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Killer in the Rain, by Raymond Chandler
Apr. 26th, 2018 04:11 pmKind of a neat anthology of some of Chandler's original stories from the pulps. These were largely suppressed by Chandler for anthologization, because these were reworked into his novels. So obviously, in some ways these stories are old (well, if you've read the novels), but lots of details are different, and some of them come to different endings than the interpolated versions.
So, it's interesting to meet Carmen from the Big Sleep, but her dad isn't General Sternwood, but a Serbian steelworker by the name of Dravec who works as cheap muscle.
And of course, I can't help enjoying reading about bits of Los Angeles I know well.
Chandler: "We were in the day captain's room at the West los Angeles Police Station, just off Santa Monica Boulevard, near Sawtelle."
Me: The police station is on Butler.
Chandler: Near Sawtelle.
Also a nice introduction, which had a bit that struck me, though it may read a bit different with a modern context than it did in 1964:
"The thematic difference between what Chandler called the standard detective story and his own stories is that his hero was motivated less by the desire to solve the mystery of a murder than by the compelling necessity to right social wrongs. There is murder in these stories, to be sure, but the detective risked his life and reputation to correct social injustices of any nature: to protect the weak, to establish ethical standards, to ease pain, or to salvage whatever might be left in fragile human beings."
So, it's interesting to meet Carmen from the Big Sleep, but her dad isn't General Sternwood, but a Serbian steelworker by the name of Dravec who works as cheap muscle.
And of course, I can't help enjoying reading about bits of Los Angeles I know well.
Chandler: "We were in the day captain's room at the West los Angeles Police Station, just off Santa Monica Boulevard, near Sawtelle."
Me: The police station is on Butler.
Chandler: Near Sawtelle.
Also a nice introduction, which had a bit that struck me, though it may read a bit different with a modern context than it did in 1964:
"The thematic difference between what Chandler called the standard detective story and his own stories is that his hero was motivated less by the desire to solve the mystery of a murder than by the compelling necessity to right social wrongs. There is murder in these stories, to be sure, but the detective risked his life and reputation to correct social injustices of any nature: to protect the weak, to establish ethical standards, to ease pain, or to salvage whatever might be left in fragile human beings."
