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Pearls Are a Nuisance
3 Vintage Chandlers + The Simple Art of Murder
These three early stories take hairpin bends at the usual Chandler pace. There are corpses in cars, at desks, in morgues, under beds, on beds... neve, by any mistake, flower-beds. The volume also contains Chandler's famous little essay on 'Crime'.
Cover designed by James Tormey.
These three early stories take hairpin bends at the usual Chandler pace. There are corpses in cars, at desks, in morgues, under beds, on beds... neve, by any mistake, flower-beds. The volume also contains Chandler's famous little essay on 'Crime'.
Cover designed by James Tormey.
208 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1939
16 people are currently reading
316 people want to read
About the author
Raymond Chandler
449 books5,616 followersRaymond Thornton Chandler was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Great Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in 1933 in Black Mask, a popular pulp magazine. His first novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939. In addition to his short stories, Chandler published seven novels during his lifetime (an eighth, in progress at the time of his death, was completed by Robert B. Parker). All but Playback have been made into motion pictures, some more than once. In the year before his death, he was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America.
Chandler had an immense stylistic influence on American popular literature. He is a founder of the hardboiled school of detective fiction, along with Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain and other Black Mask writers. The protagonist of his novels, Philip Marlowe, like Hammett's Sam Spade, is considered by some to be synonymous with "private detective". Both were played in films by Humphrey Bogart, whom many consider to be the quintessential Marlowe.
The Big Sleep placed second on the Crime Writers Association poll of the 100 best crime novels; Farewell, My Lovely (1940), The Lady in the Lake (1943) and The Long Goodbye (1953) also made the list. The latter novel was praised in an anthology of American crime stories as "arguably the first book since Hammett's The Glass Key, published more than twenty years earlier, to qualify as a serious and significant mainstream novel that just happened to possess elements of mystery". Chandler was also a perceptive critic of detective fiction; his "The Simple Art of Murder" is the canonical essay in the field. In it he wrote: "Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The detective must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor—by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world."
Parker wrote that, with Marlowe, "Chandler seems to have created the culminating American hero: wised up, hopeful, thoughtful, adventurous, sentimental, cynical and rebellious—an innocent who knows better, a Romantic who is tough enough to sustain Romanticism in a world that has seen the eternal footman hold its coat and snicker. Living at the end of the Far West, where the American dream ran out of room, no hero has ever been more congruent with his landscape. Chandler had the right hero in the right place, and engaged him in the consideration of good and evil at precisely the time when our central certainty of good no longer held."
Chandler had an immense stylistic influence on American popular literature. He is a founder of the hardboiled school of detective fiction, along with Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain and other Black Mask writers. The protagonist of his novels, Philip Marlowe, like Hammett's Sam Spade, is considered by some to be synonymous with "private detective". Both were played in films by Humphrey Bogart, whom many consider to be the quintessential Marlowe.
The Big Sleep placed second on the Crime Writers Association poll of the 100 best crime novels; Farewell, My Lovely (1940), The Lady in the Lake (1943) and The Long Goodbye (1953) also made the list. The latter novel was praised in an anthology of American crime stories as "arguably the first book since Hammett's The Glass Key, published more than twenty years earlier, to qualify as a serious and significant mainstream novel that just happened to possess elements of mystery". Chandler was also a perceptive critic of detective fiction; his "The Simple Art of Murder" is the canonical essay in the field. In it he wrote: "Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The detective must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor—by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world."
Parker wrote that, with Marlowe, "Chandler seems to have created the culminating American hero: wised up, hopeful, thoughtful, adventurous, sentimental, cynical and rebellious—an innocent who knows better, a Romantic who is tough enough to sustain Romanticism in a world that has seen the eternal footman hold its coat and snicker. Living at the end of the Far West, where the American dream ran out of room, no hero has ever been more congruent with his landscape. Chandler had the right hero in the right place, and engaged him in the consideration of good and evil at precisely the time when our central certainty of good no longer held."
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 13, 2023
5 Stars. He writes so well, Raymond Chandler. Such a joy to read. Sometimes the street slang can be confusing, as in this tale, but that's as it should be! It's light and enjoyable with some great characters. It first appeared in "Dime Detective" in 1939; I caught it's 48 pages in "The Simple Art of Murder" which first came out in 1950 and was reprinted in 1988. Walter Gage is our hero; I am not certain what his occupation is - surely private investigator but not stated. Throughout the story he seems to have extra cash when required and his mercurial girlfriend accuses him of being too rich. Yet he has the smarts of a good P.I. About the characters, there's Henry Eichelberger, the former chauffeur to Mrs. Penruddock. She's the older widow whose valuable pearls have gone missing, the ones Gage is retained to find. Eichelberger has never turned aside a quart of Old Plantation whiskey. Or several. Gage and he develop a type of friendship. Then there's Lou Gandesi, proprietor of a tavern on Spring Street, accused of a wave of dinner party holdups. We shouldn't forget Ellen Macintosh, Gage's tall girlfriend with honey-coloured hair. All I can say is, "Enjoy." (February 2021)
June 28, 2023
I had to look twice for the author, because this novel resembles more to o Henry's style than Chandler's. A thin plot, two not so brilliant guys, much booze, a young attractive lady, no casualties, a happy end with some ethics, all together make a pleasant evening reading. So, four stars suit better than three...
