Strange Loves

Raymond Chandler, The Lady in the Lake

There is something oddly appealing about the title of this book on a day when we are nearing 100.  Then again, the lady in the lake was dead, and that part isn't so appealing.

Chandler is great--easily one of the masters of the noir detective novel--indeed, his only competitor for Master is Hammett--and I would be hard pressed to figure out which one was better.  Chandler seems to have kept the same detective throughout all his novels, and Marlowe is everything you would want in a detective in this sort of story. Humphrey Bogart played Marlowe in The Big Sleep decades ago--Bogart was perfect for the role.  It is hard to imagine anyone who could pull Marlowe off today, but presumably there is someone out there.

Writing a review of a book like this is about the same as writing a review of a Wodehouse novel.  To date, I have a hard time distinguishing between any of Chandler's novels--and I have read close to a half-dozen of them.  They all blur together, having roughly the same basic structure.  So, when one is reviewing a novel which is much like all of Chandler's other novels, does one comment on what makes this novel different from the others, which would completely avoid everything which makes the novel worth reading, or does one write about what makes the novel worth reading and then just cut and paste that review for every one of his novels? 

I think I will wait until I read the next Chandler novel to figure that out.

In unrelated news, the Amazon download of the day yesterday was an Iggy Pop album--I had never owned and Iggy Pop album before--but $1.99 for The Idiot--how can you pass that up? The next time I want to really annoy  kids, I think I will put this on really loud--of course I will have to wait until Janet isn't around--she will like it less than the kids will.

In other unrelated news, Emma and I watched Dr. Strangelove last night.  That movie is a masterpiece.  It revels in its utter silliness in a refreshing way.  This is back when the anti-war Left could be funny.  When did they lose their sense of humor?  And why didn't Slim Pickins get more roles during his career?

In yet more unrelated news, I wen to my first game at Fenway park last week.  What a great ballpark.