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The High Window
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Manufacturer: Vintage
Author: Raymond Chandler
Publisher: Vintage
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $10.36
You Save: $ 2.59 ( 20% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Vintage
Author: Raymond Chandler
Publisher: Vintage
Average Customer Rating:
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The High Window Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780394758268
ISBN: 0394758269
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 272
Publication Date: 1988-07-12
Publisher: Vintage
Product Release Date: 1988-07-12
Studio: Vintage
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780394758268
ISBN: 0394758269
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 272
Publication Date: 1988-07-12
Publisher: Vintage
Product Release Date: 1988-07-12
Studio: Vintage
Editorial Review of The High Window
A wealthy Pasadena widow with a mean streak, a missing daughter-in-law with a past, and a gold coin worth a small fortune—the elements don't quite add up until Marlowe discovers evidence of murder, rape, blackmail, and the worst kind of human exploitation.
"Raymond Chandler is a star of the first magnitude."-- Erle Stanley Gardner
"Raymond Chandler has given us a detective who is hard-boiled enough to be convincing . . . and that is no mean achievement." -- The New York Times
"Raymond Chandler is a star of the first magnitude."-- Erle Stanley Gardner
"Raymond Chandler has given us a detective who is hard-boiled enough to be convincing . . . and that is no mean achievement." -- The New York Times
Customer Reviews of The High Window
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A Fantastic View from A High Window
Review: Raymond Chandler is that rare sort of novelist who creates a world that sings with individuality while inviting others to join the fun. That, perhaps, is Chandler's greatest talent--he makes his world inviting while never pandering to prurient or common tastes. In A High Window, Philip Marlowe, Chandler's famous American icon of cynicism and subtle honor, is tasked with finding a rare coin and the person who stole it. His client is a bossy, asthmatic, hulk of a woman who downs glass after glass of port and who doesn't mind telling Marlowe her low opinion of his character and skills. Of course, she's wrong. And she's hiding all sorts of secrets of her own. As in all Philip Marlowe adventures, the ride is always more fun than the destination. When you read Raymond Chandler, you're lovingly dumped into a landscape filled with bums, dames, rich psychotics, corrupt cops, and sleazy hotel managers. And those are the ordinary people in his novels. Read A High Window. Get out your trenchcoat. Be sure to pack a .45. You're going to "noir" town.
Donald Gallinger is the author ofThe Master Planets
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The high bar
Review: I love Raymond Chandler. And Marlowe, the joke cracking private eye who's tough on the outside and golden on the inside and who would be cliched except he's the original everyone else copied...it's vintage noir, hard-boiled action, the world without frills, a trail of murders and blackmail and robbery. It's flawed the way America's underbelly is flawed but it's always clear where Marlowe's sympathies lie...with the poor, the lost, the wicked, the desperate doing all they can to get out of poverty's trap. But he takes everyone as he finds them and gives them their due. It's a fast-paced quick read with suspenseful twists and turns that spin you through an L.A. that is still recognizable, and definitely the L.A. that I love.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: MARLOWE GETS HIS BEARINGS
Review: Phillip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler's classic noir hard-boiled private detective forever literarily associated with Los Angeles and its means streets is right at home here in his search for a missing family heirloom thought to have been 'taken' by an errrant family member. As always there are plots within plots and it is many a false lead and bump on the noggin' before the intrepid Marlowe puts this one to rest. As usual there is plenty of sparse but functional dialogue, physical action and a couple of plot twists, particularly around the motives of the parties involved. And where does this novel stand in relationship to the other Marlowe epics? Give me those background oil derricks churning out the wealth while looking for Rusty Regan in Big Sleep or the run down stucco flats in pursue of Moose's Velma in Farewell, My Lovely any day. Nevertheless, as always with Chandler, you get high literature in a plebian package. Read on.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Murder, Blackmail, and More Murder
Review: Wealthy widow Mrs. Elizabeth Murdock hired Philip Marlowe [These scenes show the literary flourishes necessarily absent from his short stories.] Mrs. Murdock wants Marlowe to retrieve a valuable item that was stolen by a member of her family; nobody is to be arrested (Chapter 2). This is a rare gold coin: the Brasher Doubloon. Mrs. Murdock believes her daughter-in-law took it when she left her son; she had been a night club singer. Marlowe begins to investigate the leads, and meets various people. Chandler's literary descriptions of the people provide background on the individuals. Complications arise from his interview with these various people. Soon a dead body is found (another private investigator). A package arrives for Marlowe - it has one gold coin (Chapter 12). But Mrs. Murdock no longer wants the coin (Chapter 13). The coin dealer is found dead (Chapter 14). The police think Marlowe is holding out on information on that private investigator (Chapter 16).