October 21, 2016
Ο Ρέιμοντ Τσάντλερ είναι ένας από τους αγαπημένους μου συγγραφείς, ανεξαρτήτου είδους. Περιττό να πω ότι είναι μαιτρ του αστυνομικού νουάρ και ένας από τους καλύτερους συγγραφείς του είδους - αυτά είναι γνωστά. Το θέμα είναι ότι πέρασαν σχεδόν τρία χρόνια από την τελευταία φορά που διάβασα κάτι δικό του και, όσο να'ναι, μου έλειψε πάρα πολύ. Η "σκληρή" γραφή του, το χιούμορ και οι ατάκες του, οι ωραίες πλοκές, οι απίθανοι χαρακτήρες, όλη αυτή η ατμόσφαιρα των ιστοριών του. Όμως αν θέλω να έχω ακόμα αδιάβαστες ιστορίες του στην βιβλιοθήκη μου, θα πρέπει να είμαι υπερβολικά εγκρατής.
Λοιπόν, το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο περιέχει τρεις μικρές νουβέλες, όλες εξαιρετικά καλογραμμένες, ενδιαφέρουσες, ψυχαγωγικές και απολαυστικές. Οι τίτλοι τους: "Τι μπελάς τα μαργαριτάρια" (Pearls Are a Nuisance), "Χρυσά δάκτυλα" (Finger Man) και "Ο βασιλιάς φορούσε κίτρινα" (The King in Yellow). Φυσικά δεν θα γράψω τι γίνεται στην κάθε ιστορία. Προσωπικά δεν ήξερα τίποτα για καμία ιστορία και έτσι τις απόλαυσα και τις τρεις στον μέγιστο βαθμό. Βέβαια εγώ είμαι φανατικός του συγγραφέα, οπότε όλα σχετικά είναι. Πάντως ευχαριστήθηκα μυστήριο και δράση, σούπερ περιγραφές σκηνικών και χαρακτήρων, γαμάτες ατάκες και νουάρ ατμόσφαιρα. Δεν ήθελα και τίποτα παραπάνω.
Γενικά η έκδοση αυτή (Γράμματα, 1986), είναι ό,τι πρέπει για τους φαν του συγγραφέα αλλά και του made in USA αστυνομικού νουάρ. Μπορεί και να μην πρόκειται για αριστουργηματικές ιστορίες ακριβώς, όμως έχουν όλα αυτά τα καλούδια που μπορεί να βρει κανείς στο έργο του Ρέιμοντ Τσάντλερ και γενικά συγγραφέων του είδους και του βεληνεκούς του. Οι ιστορίες έχουν αρχή, μέση και τέλος, δράση και μυστήριο, ωραίους χαρακτήρες, τρομερή ατμόσφαιρα... Νομίζω ότι αυτά αρκούν για να περάσετε καλά.
Λοιπόν, το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο περιέχει τρεις μικρές νουβέλες, όλες εξαιρετικά καλογραμμένες, ενδιαφέρουσες, ψυχαγωγικές και απολαυστικές. Οι τίτλοι τους: "Τι μπελάς τα μαργαριτάρια" (Pearls Are a Nuisance), "Χρυσά δάκτυλα" (Finger Man) και "Ο βασιλιάς φορούσε κίτρινα" (The King in Yellow). Φυσικά δεν θα γράψω τι γίνεται στην κάθε ιστορία. Προσωπικά δεν ήξερα τίποτα για καμία ιστορία και έτσι τις απόλαυσα και τις τρεις στον μέγιστο βαθμό. Βέβαια εγώ είμαι φανατικός του συγγραφέα, οπότε όλα σχετικά είναι. Πάντως ευχαριστήθηκα μυστήριο και δράση, σούπερ περιγραφές σκηνικών και χαρακτήρων, γαμάτες ατάκες και νουάρ ατμόσφαιρα. Δεν ήθελα και τίποτα παραπάνω.
Γενικά η έκδοση αυτή (Γράμματα, 1986), είναι ό,τι πρέπει για τους φαν του συγγραφέα αλλά και του made in USA αστυνομικού νουάρ. Μπορεί και να μην πρόκειται για αριστουργηματικές ιστορίες ακριβώς, όμως έχουν όλα αυτά τα καλούδια που μπορεί να βρει κανείς στο έργο του Ρέιμοντ Τσάντλερ και γενικά συγγραφέων του είδους και του βεληνεκούς του. Οι ιστορίες έχουν αρχή, μέση και τέλος, δράση και μυστήριο, ωραίους χαρακτήρες, τρομερή ατμόσφαιρα... Νομίζω ότι αυτά αρκούν για να περάσετε καλά.
