Raymond Chandler's simile files
268 sats \ 5 comments \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 18 Apr BooksAndArticles
Raymond Chandler, one of the great crime novelists, kept separate sheets of similes and analogies he'd thought of so he could throw them into his works. He'd cross them off once he'd used them. Nowadays, writers can keep these things electronically, which means not getting to see the historical documents.
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31 sats \ 4 replies \ @siggy47 18 Apr
I only read like the first five and I loved them all! This gives me motivation to read one of his books. Which is your favorite?
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37 sats \ 3 replies \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears OP 18 Apr
I go back and forth between The Long Goodbye and The Big Sleep. Both utter classics.
Full disclosure: I actually consider Chandler the weakest of the Big 3 of hardboiled crime (behind Ross MacDonald and Dashiell Hammett), though I think no one could turn a better single phrase than he could.
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41 sats \ 2 replies \ @siggy47 18 Apr
I watched The Big Sleep not long ago. Maybe I'll give it a go.
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27 sats \ 1 reply \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears OP 18 Apr
Such an amazing movie, too.
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 18 Apr
It really is. His knack for dialogue is so much fun.
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