Chandler shows his skill at dialogue at the Idle Valley Patrol (Chapter 17). Linda returned to her old job. She said she didn't take the rare coin. Marlowe warns Mrs. Murdock about the police investigation and learns how the coin was returned (Chapter 20). There is a surprising confession to a murder (Chapter 23). [In those days you could park a car in the street and leave the keys in the lock (Chapter 28)!] Marlowe overhears a conversation about Louis Vannier (Chapter 30). Marlowe surmises what happened (Chapter 33). And there is another surprise (Chapter 34)! The last chapters tie up the loose ends.
This is a good story but I thought the ending was weak. Chandler uses the language of those days. The dollar figures date this novel.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Typical Chandler: Philip Marlowe in seedy plot but great writing!
Review: We're catching up on Chandler's private-eye Philip Marlowe novels published in the 1940's, having read "Poodle Springs" (his last work, actually finished by Robert Parker) and "The Big Sleep", his first and perhaps most well-known entry in the set, possibly due to the movie with Humphrey Bogart. The book is classic Chandler: beautifully descriptive prose almost wasted on the seedy characters that populate the storyline. The plot kicks off with a wealthy but crotchety old woman hiring Marlowe to recover a valuable gold coin she is sure was stolen by her now missing daughter-in-law. As Marlowe learns more about the matter, a young guy starts tailing him, then admits to being a fellow private dick who might need Marlowe's help with a case. Soon that guy turns up dead; in fact, throughout the tale Marlowe has a nasty habit of finding dead bodies, which only serves to exasperate the police, whom our leading man tends to frustrate by refusing to part with what he knows about whom.
In the end, of course Marlowe figures it all out, but not before some surprises bend the plot this way and that. [We won't spoil what the novel's title implies...] One would not suspect this novel is some 60 years old; that it so readily entertains is certain testimony to its withstanding the aging process. Chandler's fine writing skills, bordering on literature, as usual tend to create a screenplay in our heads for us, which adds to the enjoyment. Despite all the drinking, smoking, and "easy" women at hand, this easy read is another fine mystery by this famous author of nearly a century ago.
Review Summary: A Fantastic View from A High Window
Review: Raymond Chandler is that rare sort of novelist who creates a world that sings with individuality while inviting others to join the fun. That, perhaps, is Chandler's greatest talent--he makes his world inviting while never pandering to prurient or common tastes. In A High Window, Philip Marlowe, Chandler's famous American icon of cynicism and subtle honor, is tasked with finding a rare coin and the person who stole it. His client is a bossy, asthmatic, hulk of a woman who downs glass after glass of port and who doesn't mind telling Marlowe her low opinion of his character and skills. Of course, she's wrong. And she's hiding all sorts of secrets of her own. As in all Philip Marlowe adventures, the ride is always more fun than the destination. When you read Raymond Chandler, you're lovingly dumped into a landscape filled with bums, dames, rich psychotics, corrupt cops, and sleazy hotel managers. And those are the ordinary people in his novels. Read A High Window. Get out your trenchcoat. Be sure to pack a .45. You're going to "noir" town.