November 28, 2024
Three good stories. Missing pearls and a weird friendship
The King of Yellow a nasty trombone player who upset someone.
Finger man was excellent. Marlowe becomes embroiled in a murder which he becomes involved in political corruption a common theme in Chandler novels.
The essay on The Simple Art of Murder aptly analyses the weaknesses of detective literature. He particularly tears apart English detective fiction during the golden age. He also waxes lyrical about Dashell Hammett and how he recognizes the brutality and violence of murder.
The King of Yellow a nasty trombone player who upset someone.
Finger man was excellent. Marlowe becomes embroiled in a murder which he becomes involved in political corruption a common theme in Chandler novels.
The essay on The Simple Art of Murder aptly analyses the weaknesses of detective literature. He particularly tears apart English detective fiction during the golden age. He also waxes lyrical about Dashell Hammett and how he recognizes the brutality and violence of murder.
May 13, 2017
Pearls are a Nuisance comprises three stories and (in the Penguin edition) two essays on the quality of detective fiction, and its place in literature. The more obvious essay is Chandler’s justly famous work, ‘The Simple Art of Murder’. The less obvious one is the Introduction to the collection, which also provides some analysis of crime stories.
However let us start with the three fictional stories in the volume. The titular story is a surprisingly light-hearted tale for Chandler, and almost reads like a lightweight version of Joseph Conrad’s short story, ‘The Secret Sharer’.
In ‘The Secret Sharer’, the newly appointed captain of a boat agrees to shelter a fugitive murderer until the latter can escape to safety, mainly because the two men are very much alike – both were ship’s officers, both were educated at the same naval school, and both are of a similar physique. While critics have made too much of the Freudian psychology of the story, it does at least portray two similar men whose fates may have been interchangeable, and who are drawn to each other by their alikeness.
Chandler’s story portrays a well-educated and well-to-do man called Walter Gage, who is investigating the theft of pearls from his girlfriend’s employer, Mrs Penruddock. The trail takes him to Henry Eichelberger, a chauffeur who recently left Mrs Penruddock’s employment, and who made a pass at Gage’s girlfriend.
On Walter’s meeting Henry, the two form an immediate bond, in spite of their differences. Walter is well-bred, and talks in an elevated and verbose manner like a Jane Austen character, whilst Henry is rough and laconic. However, as in Conrad’s story, the two men could have led interchangeable lives, and seem attracted to one another by their similarities – they have the same physical build, they both have a weakness for drink, and they are both in love with the same girl.
It is tempting to apply a homoerotic subtext to the two men’s peculiar intimacy with one another. Indeed, after one drinking binge they wake up next to each other. I doubt that the notoriously homophobic Chandler would have intentionally gone for this effect however. Again we could see Freudian hints of a darker half here, since Walter is seeking the missing pearls and Henry may well have stolen them. I suspect this is putting too much significance into the story however.
A more tempting idea is that the two characters represent different aspects of Chandler himself. Chandler was a tough man, a womaniser and heavy drinker who sometimes went off the rails. He was also a well-educated man who was brought up in Britain. Readers of the two essays in this book may be astonished to find that a tough crime writer should have read a good deal of English literature. However, while they often slummed it, many crime writers of the day were well-read. We see this in film noirs that often throw in classical references.
Indeed the clues are present in Chandler’s novels, which throw in allusions to Proust, Shakespeare and Khachaturian, giving us a clue to the fact that the author is more well-read than the character that he is seeking to convey to us in Phillip Marlowe.
Speaking of Marlowe, we see the famous detective appear in the second story in this collection, ‘Finger Man’, although at this stage his name is spelled Philip Marlow. The story is also a different one from the Marlowe stories we have come to expect. In this story Marlow(e) has given evidence against a powerful criminal, and that criminal’s associates are trying to frame Marlow for a murder in an effort to smear him.
The story follows the usual complicated byways of a Chandler story. It has hints of what is to come in a casino scene where a woman crookedly wins at roulette (reminiscent of a similar scene in The Big Sleep). Indeed the scene in ‘Pearls are a Nuisance’ where Walter and Henry wait in a remote spot in their car for a man to return the pearls recalls a similar moment in Farewell, My Lovely. This time both stories have a different outcome however.
It is a decent story, but perhaps the lesser of the three in this volume. ‘The King in Yellow’ is a better tale, and one of the few that Chandler does not tell in first person, though the hero (a house detective called Steve Grayce) is present in every scene. Curiously there is another Chandler story about a house detective which also does not employ a first person narrative.
