Tasha’s Reviews > The Big Sleep > Status Update

There’s something seriously wrong with Carmen Sternwood. If she giggles, sucks her thumbs, and says “you’re cute” one more time….what a bimbo and poor excuse of a woman. Marlowe continues to be too cool. This mystery has two parts, not one. I’m still all in for the ride. I’ve gotten used to the writing and I enjoy the time period in which the story takes place.

There’s a lot of unnecessary time spent on describing rooms, furniture, and what people are wearing. But there’s also some really good writing sprinkled here and there. Marlowe’s too cool for school and Eddie Mars is a cool name. Cigarettes and whiskey, “smut books,” fast women, and one liners. Everything is so s m o o t h. Is this a movie? I’m imagining Humphrey Bogart playing Marlowe.

I suspect…. the butler. Is this where “the butler did it” cliche came from? This is written in the 30s so maybe it wasn’t a cliche back then. And this book is supposed to be the granddaddy of detective fiction and I can already see that. Marlowe the hard ass private detective became a blueprint!