Donald Gallinger is the author ofThe Master Planets
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The high bar
Review: I love Raymond Chandler. And Marlowe, the joke cracking private eye who's tough on the outside and golden on the inside and who would be cliched except he's the original everyone else copied...it's vintage noir, hard-boiled action, the world without frills, a trail of murders and blackmail and robbery. It's flawed the way America's underbelly is flawed but it's always clear where Marlowe's sympathies lie...with the poor, the lost, the wicked, the desperate doing all they can to get out of poverty's trap. But he takes everyone as he finds them and gives them their due. It's a fast-paced quick read with suspenseful twists and turns that spin you through an L.A. that is still recognizable, and definitely the L.A. that I love.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: MARLOWE GETS HIS BEARINGS
Review: Phillip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler's classic noir hard-boiled private detective forever literarily associated with Los Angeles and its means streets is right at home here in his search for a missing family heirloom thought to have been 'taken' by an errrant family member. As always there are plots within plots and it is many a false lead and bump on the noggin' before the intrepid Marlowe puts this one to rest. As usual there is plenty of sparse but functional dialogue, physical action and a couple of plot twists, particularly around the motives of the parties involved. And where does this novel stand in relationship to the other Marlowe epics? Give me those background oil derricks churning out the wealth while looking for Rusty Regan in Big Sleep or the run down stucco flats in pursue of Moose's Velma in Farewell, My Lovely any day. Nevertheless, as always with Chandler, you get high literature in a plebian package. Read on.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Murder, Blackmail, and More Murder
Review: Wealthy widow Mrs. Elizabeth Murdock hired Philip Marlowe [These scenes show the literary flourishes necessarily absent from his short stories.] Mrs. Murdock wants Marlowe to retrieve a valuable item that was stolen by a member of her family; nobody is to be arrested (Chapter 2). This is a rare gold coin: the Brasher Doubloon. Mrs. Murdock believes her daughter-in-law took it when she left her son; she had been a night club singer. Marlowe begins to investigate the leads, and meets various people. Chandler's literary descriptions of the people provide background on the individuals. Complications arise from his interview with these various people. Soon a dead body is found (another private investigator). A package arrives for Marlowe - it has one gold coin (Chapter 12). But Mrs. Murdock no longer wants the coin (Chapter 13). The coin dealer is found dead (Chapter 14). The police think Marlowe is holding out on information on that private investigator (Chapter 16).
Chandler shows his skill at dialogue at the Idle Valley Patrol (Chapter 17). Linda returned to her old job. She said she didn't take the rare coin. Marlowe warns Mrs. Murdock about the police investigation and learns how the coin was returned (Chapter 20). There is a surprising confession to a murder (Chapter 23). [In those days you could park a car in the street and leave the keys in the lock (Chapter 28)!] Marlowe overhears a conversation about Louis Vannier (Chapter 30). Marlowe surmises what happened (Chapter 33). And there is another surprise (Chapter 34)! The last chapters tie up the loose ends.
This is a good story but I thought the ending was weak. Chandler uses the language of those days. The dollar figures date this novel.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Typical Chandler: Philip Marlowe in seedy plot but great writing!
Review: We're catching up on Chandler's private-eye Philip Marlowe novels published in the 1940's, having read "Poodle Springs" (his last work, actually finished by Robert Parker) and "The Big Sleep", his first and perhaps most well-known entry in the set, possibly due to the movie with Humphrey Bogart. The book is classic Chandler: beautifully descriptive prose almost wasted on the seedy characters that populate the storyline. The plot kicks off with a wealthy but crotchety old woman hiring Marlowe to recover a valuable gold coin she is sure was stolen by her now missing daughter-in-law. As Marlowe learns more about the matter, a young guy starts tailing him, then admits to being a fellow private dick who might need Marlowe's help with a case. Soon that guy turns up dead; in fact, throughout the tale Marlowe has a nasty habit of finding dead bodies, which only serves to exasperate the police, whom our leading man tends to frustrate by refusing to part with what he knows about whom.
In the end, of course Marlowe figures it all out, but not before some surprises bend the plot this way and that. [We won't spoil what the novel's title implies...] One would not suspect this novel is some 60 years old; that it so readily entertains is certain testimony to its withstanding the aging process. Chandler's fine writing skills, bordering on literature, as usual tend to create a screenplay in our heads for us, which adds to the enjoyment. Despite all the drinking, smoking, and "easy" women at hand, this easy read is another fine mystery by this famous author of nearly a century ago.