In this story Grayce is fired from his house detective job when he gets into a scuffle with a talented but unpleasant jazz musician called King Leopardi. Later Leopardi and two women are murdered, and Grayce decides to investigate, as he now wishes to set himself up as a private detective. The killings turn out to be related to vengeful family members. While Grayce is sympathetic, he deplores their willingness to kill others to cover their tracks.
The story is engaging and well-told, and provides us with a glimpse into the world of the musician. Grayce is torn between his admiration for Leopardi’s undoubted talent, and his recognition that the musician is a heel. The gap is visible between a man’s ability to produce wonderful art and his ability to lack that quintessential part of his nature in his personal life.
The fictional stories are entertaining, but Chandler enthusiasts are likely to be more interested in Chandler’s non-fictional works here, which give us something of an insight into Chandler’s philosophy as a writer.
In the Introduction, Chandler is modest about his own talents, feeling that his works might have been better written under other circumstances, but that he was unable to break out of the established formula, and still get his books published. Chandler argues that the classic of the crime fiction genre has not yet been written because the classic exhausts the possibilities of its form, and no other work can be written.
I am not sure of this. It is notable that after Hammett and Chandler, no other writers were able to take this particular style of crime fiction any further, though some tried. It may be that the age of the hard-boiled yet still romantic crime novel had died out and the style gone out of fashion, but it is also possible that no other writers could produce a work of art surpassing these two writers, and the genre had to find new pathways.
Chandler insists that a story should be about something, e.g. that sexual content should be part of the wider story, and not just the reason for the story (“the fictional detective is a catalyst, not a Casanova”). He acknowledges that crime fiction had become more brutal and intriguingly argues that this is a reflection of a more violent age in which humans were beginning to develop the machinery of its own destruction (the atomic bomb).
These are interesting ideas, and they are developed further in ‘The Simple Art of Murder’. In this longer essay, Chandler is concerned with the nature of realism. Good crime fiction, like good literature relies on a certain essence of realism. The more absurd Anglicised whodunits fail in this respect as they read rather like puzzles in which the characters engage in far-fetched, highly contrived crimes.
The reality is that the criminal kills with the weapons at his disposal, often in the heat of the moment. By attributing far-fetched methods to their murderers, the crime novelists write dull books in which the characters cannot come to life because their murders are not based in any kind of reality. Indeed the tales are riddled with factual mistakes that invalidate the possibility of them ever happening.
Chandler quotes a number of famous works of detective fiction that fail in this respect, from Agatha Christie to the Philo Vance stories. He is a little kinder to the Sherlock Holmes stories, acknowledging that while the stories make a lot of mistakes, Conan Doyle was a pioneer, and his stories were an ‘attitude’. (Notably Conan Doyle’s stories are a little closer to Chandler’s than many old-fashioned crime writers in that the investigator is a professional paid detective, rather than an enthusiastic amateur.)
However the writer Chandler most admires is Dashiell Hammett who wrote stories away from the drawing room, and in a tougher world where crimes are committed opportunistically using the methods at hand. Indeed Chandler’s own style owes a huge debt to Hammett.
The essay concludes with Chandler setting out his famous description of the ideal detective, which indeed is the template that he himself employs in all his stories. The quote is a famous one, and I will not reproduce it here – it is the notion of a detective who is a poor man and a common one who is nonetheless unusual enough to be the best man in his world, and a good enough man for any world.
Soon writers were to abandon even this last bastion of decency and crime fiction was to descend further into the sewer with no likeable or identifiable characters. To some extent this was the natural next step in the genre, and Hammett and Chandler had helped to pave the way to it. This is a little sad, as their own works left us with the sense that there were still some noble ideals worth fighting for.
I would not wish to return to the stilted whodunits of a past age, and there is little point in reproducing the kind of works that Hammett and Chandler had already taken to their highest point. Still it is a pity that crime fiction has not found another path that allowed it to keep what was best in the works of these two great writers.
The stories here may not be Chandler’s best work, but they are enjoyable and interesting, and the opportunities to see Chandler speaking in his own voice about his work make this collection a worthwhile addition to my bookshelf.
However let us start with the three fictional stories in the volume. The titular story is a surprisingly light-hearted tale for Chandler, and almost reads like a lightweight version of Joseph Conrad’s short story, ‘The Secret Sharer’.
In ‘The Secret Sharer’, the newly appointed captain of a boat agrees to shelter a fugitive murderer until the latter can escape to safety, mainly because the two men are very much alike – both were ship’s officers, both were educated at the same naval school, and both are of a similar physique. While critics have made too much of the Freudian psychology of the story, it does at least portray two similar men whose fates may have been interchangeable, and who are drawn to each other by their alikeness.
Chandler’s story portrays a well-educated and well-to-do man called Walter Gage, who is investigating the theft of pearls from his girlfriend’s employer, Mrs Penruddock. The trail takes him to Henry Eichelberger, a chauffeur who recently left Mrs Penruddock’s employment, and who made a pass at Gage’s girlfriend.
