.
1001 Books To Read Before You Die list: 79 down

Tags: Books // 1 Comment »

Here are my favorite reads for the week:

• This Daily Puppy is seriously cute. Look at his ears!
• The early days of Great Books.
• I haven’t been a regular reader of comic books in a long time, but this video by Chicago Comic Vault is great for several reasons.

It shows how comic book shops can, and really need to, build a community to support their business. One may think that the Venn diagram showing comic book store owners and techies will have a large shared area, but that’s just not true. It’s still very analog out there.

Also, Matt is so right about the publishers needing to parcel out the story better when they do their mega crossover events. Back in my reading days, I hated having to go around and around to collect all the pieces. Get me interested in the characters and let me pick up their book to try later. Don’t piecemeal me to death.

Tags: Recommendations // Add Comment »

We stumbled upon Thai Thank You one day when we arrived too early for Wishbone’s evening hours. In a clean and comfortable dining room, we had a lovely early dinner.

The food is fresh and tasty. I loved that it wasn’t overly salted. The broth in my noodle soup was full of flavor but still light. To me, it tasted as if they’ve been simmering that stock with some really good stuff for a really long time. As a person who adores soup, I was so happy that this was a bowl I could clean out without being dehydrated from the sodium or weighed down with oil.

I’ve been reading some of the reviews on Yelp, and a lot of the negative ones complain about flavorless food. This must be why I really enjoyed my meal. I don’t use a lot of seasoning in my own cooking at home so when I eat out, I can find the food over the top at times. Why drown out flavor and taste with artificiality?

I tried the boyfriend’s curry dish, and that was very yummy—creamy and lip smacking. And everyone in my party seemed to enjoy his/her bubble drinks.

I do wish the entree portions and rice allocations were just a little bit bigger, but overall, this was a great find.

Tags: Chicago, Food // Add Comment »