A collection of similes,
one-liners, and turns of phrase that could be written only by Raymond
Chandler.
"On the dance floor half a dozen couples were throwing themselves around with the reckless abandon of a night watchman with arthritis "---Playback (Chapter 8) "Dead men are heavier than broken hearts "---The Big Sleep (Chapter 8) "She's dark and lovely and passionate. And very, very kind." "And exclusive as a mailbox," I said. ---The Little Sister (Chapter 19) "It was a cool day and very clear. You could see a long way--but not as far as Velma had gone"---Farewell, My Lovely (Chapter 41) "I put the duster away folded with the dust in it, leaned back and just sat, not smoking, not even thinking. I was a blank man. I had no face, no meaning, no personality, hardly a name. I didn't want to eat. I didn't even want a drink. I was the page from yesterday's calendar crumpled at the bottom of the waste basket "---The Little Sister (Chapter 25) "Eddie Mars wanted to see me." "I didn't know you knew him. Why?" "I don't mind telling you. He thought I was looking for somebody he thought had run away with his wife." "Were you?" "No." "Then what did you come for?" "To find out why he thought I was looking for somebody he thought had run away with his wife." "Did you find out?" "No." ---The Big Sleep (Chapter 23) "Tall, aren't you?" she said. "I didn't mean to be." Her eyes rounded. She was puzzled. She was thinking. I could see, even on that short acquaintance, that thinking was always going to be a bother to her. ---The Big Sleep (Chapter 1) "I never saw any of them again - except the cops. No way has yet been invented to say goodbye to them." ---The Long Goodbye (Chapter 52) "Then he picked the glass up and tasted it and sighed again and shook his head sideways with a half smile; the way a man does when you give him a drink and he needs it very badly and it is just right and the first swallow is like a peek into a cleaner, sunnier, brighter world." " ---The High Window (Chapter 15) "The minutes went by on toptoe, with their fingers to their lips." ---The Lady in the Lake (Chapter 1) "She smelled the way the Taj Mahal looks by moonlight." ---The Little Sister (Chapter 12) "I'm an occational drinker, the kind of guy who goes out for a beer and wakes up in Singapore with a full beard." --"The King in Yellow" "The big foreign car drove itself, but I held the wheel for the sake of appearances." --Farewell, My Lovely (Chapter 9) |