On Walter’s meeting Henry, the two form an immediate bond, in spite of their differences. Walter is well-bred, and talks in an elevated and verbose manner like a Jane Austen character, whilst Henry is rough and laconic. However, as in Conrad’s story, the two men could have led interchangeable lives, and seem attracted to one another by their similarities – they have the same physical build, they both have a weakness for drink, and they are both in love with the same girl.
It is tempting to apply a homoerotic subtext to the two men’s peculiar intimacy with one another. Indeed, after one drinking binge they wake up next to each other. I doubt that the notoriously homophobic Chandler would have intentionally gone for this effect however. Again we could see Freudian hints of a darker half here, since Walter is seeking the missing pearls and Henry may well have stolen them. I suspect this is putting too much significance into the story however.
A more tempting idea is that the two characters represent different aspects of Chandler himself. Chandler was a tough man, a womaniser and heavy drinker who sometimes went off the rails. He was also a well-educated man who was brought up in Britain. Readers of the two essays in this book may be astonished to find that a tough crime writer should have read a good deal of English literature. However, while they often slummed it, many crime writers of the day were well-read. We see this in film noirs that often throw in classical references.
Indeed the clues are present in Chandler’s novels, which throw in allusions to Proust, Shakespeare and Khachaturian, giving us a clue to the fact that the author is more well-read than the character that he is seeking to convey to us in Phillip Marlowe.
Speaking of Marlowe, we see the famous detective appear in the second story in this collection, ‘Finger Man’, although at this stage his name is spelled Philip Marlow. The story is also a different one from the Marlowe stories we have come to expect. In this story Marlow(e) has given evidence against a powerful criminal, and that criminal’s associates are trying to frame Marlow for a murder in an effort to smear him.
The story follows the usual complicated byways of a Chandler story. It has hints of what is to come in a casino scene where a woman crookedly wins at roulette (reminiscent of a similar scene in The Big Sleep). Indeed the scene in ‘Pearls are a Nuisance’ where Walter and Henry wait in a remote spot in their car for a man to return the pearls recalls a similar moment in Farewell, My Lovely. This time both stories have a different outcome however.
It is a decent story, but perhaps the lesser of the three in this volume. ‘The King in Yellow’ is a better tale, and one of the few that Chandler does not tell in first person, though the hero (a house detective called Steve Grayce) is present in every scene. Curiously there is another Chandler story about a house detective which also does not employ a first person narrative.
In this story Grayce is fired from his house detective job when he gets into a scuffle with a talented but unpleasant jazz musician called King Leopardi. Later Leopardi and two women are murdered, and Grayce decides to investigate, as he now wishes to set himself up as a private detective. The killings turn out to be related to vengeful family members. While Grayce is sympathetic, he deplores their willingness to kill others to cover their tracks.
The story is engaging and well-told, and provides us with a glimpse into the world of the musician. Grayce is torn between his admiration for Leopardi’s undoubted talent, and his recognition that the musician is a heel. The gap is visible between a man’s ability to produce wonderful art and his ability to lack that quintessential part of his nature in his personal life.
The fictional stories are entertaining, but Chandler enthusiasts are likely to be more interested in Chandler’s non-fictional works here, which give us something of an insight into Chandler’s philosophy as a writer.
In the Introduction, Chandler is modest about his own talents, feeling that his works might have been better written under other circumstances, but that he was unable to break out of the established formula, and still get his books published. Chandler argues that the classic of the crime fiction genre has not yet been written because the classic exhausts the possibilities of its form, and no other work can be written.
I am not sure of this. It is notable that after Hammett and Chandler, no other writers were able to take this particular style of crime fiction any further, though some tried. It may be that the age of the hard-boiled yet still romantic crime novel had died out and the style gone out of fashion, but it is also possible that no other writers could produce a work of art surpassing these two writers, and the genre had to find new pathways.
Chandler insists that a story should be about something, e.g. that sexual content should be part of the wider story, and not just the reason for the story (“the fictional detective is a catalyst, not a Casanova”). He acknowledges that crime fiction had become more brutal and intriguingly argues that this is a reflection of a more violent age in which humans were beginning to develop the machinery of its own destruction (the atomic bomb).
These are interesting ideas, and they are developed further in ‘The Simple Art of Murder’. In this longer essay, Chandler is concerned with the nature of realism. Good crime fiction, like good literature relies on a certain essence of realism. The more absurd Anglicised whodunits fail in this respect as they read rather like puzzles in which the characters engage in far-fetched, highly contrived crimes.
The reality is that the criminal kills with the weapons at his disposal, often in the heat of the moment. By attributing far-fetched methods to their murderers, the crime novelists write dull books in which the characters cannot come to life because their murders are not based in any kind of reality. Indeed the tales are riddled with factual mistakes that invalidate the possibility of them ever happening.
Chandler quotes a number of famous works of detective fiction that fail in this respect, from Agatha Christie to the Philo Vance stories. He is a little kinder to the Sherlock Holmes stories, acknowledging that while the stories make a lot of mistakes, Conan Doyle was a pioneer, and his stories were an ‘attitude’. (Notably Conan Doyle’s stories are a little closer to Chandler’s than many old-fashioned crime writers in that the investigator is a professional paid detective, rather than an enthusiastic amateur.)
However the writer Chandler most admires is Dashiell Hammett who wrote stories away from the drawing room, and in a tougher world where crimes are committed opportunistically using the methods at hand. Indeed Chandler’s own style owes a huge debt to Hammett.
The essay concludes with Chandler setting out his famous description of the ideal detective, which indeed is the template that he himself employs in all his stories. The quote is a famous one, and I will not reproduce it here – it is the notion of a detective who is a poor man and a common one who is nonetheless unusual enough to be the best man in his world, and a good enough man for any world.
Soon writers were to abandon even this last bastion of decency and crime fiction was to descend further into the sewer with no likeable or identifiable characters. To some extent this was the natural next step in the genre, and Hammett and Chandler had helped to pave the way to it. This is a little sad, as their own works left us with the sense that there were still some noble ideals worth fighting for.
I would not wish to return to the stilted whodunits of a past age, and there is little point in reproducing the kind of works that Hammett and Chandler had already taken to their highest point. Still it is a pity that crime fiction has not found another path that allowed it to keep what was best in the works of these two great writers.
The stories here may not be Chandler’s best work, but they are enjoyable and interesting, and the opportunities to see Chandler speaking in his own voice about his work make this collection a worthwhile addition to my bookshelf.
October 24, 2023
I’ve read all of Chandler’s novels (several of them a couple of times) and some of his short stories, and I’ve liked every one of them. However, I didn’t buy Pearls Are a Nuisance because of the three short stories, but because of Chandler's three-and-a-half page Introduction (which includes the classic line “When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.”) and the famous critical essay The Simple Art of Murder (which, I just noticed, can nowadays be found as a PDF on the Internet). The latter was fascinatingly harsh on A. A. Milne and Dorothy L. Sayers and wasn't too nice about Agatha Christie either, but it's certainly worth reading if you’re interested in either classic murder mysteries or the hard-boiled detective stories.
I don’t think I’ve read any of the three stories before. The title story was a surprisingly successful merger of humour and an amateur detective story.
Finger Man in this compilation is the rewritten version where the detective is called Marlowe (or actually it says “…the door into my private office, lettered PHILIP MARLOW … INVESTIGATIONS.”). I suppose it's worth noting that this was the first time Marlowe met Bernie Ohls. Finger Man was a good story, but still perhaps the weakest one of the three.
The King in Yellow didn’t seem like a great story in the beginning, but it certainly developed into one. The ending was quite lovely, and the fairly Marlowe-like detective hotel detective Steve Grayce could have developed into an excellent character if Chandler had decided to go with him instead of Marlowe.
The wild colour scheme of the cover of this edition deserves special praise.
4.5/5
I don’t think I’ve read any of the three stories before. The title story was a surprisingly successful merger of humour and an amateur detective story.
Finger Man in this compilation is the rewritten version where the detective is called Marlowe (or actually it says “…the door into my private office, lettered PHILIP MARLOW … INVESTIGATIONS.”). I suppose it's worth noting that this was the first time Marlowe met Bernie Ohls. Finger Man was a good story, but still perhaps the weakest one of the three.
The King in Yellow didn’t seem like a great story in the beginning, but it certainly developed into one. The ending was quite lovely, and the fairly Marlowe-like detective hotel detective Steve Grayce could have developed into an excellent character if Chandler had decided to go with him instead of Marlowe.
The wild colour scheme of the cover of this edition deserves special praise.
4.5/5
January 1, 2023
This was fantastic! I loved Pearls are a Nuisance. Felt like a character from Wodehouse meets Hard boiled world. The essay simple art of murder was brilliant! Also had a lot of suggestions for future reading : King in Yellow was fascinating... I didn't really like the Marlowe Finger Man too much- concept wise great ..a little laboured for me
April 30, 2014
Three stars for this book, 2 1/2 if I'm honest. As a fan of Raymond Chandler, I feel inclined to explain...
Pearls are a Nuisance is a collection of three pulp stories, followed by an essay on the 'art' of writing said stories. As pulp stories, they aren't intended to be all that good. In fact, ol' Ray spends the first ten pages explaining that these stories are as terrible as they should be. He's right.
The first story, 'Pearls are a Nuisance', are about a young man named Walter Gage who incompetently tries to recover a stolen pearl necklace. In theory. In reality he spends fifty pages drinking and lying to his girl about said drinking, before stumbling on the solution that was right under his nose.
The second story, 'Finger Man', is strangely named and convoluted, but at least more of a straight detective tale. It isn't memorable.
Finally 'The King in Yellow' is the best of the three. In a departure for Chandler it's written in third person. The characters are colourful and there's some nice action in this too, but the resolution feels a bit rushed and conveniently wrapped up.
Ultimately the stories are well written but the plots are shaky. It's a three star at the very best, but I think Chandler would believe that's more than they deserve.
Pearls are a Nuisance is a collection of three pulp stories, followed by an essay on the 'art' of writing said stories. As pulp stories, they aren't intended to be all that good. In fact, ol' Ray spends the first ten pages explaining that these stories are as terrible as they should be. He's right.
The first story, 'Pearls are a Nuisance', are about a young man named Walter Gage who incompetently tries to recover a stolen pearl necklace. In theory. In reality he spends fifty pages drinking and lying to his girl about said drinking, before stumbling on the solution that was right under his nose.
The second story, 'Finger Man', is strangely named and convoluted, but at least more of a straight detective tale. It isn't memorable.
Finally 'The King in Yellow' is the best of the three. In a departure for Chandler it's written in third person. The characters are colourful and there's some nice action in this too, but the resolution feels a bit rushed and conveniently wrapped up.
Ultimately the stories are well written but the plots are shaky. It's a three star at the very best, but I think Chandler would believe that's more than they deserve.
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October 31, 2019Garrett Beam
There are several aspects that can make a book enjoyable. These things include interesting characters, compelling settings, and an intriguing plot. Pearls are a Nuisance contains all of these characteristics. If the characters in a book are too bland, the book tends to be boring. If the characters are entertaining and can keep the readers’ attention, then it usually leads to an enjoyable read. In books where the plot never advances, the books often lead to dull endings. Plots that are always evolving seem to appeal to readers. Enticing settings engage one’s imagination and allows the reader to capture the scene in their mind. The criteria for a mystery book does not require complexity, but it needs to have one or more plot twists.
In Pearls are a Nuisance, there was a robbery. There is limited knowledge on the incident because the item stolen was a pearl necklace. This investigation has to be discreet because the pearls are fake and the owner doesn’t want anyone to know this. If this evidence was released to the public, or the lady’s friends, she would most likely be harassed for owning fake jewelry. The owner of the pearls sold the real pearls to buy a more dazzling string of fake pearls. The plot of the book is very appealing and entices the reader to continue reading. The characters in this book are suspicious, engaging, and constantly evolving, and continue to draw you in. The story has multiple settings which are described in detail and allows the reader to visualize the location of where the scene is taking place.
Pearls are a Nuisance is a shorter mystery novel that takes place in a city. The book has a very intriguing plot, interesting characters, and a captivating setting. These characteristics make the book an enjoyable and easy read because they constantly evolve. Mystery books are usually entertaining and suspenseful and this one does not disappoint. The characteristics of this novel allows the reader to follow along easily and breeze through the pages because it gratifies your imagination. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a mystery that makes you ponder who did it and what is going to happen.
There are several aspects that can make a book enjoyable. These things include interesting characters, compelling settings, and an intriguing plot. Pearls are a Nuisance contains all of these characteristics. If the characters in a book are too bland, the book tends to be boring. If the characters are entertaining and can keep the readers’ attention, then it usually leads to an enjoyable read. In books where the plot never advances, the books often lead to dull endings. Plots that are always evolving seem to appeal to readers. Enticing settings engage one’s imagination and allows the reader to capture the scene in their mind. The criteria for a mystery book does not require complexity, but it needs to have one or more plot twists.
In Pearls are a Nuisance, there was a robbery. There is limited knowledge on the incident because the item stolen was a pearl necklace. This investigation has to be discreet because the pearls are fake and the owner doesn’t want anyone to know this. If this evidence was released to the public, or the lady’s friends, she would most likely be harassed for owning fake jewelry. The owner of the pearls sold the real pearls to buy a more dazzling string of fake pearls. The plot of the book is very appealing and entices the reader to continue reading. The characters in this book are suspicious, engaging, and constantly evolving, and continue to draw you in. The story has multiple settings which are described in detail and allows the reader to visualize the location of where the scene is taking place.
Pearls are a Nuisance is a shorter mystery novel that takes place in a city. The book has a very intriguing plot, interesting characters, and a captivating setting. These characteristics make the book an enjoyable and easy read because they constantly evolve. Mystery books are usually entertaining and suspenseful and this one does not disappoint. The characteristics of this novel allows the reader to follow along easily and breeze through the pages because it gratifies your imagination. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a mystery that makes you ponder who did it and what is going to happen.
August 23, 2021
I read it for a university course, but I enjoyed every bit of it. It revolves around the detective fiction genre, and Walter and Henry are funny together and their relationship explores the genre more.
December 6, 2020
“The streets were dark with something more than night.”
January 10, 2025
More of the same. Can’t complain. Deffo tell it’s early chandler and marlow though
August 25, 2025
Didn't really enjoy this 😔
November 27, 2012
The first short story in this collection of three, Pearls are a nuisance, was brilliant. The characterisation was just so sweet and wonderful, not something one usually expects from hard boiled pulp detective stories. But the main character, a large guy with a drinking problem who was sweet and soft, rather than tough and hard, was lovely. Everyone teased him for talking like Jane Austen rather than a detective. He acquired a side-kick, who his girlfriend had accused of taking the pearls, because he was also big and had a fondness for Whiskey and the two were fantastic together. Definitely my favourite Chandler story so far! The next story in this collection, Finger Man, I'd just read recently in the Villain’s collection, so I skipped it. The King in yellow, was really interesting, much more grim than the first story, but still enjoyable. (Though having finished it several weeks ago now I'm afraid I've already forgotten much more than that). The last part of the books is an essay from Chandler about murder stories, comparing them with "literature" which is quite funny though I don't really agree with everything he said it was definitely worth reading.
April 23, 2012
This is a collection of three short stories and one essay. All of which were enjoyable, but not particularly memorable.
In "Pearls Are A Nuisance" a society gentlemen is asked by his fiancee to investigate some stolen pearls. He gets mixed up with the suspect and amidst a lot of drinking they try to solve the case together. It's a slight story, with a couple of surprises, and the less 'realistic' of the three.
I haven't the book with me and I can't remember much of the second story, but I did enjoy it more than the first. It was "The Finger Man".
In "The King In Yellow" a house detective is embroiled with a jazz trumpeter and a convoluted story involving a couple of dames results. Again, an intriguing piece.
The essay, "The Simple Art of Murder", is an interesting insight into Chandler's opinion of crime fiction back in the day.
In "Pearls Are A Nuisance" a society gentlemen is asked by his fiancee to investigate some stolen pearls. He gets mixed up with the suspect and amidst a lot of drinking they try to solve the case together. It's a slight story, with a couple of surprises, and the less 'realistic' of the three.
I haven't the book with me and I can't remember much of the second story, but I did enjoy it more than the first. It was "The Finger Man".
In "The King In Yellow" a house detective is embroiled with a jazz trumpeter and a convoluted story involving a couple of dames results. Again, an intriguing piece.
The essay, "The Simple Art of Murder", is an interesting insight into Chandler's opinion of crime fiction back in the day.
October 30, 2015
My copy was a rather clean 1964 Penguin Crime priced at 5'6 that I picked up from a charity store. Chandler gives us 3 renditions of effectively the same private dick, Walter Gage, Philip Marlowe, and Steve Grayce. The Marlowe story is my pick of the three but that isn't saying much. The language is Jimmy Cagney, see, and the tales are pretty weak, 'he said slowly and mournfully'. Yes that's a line from Pearls are a nuisance and the adverbs can be a little overdone at times. Back in the day when people lapped up crime fiction I guess it was a production line, much like romance has been over the years. If the book serves no other purpose it shows us that the greats are mortal and that fashion can date our heroes very effectively.
April 2, 2015
2 apr 15...another from chandler for me. have read a few of his. just finished "goldfish"...another short about pearls. onward and upward
3 apr 15
finished. i liked "goldfish" a tad more. this story is okay...guys going in and out, bopping others in the head, drawing guns on one another. kinda lost the theme...perhaps wasn't sure what it was from the get-go...something about blackmail. spring. it's long in coming. sweet thursday. onward and upward.
3 apr 15
finished. i liked "goldfish" a tad more. this story is okay...guys going in and out, bopping others in the head, drawing guns on one another. kinda lost the theme...perhaps wasn't sure what it was from the get-go...something about blackmail. spring. it's long in coming. sweet thursday. onward and upward.
November 12, 2008
First two stories are great. Last one I lost my way in a now I've no idea what's goin on. There's a dead guy in pajamas with a trumpet, and a dead girl, and a framed lad called Steve (alive) and a vampish moll, and.....a little help here?
November 6, 2009
Three short stories with three different detectives. In general it's nice early work by Chandler. A couple of the pieces of the plot are a little thin, which is ironic because of Chandler's essay at the end of the book which comments on the problems with other people's murder/detective stories.
March 17, 2009
It's all a bit...gay, really. Oh, you men. ;)
December 9, 2009
Solid classic crime story, the model for the film noir genre with Humphrey Bogart.
November 12, 2013
I enjoyed the three stories but found the language very difficult to decipher, in that I couldn't understand what people were talking about half the time (colloquial 1940's California speak)
October 21, 2013
Short stories by Raymond Chandler, not as good as the Marlowe stories, but still an entertaining read.
September 9, 2015
If you have not read Raymond Chandler and love Private Detective fiction this is the book for you. Amazing! Oh, and don't forget to read the essay Chandler wrote at the end.
August 26, 2012
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